FBCPS
Sermons, teachings, and podcasts from First Baptist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia.
FBCPS
The Secret to Growing as a Godly Man | Exodus 32-34
Have you ever wondered why the Ten Commandments go beyond mere rules? Explore with us as we delve into their deeper purpose, reflecting on God's sinlessness and our need for His grace. Using the story of Moses as our guide, we delve into the concept of destroying the idols in our lives and prioritizing God's presence above all else. The journey of Israel serves as a powerful analogy for our own spiritual paths, emphasizing that salvation comes through belief in Jesus Christ, not merely through adherence to the law. We also discuss how better sleep and early morning devotionals can facilitate a deeper spiritual connection and transformation.
God's presence in our lives can be profoundly transformative, but how do we actively seek it? We share personal stories and reflections on intrinsic feelings of inadequacy that many men experience, and the importance of dedicating time to connect with God. We emphasize the balance between striving for greatness and embodying goodness, and celebrate new members joining the Christian faith. With heartfelt prayers for those facing struggles and a call to fill out Next Step cards for further spiritual growth, we honor God as our perfect heavenly Father. Join us as we explore the transformative power of walking with Jesus in community, and express our gratitude through prayer and song.
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Well, aren't you glad you came to church this morning. What a great morning it has been so far. I just want to say thank you to the worship team, thank you to the production team, thank you for all of those that maybe you're a Sunday school teacher, a small group leader, maybe you serve on our greeting ministry from the parking lot, from the streets to the seats, as we like to say. I want to thank everybody who put the bacon together. Can I get an amen? And just what a great touch that that has been, and just in all the different ways that you serve. So I want to encourage everyone. If you haven't found your group yet here at First Baptist Powder Springs, if you haven't found your ministry yet here, we believe that God has a group for you. God has a ministry for you, because that's just all a part of being a Christian and being a church member. I want to say happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Can we put our hands together for all the fathers, all the dads, and we just want to celebrate you today. We're so thankful for you here at First Baptist Powder Springs, and so there's no other way to tell a dad thank you than to give them a stick of bacon. Amen, and so that's what we wanted to do. Also, I want you to know and we're going to pray for them here in a few minutes we've got our teenagers leaving tomorrow for summer camp. This week. We'll pray for them at the end of the service. So just be praying for our teenagers this week. And we have our God and Country service coming up on June 30th it's the Sunday before July 4th. On June 30th, it's the Sunday before July 4th, and so in our sanctuary at 930 will be our traditional God and country service as you know it, and so we wanted to continue that tradition here at the 11,. It will be more of a normal powerful. I love our worship services the way that they are, but we will still be recognizing the military and honoring the military in this service as well. In fact, this year I'm real excited we have newly made, newly issued challenge coins for everybody who comes from our military, and they are First Baptist Church, powder Springs challenge coins for everybody from our military, either active or retired. That comes. So I wanna encourage you be inviting out everyone from our military, either active or retired. That comes. So I want to encourage you be inviting out everyone from the military so that we can honor them well for their service for our country.
Speaker 1:Well, this morning we are in a special sermon On Father's Day. We're going to be continuing in the book of Exodus and looking at Exodus 32, so you can open up your Bible to Exodus 32 right now. Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we love you. What an honor it is to come together as your children, as your church, to worship you and your son through your spirit for all that you have done, you are doing and you're gonna continue to do in our lives. And so, god, I pray this morning that you would save the unsaved. God, I pray that you would work in every single heart and mind and life that are here this morning or that are watching online. And, god, we pray that you would continue to call us to follow you in all of the ways that you are calling us to do. God, we love you and we pray all these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said amen.
Speaker 1:By the way, let me mention one more thing. If you are between the ages of 18 and 29, you are what we consider here, one of our young adults. We do have a young adult gathering this Thursday night at 6.30,. It's actually right out here behind our CLC in our cookout area. It's gonna be a young adult cookout this coming Thursday, June the 20th, at 6.30 and we would love to have you. We've got three different young adult groups two that meet on Sunday morning, one that meets on every Thursday night and it's a monthly Thursday night gathering. We don't want you to miss out on it. You can always check out our social media. That will tell you more about that young adult gathering. If you're 18 to 29, we want you to be there.
Speaker 1:Well, ladies, I want to give you a little secret. Give you a little secret this morning into a man's mind, into a man's heart, so that you can understand your man. Every woman wants to understand your man better and all the God's women said amen. You know why do we do what we do? So, in other words, like why are we always trying to show off? Why are we always trying to prove ourselves? Why are we always trying to do what we do? It's because this, because down deep, all of us feel like a little bit of a failure as a man. Amen, men, can I get an amen? Down deep sometimes we just all. It seems like. Sometimes the harder we try, the more we mess up. It happens all the time.
Speaker 1:I remember years ago Brooklyn was probably about six months old I remember leaving the house. I was going to watch one of our teenagers in our church at the time, going to watch his basketball game it was probably about a nine o'clock at night game and so I left the house and Michelle and Brooklyn were kind of going to bed and I went and watched the game and I came back and I just wanted to sneak in super quietly, not disturb them, so that they could continue to sleep peacefully. I tried so hard, I tried so hard. And so I remember pulling up the garage door and driving in and parking the car and putting down the door, and right before I went into the door from our garage that went into the kitchen, I went through the people door because I remembered that we had full trash cans and I needed to get them down to the road. And so I want to be a good husband, good dad, get the trash out. And so whenever my wife would tell me every morning that the trash comes, the trash is coming, I love to say I already got it, baby, I already got it.
Speaker 1:And so I didn't go in the kitchen door, because had I gone in the kitchen door, I would have walked in and the alarm would have started beeping and I would have turned off. The alarm would have started beeping and I would have turned off the alarm right there. But I didn't do that. Why? Because I wanted to be a good dad, good husband. So instead I went through the people door of the garage, which tripped the alarm. So I go through that door, the alarm starts beeping and I can't hear it because I'm taking the garage carts, the garbage carts, down to the road. And when I get down to the road and I just feel so, so accomplished. Why? Because I got the garbage out. What a man, I am right. And then I hear it, the house alarm goes off. It sounds like Gabriel blasting the trumpet for Jesus coming back, you know, and it's so loud and I walk in and they're just both screaming, crying, mad at me, and I ruined it all.
Speaker 1:I was trying to be so good and that's just kind of how things are. You know, sometimes the harder we try, the more we fail. Well, that's what I wanna talk about this morning. I wanna talk about this morning that the Christian life is not about trying harder. The Christian life is not about doing better. The Christian life is not about just constantly being the best person that you can possibly be.
Speaker 1:I wanna talk to you this morning about the secret to growing as a godly man, the secret to growing as a godly man, the secret to growing as a godly man and, by the way, spoiler alert, this does not just apply to men. These verses apply to all of us, apply to you, ladies, as well. It applies to everyone and I want you to see that it is a secret because, just to be honest with you, not many people talk about this. Well, not many churches go this direction. I will explain, but I also want you to see it's the secret to growing as a godly man.
Speaker 1:The reason I did not put the secret to being a godly man is because you and I, none of us, as Christians, will ever arrive. You and I, none of us, as Christians, will ever arrive If our goal is Christ-likeness, and we will never attain unto Christ-likeness in this life. The Bible does say 1 John 3, verse two, that when we see him, we shall be like him, because we will see him as he is, that there will be a glorification moment in your life, that you will become perfectification moment in your life that you will become perfect, but never in this life. In this life, we never arrive. So, hear me, therefore, we always strive. We never arrive. Therefore, we always strive. And so there's never a season, there's never a year, there's never a time in your life that you aren't supposed to be growing as a Christian. So the question is what is the secret to grow as a Christian? What is the secret to grow as a godly man? It's funny to me.
Speaker 1:When Mother's Day rolls around, it's typically one of the two or three largest Sundays that we have all year. It's unbelievable why? Because one of the gifts that everyone wants to give to mama is that we're all gonna go to church this morning, right? And Father's Day even though this looks like a great attendance praise the Lord for what he's doing Father's Day is not traditionally a high attendance Sunday because there are so many dads that they say what do you want for Father's Day? To not go to church on that Sunday morning? But you're not those people, you're not those dads, you're not those fathers. I'm proud of you for being here. Sometimes it goes like this On Mother's Day, moms come in on Sunday morning and we preach these beautiful messages on how much we love moms and how moms are incredible servants and they have all these humble sacrifices and they're the real superheroes of the home. And then Father's Day rolls around and it's kind of like man, you stink and you need to grow up and be a real man and you need to try harder and do better. And, just to be honest, I don't want to be that kind of church because I don't believe that we serve that kind of God. Amen.
Speaker 1:I believe that we need to be the type of church that the word of God is calling us to be. That I want us to be a church that we are encouraging men, that we're empowering men, that we are equipping men. I want to prepare young men to be a biblical man. I want to equip and empower those men that are leading their families and loving their families. I want to restore men that have made mistakes in their life and reconcile men to become a part of their families again, because that's what I believe the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, that's what I believe that Jesus does. Yeah, I want us, as a church, to celebrate biblical manhood, because the world does not celebrate biblical manhood. Amen. We know that the world doesn't celebrate biblical manhood, but the word of God does, and so, because the word calls us to, we're going to.
Speaker 1:The world asks the question today what is a man? They're confused, they don't understand what a real man is, but the word of God is very clear what is a man? A man is someone whom God has created in his image that he, god, has made him a male at birth. Can I get an amen? The Bible says a man is one that believes that God is his creator, that Jesus is his savior, that the Holy Spirit is his sustainer, that the word of God is his book of truth, that the church of God is his spiritual family and his wife and his children are those that he sacrifices, he loves and he lives his life for. If you believe that, put your hands together for all of the real men that God has placed in our church. The problem is, today there are a lot of churches that don't make real biblical, godly men, and here's why Because they just talk about all the little tips and tricks and life hacks in order to become a better man, to rob men of the secret power that we are able to tap into in order to grow as a godly man.
Speaker 1:I believe we see that this morning in the book of Exodus, and it would be so easy for me to start with Exodus, chapter 20, with the 10 commandments. It'd be so easy for me to preach this God's top 10 tips on being a man. Have no other gods before me. Don't make for yourself a carved image. Don't have any idols in your life. Don't take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. Don't say his name in an unworshipful way. Don't take him for granted.
Speaker 1:Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Make sure and keep Jesus' day, jesus' day, his day. He said that he's get one day and we get the other six. Number five honor your father and your mother. Number six don't murder. And Jesus said if you hate your heart, it's like murder. Don't commit adultery. Jesus said if you lust in your heart, it's like committing adultery. Don't steal, don't take anything that's not yours. Don't bear false witness, don't lie. Be a man of the truth and don't covet. Be content why? Because coveting is when we compare ourselves to others. In comparison is the greatest enemy to joy.
Speaker 1:It'd be very easy for me to preach that, and some of y'all are convicted, and you're ready for the invitation right now. You needed to hear this today. It'd be easy to preach that, but that's actually not even the point that God is giving to us in the 10 commandments. He doesn't give us the Ten Commandments as rules to follow when everything is going to be okay. The Bible says that the reason God gives us his law like we see all the different laws in the book of Exodus, that we're not going to be able to go over them he gives us his laws to reveal his sinlessness in our sinfulness, in order to reveal his perfect character in our imperfect problem. And so, when we look at the word of God, it is not just obey all the rules and you'll be a better person. No, there's actually a much deeper secret than that that I wanna share with you. And that secret, I'm going to break it down into three parts. And number one you can write this down as men, but also as all Christians. Number one what must we do? We must destroy all of our idols. We must destroy all of our idols, and the reason I put that as first is because it comes first in this passage. It's fascinating.
Speaker 1:Moses is this man that looks like he doesn't grow up in a godly home? We know that Moses was. It was during that time that the Pharaoh was killing all the babies. Moses' mom put baby Moses in the river and Pharaoh's daughter, the Egyptian princess, finds him and it looks like that, for a while at least, that Moses' mom has contact in his life, but we don't know for how long. He spends about 40 years in the Egyptian palace. He goes through all of the Egyptian education. He is most likely being prepared to be the next Pharaoh. He is most likely worshiping all of these other idols, all of these other gods. He's most likely living his life like the Egyptians, living his life like the world. Moses is no different from me and you, as we are caught up in our world and there's influences and there's temptations and there's pressures and there's all these type things.
Speaker 1:And then we know that the Bible says that in Exodus 3, moses goes up on a mountain as he is tending sheep, after a story that he had run away from Egypt, and God shows up to him, as we talked about before, in a burning bush, and God reveals himself to him. And isn't it interesting that God reveals himself for our salvation even before he gives us the rules. Even before the 10 commandments. God revealed himself to him so that Moses would believe him. Even before the 10 commandments, god rescues, delivers and saves his people before he gives them the rules. Why? Because the rules don't save us, the law doesn't save us. Belief in Jesus Christ saves us. And then we see, and, men, I just want you to hear me.
Speaker 1:What happens next is we're going through the book of Exodus. If you've missed any of Genesis or Exodus, you can go back on our podcast or social media, youtube. You can watch, you can listen. But just as a reminder, we remember that. How did God save them? God saved them by pouring out judgment on their enemies, on Egypt, in the same way that God has poured out judgment on your sin in the person of Jesus Christ at the cross.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that the sacrificial, the Passover lambs, were sacrificed so that the people would not be destroyed like the Egyptians were destroyed, and in the same way, jesus is our Passover sacrifice, that he's been sacrificed on our behalf. The Bible says that God rescued them, he delivered them out of Egypt and he opened up the Red Sea, and the Bible says that is like their baptism. So already through Exodus, god is calling us to believe in him, to follow him, to be baptized in him, to be saved by him. The Bible says that they were physically visibly led by a pillar of cloud and fire, which is the person of the Holy Spirit in our life, that we first must be a follower before we are a leader. The Bible says that he miraculously provided water for them and manna for them and quail for them, and even one battles on their behalf. All the same thing that God does for us. That he provides all the water that you need, all the food that you need, that he's fighting your battles for you, as long as you are worshiping him. So we're not starting with destroy your idols, we're starting with God is already saved, he's already rescued, he's already done miracles, he's already revealed himself.
Speaker 1:And then here's what we see when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. If you remember, last week God came down to the top of a mountain to reveal himself, his power, his presence. His week God came down to the top of a mountain to reveal himself, his power, his presence, his glory, his holiness and God comes down and then he calls one man up and Moses goes up the mountain. The Bible says he's up there some 40 days and 40 nights and the people of Israel at the bottom of the mountain delayed, as Moses delayed to come down from the mountain. The people gathered themselves together to Aaron and they said to him it looks like a mutiny, it looks like they're threatening Aaron Up, get up, aaron, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. By the way. Moses did not bring them up out of the land of Egypt. God did. Moses was following God as they were following Moses.
Speaker 1:They were giving way too much credit to Moses here, and it's very interesting. Moses has only been on this mountain for 40 days. God has already done all of these miracles and in just a matter of 40 days or less they have completely lost their faith in God. After all of the powerful miracles he has done, they are already saying we're not gonna worship God anymore, we're gonna worship idols. And before we think that they're crazy, we have to first admit in our lives. The same is true for us, that we can walk away from a great church service, a powerful time of devotion, a life-changing conference, a book that you've read on Christianity, or a worship service or a concert, and you can walk away and return to the same sins that you've always struggled with and your life never changes.
Speaker 1:See, they are here making idols. The Bible says so. All the people took off their rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron, and he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said these are your gods, o Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. They're struggling with idolatry. Notice what idolatry does. Idolatry takes God off the throne, replaces him with something else in our life. Also, notice you only have two choices in life who you worship. You either worship the creator or you worship the creation. There is no in between. It's fascinating to me as John Calvin, one of the reformers, fathers of the reform movement, john Calvin said that our hearts are so sinful that our hearts are like idol factories. We fashion or we create idols in our life all the time.
Speaker 1:What is an idol? Because I'm going to go ahead and go out on a limb and I'm going to make a guess that none of us bow down to any little figurine and pray. But that's not all that an idol is. An idol is anything in our life that keeps us from Jesus. An idol is anything in our life that keeps us from going deeper with Jesus. An idol is anything in our life that keeps us from getting closer to Jesus. That's why 1 John 21 says keep yourself from idols. Why? Because idols keep you from God, and so we need to be a people who are identifying our idols.
Speaker 1:I remember there was a time, years ago, that God identified an idol in my life that I had no idea that I struggled with. I had no idea the addiction that it was. I had no idea how Satan was using it in my life to weaken my relationship with Jesus, even as a pastor. And that idol in my life as crazy as it sounds I was idolizing sleep. I never felt like I could get enough sleep. I would wake up in the morning and I was just dragging around tired and I felt like I had to keep going to bed earlier. I felt like I had to keep staying in bed later I never felt like I could get enough sleep.
Speaker 1:I went to the sleep doctor. He did all the tests on me. He said you don't have sleep apnea. He said here you go, read this book on sleep. And you've heard me say before it was a book called Good Night Mind. I really recommend it. Good Night Mind, not Good Night Moon Completely different book that'll help your kid go to sleep, but this one's Good Night Mind, that'll help you go to sleep. God used it to change my life. But hear me, god wasn't just giving me better sleep. Here's what God was doing in my life he was giving me better sleep so that I could get up earlier, so I could spend my first hour with him.
Speaker 1:See, god is not just getting rid of sin in our life. He's not just getting addiction and temptation and brokenness out of our life. What he's doing is he is ridding ourself, hebrews says, of all weight in our life so that we can run after God all the more. If you believe that, say amen, because that's what we're called to do. We're called to identify our idols. In other words, what is the one thing in your life that is keeping you from going deeper with Jesus. What is the one thing in your life that is keeping you from getting closer to Jesus? That would be the number one idol in your life and I would call you to identify it and I would call you to destroy it. Number two is prioritize God's presence. Everyone say presence. Prioritize God's presence. I just, I love what God is showing us here.
Speaker 1:One of God's greatest promises in your life, in my life, in our life, is that he would just be present with us. God is a present father. He's not an absent father. If you're a dad in here, I would just encourage you the greatest gift that you could give your kids, the greatest gift that you could give your family, the greatest gift that you could give your wife, is just be present. I heard someone say that the key to fatherhood is must be present to win, and we see that that that is coming from our heavenly father, god himself. As he is offering us, he's promising us his presence.
Speaker 1:It says, and he said God said to Moses my presence will go with you, I will give you rest. And Moses said to God if your presence will not go with me, then do not bring us up from here. I love that that Moses said God, if your presence doesn't go first, if you're not leading, if you're not taking me there, then I'm not going. I pray that I would be a man of God that says God, I'm not going to go anywhere that you're not taking me to, I'm not going to go anywhere that you don't lead me to God, I have no business being anywhere if you are not there. And I know that God is everywhere, he's omnipresent. But the point is, is God leading us there?
Speaker 1:That is Moses' heart. Why? Because he has seen the glory of God. He says for how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Moses is saying if you don't go with me, then how are we going to have your favor? And that is so true. With the presence of God comes the blessing of God. Hear me. Moses said God, I am desperate for your favor. What is the favor of God? The favor of God is the blessing of God, is the grace of God. The favor of God comes from the Son of God. How do you know if you have the favor of God? The question is, if you have Jesus, if you have the Son of God, how do you know if you have the favor of God. The question is if you have Jesus, if you have the Son of God, you have the favor of God. Why? Because twice in the Gospels, in the Mount of Transfiguration and Jesus' baptism, god spoke down in an audible voice and he said this is my Son, in whom I am well pleased. In other words, because Jesus is God's Son, jesus is God's favorite.
Speaker 1:It's just like I look at Brooklyn and I say baby girl, what are you? You are my. And she'll say favorite, I'm your favorite daddy. And I say that's right, baby girl, brooklyn, you are my favorite. Who else is my favorite? And she'll say Cruz, cruz is your favorite. I say that's right. And who else is my favorite? And she'll say Eliana. Eliana is your favorite. I say that's right. And I say but Brooklyn, you are my. And she'll say favorite, I'm your favorite. And it's true, all of my kids are my favorite. I love each and every one of my kids equally, but yet fully. Love each and every one of my kids equally, but yet fully. There's not one kid that I love more than another. And in the same way, hear me, there is not one person on the planet that God loves more than he loves you. He loves all of his children equally and he loves all of his children fully and the Bible says that he favors you if you are his child because you are his favorite in Christ. God favors you, he says.
Speaker 1:Moses says is not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth. Moses is saying God, when you go with us, you are the one that makes us different. You're the one that makes us distinct. Or the Bible says in other places that we are a peculiar people. In other words, we are not called to be like the world.
Speaker 1:One pastor put it this way, he said. He said the majority of the world are overwhelmed, stressed, worried, living paycheck to paycheck, broke in deep debt, fighting in the relationships, 50% of the marriages ending in divorce, depressed and many are suicidal. He said if that is what is normal, then why do you want to be like everybody else? He said maybe it's time for Christians to be weird, maybe it's time for Christians to be different. Maybe it's time for Christians to be distinct.
Speaker 1:Maybe God wants to do something different in your life, in that we're not trying to be like the world, but God does something in our life that the world wants to be like us. Maybe, instead of being overwhelmed, that God is going to give us peace Instead of being stressed, to make us hopeful Instead of worried. That we're going to be able to trust him Instead of just living paycheck to paycheck. He's going to make us good stewards Instead of broke. He's going to make us generous in the way that we give Instead of fighting in our relationships. That he's going gonna teach us how to be loving and to be humble, instead of our marriages ending in divorce. He's gonna make us faithful and loyal. Instead of being depressed and suicidal, he's gonna make us joyful.
Speaker 1:Maybe God wants to do something so distinct in your life that everybody looks at you and says that dude is weird and I wanna be just like him because that's what God loves to do. He says I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth. And the Lord said to Moses this is the very thing that you have spoken, this very thing I'm going to do for you and my people for you have found favor in my sight and I love this and I know you by name. What a comfort it is that your heavenly Father knows you by name. He knows you by name. The Bible says that he knows the number of your days. The Bible says that he knows the number of hairs on your head.
Speaker 1:That is more difficult for God for some people than other people. God knows your deepest, darkest secrets. He knows your worst sin. He knows your greatest struggle. He knows your hardest temptation. He knows your most wicked of thoughts and desires. And yet he loves you and he is for you and his favor is loves you and he is for you and his favor is on you and he forgives you and he empowers you. And it's all because of his presence in your life. But here's what I want to encourage you with this morning God can be present with you, but you're not present with him.
Speaker 1:As a believer, we go through seasons in our life, as I have, and I'm sure that you have, that God is always present. The Bible says that he never leaves us nor forsakes us, but yet we don't practice the presence of God. We don't say God, I'm not going anywhere without you. And God, you're so incredible and God, you're so primary. And God, I'm not going anywhere without you. And God, you're so incredible and God, you're so primary and God, you're the priority of my life. And so I am going to spend a time every day of my life and I believe that God calls us to, if at all possible, that that time is in your morning To stop, to pause, possibly, to get up before everybody else so that you can get before God in his word and you can experience him. And you can encounter him and, like Moses, all by himself on the mountaintop, that he's the one that got the experience of God.
Speaker 1:And that's what God is offering you and that's what God is offering me, when we humble ourselves before him and we get in his word and on our knees and say God, I need you to speak to me this morning. God, I need your presence, I need your power, I need your favor. God, you know me by name. God, I need you to speak to me this morning. God, I need your presence, I need your power, I need your favor. God, you know me by name. God, I'm hurting. God, I'm struggling. God, I need help. God, I need you because you're the secret. I need you to transform me, I need you to make me different.
Speaker 1:God, I need you to do a work in my life, because Jesus said my sheep will hear my voice. If you're one of God's children, you're one of Jesus' sheep, you're gonna hear his voice. And Jesus knows you. And the Bible says that you're gonna follow him, not in perfection, but in direction. You're not gonna be able to help it, because he's your shepherd. You just can't help but follow him.
Speaker 1:And so what do we do? The secret to growing as a godly man we've got to destroy our idols. We've got to prioritize God's presence. And then, number three, we've gotta plead for God's glory. We've gotta plead for God's glory. This is what Moses said. Moses said please show me your glory, god. Which is interesting because Moses has already seen more of God than we feel like that we could ever see in our life. But yet Moses just wanted all the more. He couldn't get enough God, because God is inexhaustible, he's infinite, it's unlimited. There's always more to God, there's always more of God, and the closer you get to him, the more you want of him.
Speaker 1:Whether you're in a valley in your life, like we all go through, and you're struggling and you're hurting and you're doubting and you're questioning what is your answer To see God's glory, god, show me your glory, or you're in a mountaintop of your life. You're at a spiritual peak. You've never experienced such victory in your life. What do you need? More of God's glory? And he said. God said, I will make all of my goodness pass before you and I'll proclaim before you my name, the Lord and Moses. I'm gonna be gracious to you. Whom I will be? I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and I will show mercy? On whom I will show mercy?
Speaker 1:Sometimes we get so caught up in the greatness of God that we forget about the goodness of God. God is great, but he's so good to you. He's already given you so much grace, he's already given you so much mercy. And I think so often as men, our desire is I just wanna be a great man, and we forget about the importance of just being a good man, just being good to the people around us, being loving, being kind, being gracious, being merciful, being like our heavenly father is to us, being to them. He says.
Speaker 1:But he said you cannot see my face, moses, you wanna see my glory, but I can't show you my face, for man shall not be able to see me and live. And the Lord said behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock and while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take my hand away and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. And it's fascinating. God does that for Moses.
Speaker 1:After everything that Moses has seen, he didn't want to see any more miracles. He didn't want to see any more miracles. He didn't want to see any more magic. He didn't want to see any more tricks. He wanted to see God. And God said if you see me, you won't live. If you see my face, you'll die. But I want to answer your request. And so, moses, you're just going to be able to see my back.
Speaker 1:And the Bible says and this is fascinating, the Bible says that the Lord passed before him. It says when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand. He came down from the mountain and Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. In other words, if you've really spent time with God, to where God is changing your life. Everyone is gonna be able to tell You're gonna be different. Your face is gonna be different. There's gonna be a peace about you. There's gonna be a smile about you. There's gonna be a joy about you. There's gonna be a smile about you. There's gonna be a joy about you. There's gonna be a rest about you. There's gonna be a love about you. There's gonna be a difference about you, and maybe they won't even be able to put their finger on it, but you'll know what it is.
Speaker 1:And the Bible says, whenever someone has a question about your life, that you'll be able to share the hope of the gospel with them. When you spend time with God, god changes your life. It's the secret to growing as a godly man. It's the secret to growing as a godly person. And then the apostle Paul summed it all up with this verse, and I'll be done.
Speaker 1:The apostle Paul looks at that event Moses on the mountain, coming down his face shining. The Old Testament said that Moses had to put a veil over his face because his face was so different, it was so changed, it was so transformed from the glory of God that it freaked everybody out. And Paul comes back. And Paul says thousands of years later. He says we all, with unveiled faces, we too are beholding the glory of the Lord. How do you behold the glory of the Lord? When you worship him in church, when you worship him with the bride of Christ, with the body of Christ, when you see life change right before your eyes, what God is doing in people's lives, when you praise God for what only God can do, when you get in the word of God and you say God, show me your glory. And God shines his glory into your heart, into your eyes, to where you are changed and what God has done cannot be undone. The Bible says that we are being transformed, that when we see this glory, we're being transformed into the same image. In other words, god is is making you like Jesus, his very son. We're being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another meaning. Whatever stage or wherever you are in your spiritual life, god still has another degree of glory for you. God still has more life change for you. God still has more life change for you. God still has more miracles to do in your life, more of his goodness to show you why. Because all of this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Speaker 1:Christian life is not about do better. It's not about work harder. It's not about just obey all the rules. Make sure that you follow the laws. It starts with spending personal time with the God, who knows your name, who wants to show you his glory, who calls you his favorite. He wants to do the work in your life as you follow his son and you follow his word. You can't do the spiritual work in your own life. We just make ourselves available to God. Make ourselves available to God. God is present with him. God is present with you. The secret is for you to be present with him.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna ask every head to be bowed, every eye to be closed, no one looking around, and maybe just hear in this moment that you just need to be honest with God. And maybe you just need to tell God right now where you are in your relationship with him. He already knows, but it's important that you know and that you're honest with him. And maybe this morning you need to ask God God, I just need your goodness, or God, I just need your glory? God, I just need your presence. God, I need your power to destroy that idol in my life. God, I just need more of you. Maybe you're here this morning and you're just. The Holy Spirit is convicting you and revealing to you that you've not experienced any of this because you haven't yet given your life fully over to God yet. And I just wanna lead you through a prayer this morning.
Speaker 1:I can't say this prayer for you and I can't save you, but the Bible says if you pray this prayer, you mean it with all of your heart, that you will be saved forever. You could pray something like this from your own heart, in your own words, to God. You can say God, I believe in you, I love you and I need you. And God, I believe in Jesus, your son, that he died for my sin. I ask you to forgive me of all of my sin and I ask you to help me to turn from my sin and turn and live my life for him, jesus, and you can tell him God, I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, he's alive, he's real and I want him to be the Lord of my life, my master, my God, my Savior. And the Bible says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So you just call on him right now to be the Lord of your life and God, we believe that and we love you and we pray that in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1:And all God's people said would you put your hands together this morning for anybody that gave their life to Jesus, that joined the family this morning? We just want to say welcome to the family of God. It is so good to have you. God loves you and now you are our brother or sister in Jesus Christ. I just want to remind you this morning that there's a Next Step card in front of you, that you can grab one of those and fill it out. You can take it to our Next Step station and just let us know if you've been saved. You need to be baptized, you want to join a group or a ministry or anything like that. We just want to help you in your Christian walk and helping you in the way in which that you journey with Jesus.
Speaker 1:I'm going to ask us all to stand up right now and we're going to sing one last song after I pray, but I just want to say a prayer of blessing over you this morning before we worship him. Let's pray, heavenly Father. I pray, god, that we would just recognize and we would acknowledge and we would be aware of your presence in our lives. May we not go anywhere without your presence. God, I pray that we would recognize the idols in our life that Satan throws our way to trip us up, to hold us back as hindrances, as hurdles in the way in which that we get closer to Jesus. God, I pray that you would give us the power to destroy our idols so that we can follow Jesus all the more. And, god, I pray that you would show us your glory. God, do things in our life that only you can do.
Speaker 1:God, I pray for all of the people in this room. God, I pray for miracles in their lives. God, I pray that you would help them to overcome any addiction that may be in their life, a broken relationship that may be in their life. You provide for them financially any financial struggle that's in their life. God, I pray that you would bring healing to people in their life that may be struggling with a sickness or a disorder or a disease. God, I pray that you would show them your goodness. Father, I pray that you would work in people's lives that might just feel so alone, empty, lacking or in need, god, that you would show them that you're enough. We thank you on this Father's Day that you are our perfect heavenly Father, and so we sing to you through your Son. We love you. We pray these things in Jesus' name, and all God's people said