Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Good morning, Westgate Chapel. Won't you stand and join us?
Our praise awaits you with the dawn our souls awake to you and lift a song We've seen the things that you have done and still we know Know the best is yet to come there's more to come Open the gates and let your glory come down Open our hearts and let our worship pour out there Pour out.
Your presence here is all we need. You break our chains the sounds of victory.
You're changing everything.
Open the gates of man Pour out Open our hearts and let your worship pour out.
Open the gates and let your glory come down Open our hearts and let our worship pour out.
Come flood this space no one else could take your place.
Come have your way no one else could take your place.
Come flood this place no one else could take your place.
Come have your way no one else could take your place.
Open the gate and let your glory come down Open our hearts and let our worship pour out Open the gates and let your glory come down Open our hearts and let our worship pour out.
Let it pour out.
It's.
I believe there is one salvation.
One doorway that leads to life.
One redemption. One confession. I believe in the name of Jesus Christ.
I believe in the crucifixion.
By his blood I have been set free.
I believe in the resurrection.
Hallelujah. His life is death.
Amen.
All praise to God the Father.
All praise to Christ the Son.
All praise to the Holy Spirit.
How God has overcome the king who was and is ever more will be in Jesus, mighty name. I believe, I believe in the hope of heaven. He's preparing a place for me Far beyond my hearts Imagine ears have heard or eyes have seen.
I believe that our days come he's returning to claim his bride.
Light the altar keep it burning See the lamb who rose a roaring light.
All praise to God the Father.
All praise to Christ the Son.
All praise to the Holy Spirit.
How God has overcome the King who was and is and ever more will be in Jesus mighty name I believe.
No one ever be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
How could I ever walk away from the one who saved my life?
You know I'll never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
How could I ever walk away from the one who saved my life?
Oh no, I'll never be ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
How could I ever walk away from the one who saved my life?
All praise to God our Father.
All praise to Christ the Son.
All praise to the Holy Spirit.
How God has overcome the King who Was and is evermore will be In Jesus mighty name I believe and all praise to God our Father all praise to Christ the Son all praise to the Holy Spirit Our God has overcome the kingdom Was and is and ever more will be In Jesus mighty name I believe In Jesus mighty name I believe.
I believe I believe.
Oh, you know I believe.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Good morning, Westgate Chapel.
[00:09:03] Speaker A: Good morning.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Oh, man, I had to do this first service too. Let's try it one more time. Good morning, Westgate.
[00:09:09] Speaker C: Good morning.
[00:09:10] Speaker B: That was much better. You guys are awake. If I haven't met you yet. My name is Marlena and I am the director of kids ministry here at Westgate Chapel. And this is my friend Kayla, everybody. Say hi, Kayla.
[00:09:21] Speaker A: Hi, Kayla.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: We are so excited that you are here. If this is your first time visiting with us, we welcome you and we are excited that you're here to worship with us today. If you look in front of you in the pew, there is a card there that says connect. And that is one of the best ways to get involved at Westgate Chapel is to fill that card out and then that goes to our staff and we're able to reach out to you and answer any questions you might have about what it looks like to get involved at Westgate. Also, if you're on the live stream. Everybody say hello to the live stream. Hello, livestream. We are glad that you joined us as well. And also we have an app. So if you have not downloaded the app, there's actually notes on there. You can get the sermon notes downloaded on there and also all of our information about our upcoming events. Speaking of two upcoming things, if you have a child and they have not dedicated them yet, we actually have a class coming up September 20th. Maybe you're like, I don't even know what child dedication is. Is that where you like dunk em in the water? What is that? We don't do that. But we would love to talk to you about what child dedication looks like and how it's really just a partnership between the church and you. And so there's a class, I'll actually be teaching that. So I'd love to get to meet you.
And you can sign up for that on westgatechapel.org events or on the app. The second thing I have is in your sermon notes. I think everybody got this class. Does everybody pull it out? Classes brochure.
This is an awesome way on Sunday mornings that there's different things that we offer that we would love for you to be able to be a part of. There's Old Testament. There's baptism classes coming up. There's all kinds of things. So check that out for our most upcoming classes. And the third in my. My most exciting thing that I'm excited to talk about is Mom Life. Has anybody been involved with our Mom Life ministry before?
One person. Thank you, Sarah. Just. Okay, awesome.
If you don't know about it, Mom Life is our ministry to moms of with children who are preschool and below. And actually we have Kayla here, who is our new Mom Life director along, which is actually leading a team with a couple of others. And she's just going to talk to us about what Mom Life has meant to her and why. Maybe you should consider getting involved.
[00:11:40] Speaker D: Okay. Hi, I'm Kayla. I'm so excited for another year of Mom Life.
I'm really grateful to be a part of this ministry. I actually started attending Westgate a few years ago after being invited to Mom Life during a really difficult season of motherhood. My husband and I had just moved back to Toledo from Columbus. We had three kids under the age of three, which was a lot, obviously, to do that. And we were just looking for community. And so when I came to Mom Life, it was a breath of fresh air. Usually when you get mom together, there's a lot of venting about how tired we are and how hard potty training is. And with Mom Life, I felt like I was getting the godly encouragement that I needed to get through that season, not just rambling about how hard it was and really learning to appreciate that God is forming and shaping us during that time in our lives and that the hardships of motherhood are a great opportunity to learn how to worship God despite all of the difficulties that you're facing. And that's what we're wanting to create with Mom Life is a place for moms to come together to be discipled by women who have already walked that road before.
So we would love for you to join us. If you're a mom of preschoolers or below and you would like to come and meet some other moms at church, have breakfast. Your kids are going to be in childcare, so you're going to get to chew your food. It's going to be peaceful and enjoyable.
Or if you're a mom who has already kind of gone through that season of life, you have some time in your schedule and you are looking for a way to mentor and disciple other moms who are still starting their families. We'd love to talk to you about how you can get involved. You can talk to Me, Marlena, Vicki Foley or Julianne Ward. We'd love to get you plugged in.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: That's right. And also there's a there's more than just obviously we really need our table mom. So if that's something you're interested. Like she said, also we need people who we do. We have paid child care that we pay our child care workers. So if you're interested in loving on the littles while their moms get to be fed and have friendship, please reach out to me because there's lots of need and we have an awesome church who is willing to come alongside these moms and in this challenging season. So definitely already had one mom talk to us at 9am who was really excited to jump in. So if that's you, definitely please come and talk to us because it's just a great way for not only our church but it's a great opportunity like you are invited by someone else to invite people who don't know the Lord yet. We have women who do not know Jesus actively sitting at these tables with people who do love Jesus getting to speak the truth of who Jesus has made them to be and how he has not forgotten them this season. So we invite you to pray for us and to partner with us. Also is your all favorite time for you to stand up and to meet someone maybe you haven't met before or give one of your best buddies a nice high five or a hug.
[00:14:26] Speaker A: We serve an amazing God.
[00:14:27] Speaker B: Amen.
[00:14:30] Speaker A: God who's there through every storm and every trial.
[00:14:34] Speaker C: Let's lift him up.
[00:14:41] Speaker A: Christ is my first firm foundation the rock on which I stand when everything around me is shaking I never been more glad I put my faith in Jesus he's never let me down he's faithful through generation so why would he fail now?
He won't, he won't I've still got joy in chaos I've got peace that makes no sense so I won't be going under I'm not hell by my own strength Cause I built my life on Jesus he's never let me down he's faithful in every season so why would he fail now?
He won't, he won't.
He won't fail he won't fail he won't oh no no he won't he won't fail he won't fail Christ is my firm found he's the rock on which I stand when everything around me is shaken I've never been more glad I put my faith in Jesus he's never let me down His Face people through generation so I would keep them now he won't, he won't, he won't fail he won't fail.
No matter what you face he's there for you Every time.
Rain came, wind blew.
My house was built on you I safe with you I'm gonna make it through.
My house was built on you
[00:18:35] Speaker B: I
[00:18:36] Speaker A: saved with you I'm gonna make it
[00:18:42] Speaker B: through
[00:18:45] Speaker A: we came with My house was built on you I'm saving you I'm gonna make it through yeah I'm gonna make it through.
Cause I'm standing strong on you yeah, I'm gonna make it through.
Cause my house Christ is my firm foundation the rock on which I stand.
Everything around me is shaken.
I've never been more glad.
I put my faith in Jesus.
He's never let me down.
He's faithful through generation so why would he fail now?
He won't, he won't, he won't fail.
He won't fail,
[00:20:23] Speaker C: No
[00:20:25] Speaker A: he won't.
He won't fail.
He won't fail, no, he won't.
How great the chasm that lay between us.
How high the mountain I could not climb.
In desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night.
Then through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul.
The work is finished, the end is written.
Jesus Christ, my living hope.
Who could he imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages step down from glory to wear, my son and bear my shame.
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven.
The King of Kings calls me his own beautiful savior.
I'm yours forever.
Jesus Christ, my living Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Praise the one who set me free.
Hallelujah.
Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.
Hallelujah.
Praise the one who set me free.
Hallelujah.
Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.
Then came the morning that sealed the promise.
Your buried body began to breathe.
Out of the silence.
The roaring lion declared. The grave has no claim on you.
When came the morning the promise.
Your dead body began to breathe.
Out of the silence.
The roaring lion declared. Rain has no claim on me, Jesus. Yours is the victory.
Oh, hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free.
Hallelujah.
Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living voice.
Praise the one who set me Free.
Hallelujah.
Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every shame. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope calling you.
Praise the one, One who set me free.
Hallelujah.
Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.
Jesus Christ, my living hopeful God, you are my.
[00:26:31] Speaker C: Amen. Is God good?
He is good. Amen.
[00:26:36] Speaker D: Hey.
[00:26:36] Speaker C: It is so good to be here with you this morning to worship the Lord together before.
Before we come to a time of prayer.
Just want to remind you we've been talking the last few weeks about a project we've been doing at Door Ellen elementary and kind of walking you through some of the transformation of a courtyard that we have been working on for them to create a space that is good for teachers to be able to have this inner courtyard to kind of hang out and have some quiet time, but as well for classrooms to be able to come together. This picture is what it looked like when it started.
We had a team of people come out this past week and this is what it looks like today as we finished phase one. It looks fantastic.
We are finishing a mural that is on that back wall, but this is the space that we're creating for kids. And there was just a large number of people that have been involved over the past many weeks that came out and this weekend especially to help us complete this project. And I just want to say thank you, church. I want to say thank you for your generosity. Many people gave money towards this project as well. There were so many of you that gave of your time and your talent to come and to help put it all together. And I just want to tell you that your love for the people in our community is making an impact and the relationship that we have been able to develop with Door is just so beautiful as we show and share God's love with them as well.
We were able to invite the teachers and administrators this past week from Door over here for a breakfast to kind of kick off their year together. And just thank you, thank you, thank you for being a people who show and share the love of Jesus so that people might know him. God is good. Can we give him glory this morning? He is good.
I just want to say before we pray over our offering this morning, if you would like to be involved with our missional team for Door elementary, make sure that you connect with our local outreach director, Lindsay Hopkemeier. She would love to connect you in with that ministry if you want to serve. Whether it's on projects or throughout the week. There are different needs. Just a great way to love on that community. So be sure to check with her. Let me know. I'll connect you with her. But again, just a great way to continue to make an impact in our community.
We're going to take our offering, so let's pray together. Let's give this moment to the Lord God. Thank you for the ways in which you give us a chance to show and share the love of Jesus with others. May you always keep it at the forefront of our minds that, Lord, we are a testimony of who you are. And so, Lord, teach us to love freely.
Teach us, Father, to love unconditionally.
Open up our eyes to see the opportunities that you are giving us every day and continue to place a passion in our hearts, God, so that people would know you, Father, as we come to this time of offering again, Lord, giving of our resources is a recognition for us that it comes from you, and it's our joy to purchase, participate with you and what you're doing.
We acknowledge, God, that in some sense you don't need our gifts, Lord. You can do anything and everything.
And yet you've called us to this discipline that we would learn to put our hope and our faith and our trust in you. And then, Father, you take it and you multiply it. And you do such incredible things in changing people's lives. And so we pray that you would do that today, change our hearts first and use what we give to transform the lives of others that they would know you. We love you, Jesus. We pray it in your name. Amen.
As we take our morning offering, our offering buckets are here on the center aisles. You can pass those out to the sides. And if you are in the balcony, they're in the corners, and we'll kind of pass them in towards the middle. But let's just continue to worship in our giving for the next few moments before we jump into the word together.
Well, again, it is good to be here with you. And I'm just gonna be honest. We got a lot of material to cover, people. So I'm gonna move as quick as I can today. But I want to begin with this. How many parents are happy that school's back in session? Anybody? All right, all right. How many kids are not any students in here? Excellent. Good, good.
I figured that might be the case. School has started. Even my youngest starter, Gracie, it feels like all week long she's coming home and giving me the play by play of how school has been going. Talking to me about who her favorite.
What her favorite classes and teachers are and which ones are not necessarily going to be. She's been sharing that all week. And it made me think. I think all of us, as we went through high school or even in college had favorite classes and not so favorite classes. I want you to turn to the person next to you for the next 30 seconds. You share with them. What was your favorite class? What is your least favorite Go.
Wow.
I feel like we struck a chord.
How many people would say that your favorite class was lunch? Anybody here?
I love the honesty.
I love the honesty. How many people would say that their most hated class was all of them? Anybody?
Maybe a handful of you. Okay, again, a lot of great honesty. You know, as I went through high school, especially, my favorite classes were weightlifting and band.
They were the easiest. By far. My least favorite class of all time was English literature.
Hey, hey, we're in good company. God bless you. All right, so English literature. I hated reading books, and it felt especially I hated reading books that felt impossible to understand, like Shakespeare. Can I get amen at least a couple of you. Some of you are like, oh, you are so unschooled and educated.
But, hey, I hated reading books I couldn't understand. So I'll be honest. In high school, I wasn't a great student.
I didn't usually read the books I read. These little friends, they're called Cliff Notes.
Yeah, that's right. Cliff and I became very good friends.
He helped me to get Cs all through high school students in the room. This is not a recommendation, by the way. Don't do it this way. But because Cliff made it a little bit easier to understand, Even if I wasn't fully prepared for the test. But the one that you see on the screen, Hamlet. I became very, very close friends with this one.
Hamlet by Shakespeare. Didn't find it to be that easy to read. But one of the things that our teacher made us do was memorize certain selections of Hamlet. And you had to choose a selection, memorize it. And so, of course, I was going to try to pick the one that might be the easiest to remember, Maybe the most famous. Anybody know how it's going to start?
Ah, look at you. To be or not to be. That is the question. I wish I could tell you I still have it memorized. I don't. But whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous form, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them, to die, to sleep, no More powerful, huh? I have no idea what it means, but this is what Cliff told me. The backstory is that Hamlet's Uncle Claudius poisoned and killed his father. His uncle then marries his mother, and he is contemplating killing his uncle because his father, father's ghost told him to. Now, if they would have just put that in plain English, I would have been riveted, but I struggled a little bit with it. But in this excerpt, Hamlet is wrestling with whether or not to fight against his uncle and to seek revenge, or he is also wrestling with the idea of taking his own life because it's too much. The pain is too much to bear.
[00:35:19] Speaker B: Literally.
[00:35:19] Speaker C: Literally. What we find is that he is at a crossroads, a place where he must make a very distinct decision about what he is going to choose to do.
This morning, as we continue in our series in the Life of Moses, we find the same exact thing with the Israelites. They find themselves at a crossroads, a moment where God's people are going to have a distinction choice to make to either trust and follow God into all of his promises for them, or to turn away and follow their own devices because of their fear.
I want us to take a moment as we begin to dive into the text today to remember where we have been and how we've gotten here this morning.
If you're following along your sermon notes, go ahead and pull those out. And if you have your Bibles, you can turn to the Book of Numbers. Going to jump forward a little bit. I'll explain that in just a minute. But what we see, letter A, is this. What we know is that God has promised blessing to his people.
The promise that God gave in the book of Genesis to Abraham was this. It was a promise of descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. He promised that he would give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. For he also made the promise that God that he would bless Abraham, that he would make his name great, and that he would use his descendants to bring a blessing to all the families and nations of the earth.
And so with that understanding, we see that as Israel begins to become a nation during the time of Joseph, in the book of Genesis says that they multiply greatly in the land of Egypt, and then in beyond onto the life of Joseph, they multiply and essentially become what is a nation within a nation within Egypt.
But because the Pharaoh begins to get uncomfortable with this large group of people that are not his own, and he begins to fear that they may partner with their enemies on the outside, he says, we have to deal with them. And so he begins with forced enslavement and slavery of the the people. As we read in the text, he also went to beginning to kill the young boys that were being born to the Hebrew women as a way to try to tamp down the growth of this nation.
And we read that it was a 400 year time between the end of Joseph until we begin in the book of Exodus, where God was silent and his people groaned under their oppression in Egypt and under the Pharaoh. And yet God hears their cry and begins to prove letter B. He proves his power.
He comes in power himself. And as we talked about throughout this series, the book of Exodus is really God's introduction of himself to Moses, to his people, and also to Pharaoh and to the whole land of Egypt.
He comes to Moses and he tells Moses, Moses, I have chosen you to deliver my people.
He then takes Moses and uses Moses to deliver messages to Pharaoh that if you do not let my people go, I will bring these plagues on you and your people until you relent. And the intriguing part, as we've talked about, is that in each one of these plagues that God brings, he displays his power over their gods that, that they worshiped in that polytheistic culture, even to the point that during one of the plagues, God says through Moses to Pharaoh, he says, pharaoh, I have raised you up for this very purpose. In other words, Pharaoh, I am the one that gave you your power and your position, and I've raised you up for this purpose that I might show my power and my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. In other words, God says, this is the introduction that everyone would know that the gods of Egypt and the people that you serve are nothing in comparison to me.
And so, because Pharaoh will not relent throughout the plagues, the final 10th plague comes, the death of the firstborn. Pharaoh finally relents. And as we saw last week, as Dan was sharing with us, the people of Israel are delivered and God brings them up against a cul de sac, as we talked about, if you will, the Red Sea. And as Pharaoh's army is approaching, God does one of the most incredible miracles that we read about in scripture. As the sea parts these high walls of water that people walk through on dry ground and are delivered as the waters come and crash back over Pharaoh's army, I'm telling you, it's the kind of stuff that we just long to be be able to have seen the things that God has done. But he delivers his people with an awesome display of power and from there, the Israelites begin their journey to the land that God had promised. But the journey was not easy. You can imagine them celebrating what took place. But the journey got hard. Travel would be difficult as they moved through the Sinai Peninsula, through the harsh desert of Edom and Moab, and then they would go through this place where they would travel through massive limestone mountains. They would go through windswept sandy dunes, rocky plateaus, dry riverbeds, hot, dry gravel plains that had no shade and no water in the midst of that desert. And the journey for Israel would require incredible trust and faith, something that the Israelites were still learning to have in their introduction to God and his power and understanding that he was for them. And what we see in the journey, and this is where we're going to fast forward this morning, there is a journey that takes place from their deliverance at the Red Sea to the footstep of the promised Land. And in that middle space, letter C, God patiently steers his people and man. Did God need patience?
He displayed his power to them through the plagues and the parting of the Red Sea, unlike in ways that were unlike anything that they had ever seen.
And yet, as they journeyed with him, with the knowledge of how God had provided, it seems at every single turn, when they faced difficulty or hardship or became uncomfortable that they would grumble against God and grumble against Moses.
Think about it.
And when they were thirsty, they would grumble to the point of even saying, we should have just stayed in Egypt. Now how crazy is that? In slavery, in a harsh environment where the Pharaoh is killing your children, you should have just stayed.
But even in the midst of their grumbling and their thirst, God provides water through Moses, through the making of bitter water sweet. Or when Moses himself has a moment of disobedience with God and strikes the rock before speaking to it, and the water flows out to provide for the people. They saw that God was providing, and yet they were hungry and became uncomfortable. So they would complain. But God would provide manna from the heavens and even at another point, would provide an abundance of quail for his people. When the Amalekites, a powerful group of people and military, would come up against them, God gave them victory over the Amalekites. He was patiently steering them, constantly teaching that they could trust in him. But then they arrive to Mount Sinai and Moses is going to go and he's going to get the Ten Commandments. And as he goes up on the mountain, what happens? They become a little bit stir crazy. They start to lose their Faith and trust in what's going on. They build a golden calf and they start to worship something that they created with their own hands. It's just an intense story of where God was showing Himself over and over again to his people with incredible miracles that we all and they longed to see, and yet they just kept falling away.
And it's easy for us to look at this history of Israel and say, how could they be so faithless with everything that they had just experienced?
But what about us?
What about us? How many times have we experienced God's power and his provision in our own lives, answers to prayer that we know are distinctly from Him?
And yet the moment that a trial comes, something that makes us uncomfortable, a difficulty, a temptation, we so quickly forget what he has done.
You see, we are really no different from the Israelites. And the challenge that they face is the challenge that we are. So the challenge that sits before Israel. Letter A is this is, will Israel allow fear and hardship to shift their course?
Will they continue to follow after God? Will they allow their fear of difficulty, their uncomfortability, to shift the course of blessing that God has for them? Letter B. Will Israel remember God's faithfulness? I mean, literally, they have just seen some of the most incredible miracles and been a part of of God's hand moving in a powerful way. Will they remember that to be the thing that pushes them forward with God ultimately? Letter C. Will Israel choose to follow?
That's the question that faces them. And I believe, as we'll see this morning, it's the question that faces us every single moment of every single day of our lives.
So let's dive into the text together this morning. The Israelites are on the doorstep of the promised land. We're in Numbers, chapter 13, verses 17 through 24. And here is what it says.
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, go up into the Negev and go up into the hill country and see what the land is and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether there are trees in it or not. Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. So as they're beginning to get their preparation to send the spies into the land, remember, this is the promised land that God had promised through Abraham. They have heard about it, and now Moses is saying, go check it out, come back and tell Us, Is it everything that we've been told? And the passage continues. And it says so. They went up and they spied out the land. From the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo Hamath. They went up into the Negeb and came to Hebron.
Ihmon, Sheshai and Timai, the descendants of Anak, were there. Hebron was built seven years before Zone in Egypt. And they came to the valley of Eshcol. And they cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes. And they carried it on a pole between two of them. They also brought some pomegranates and figs. That place was called the Valley of Eshcol. Because of the cluster. That the people of Israel cut down from there.
Now, I want to show you something here. I want you to look at this map on the screen.
This map is a picture of the land that God has had promised to his people. In the green is really the boundaries of what God had promised for his people. The promised land, that purple outline as well. Then we have down here, at the very bottom of the red line, Kadesh Barnea. This is where the Israelites are encamped. Preparing to send the spies into the land. And if you follow that red line, this is kind of typically, traditionally, what they believe is the red that they took all the way up to the north to Rehob. So they would go all the way up into what is modern day Lebanon today. To scout out the land that God had provided for them. Now, here's the interesting thing about this, And I just want to make this comment. Is that when we read this in the text.
We kind of typically read through it really quickly. Okay? They went to this place, this place, this place, and this place. And then they found some good stuff. And we just kind of move through it. But one thing you need to understand about the this text. Is that the text actually is meant to move slowly. The Hebrew verbs that are used here really slow down the text. To cause the reader to think about the journey that these spies would take. Now, let me ask this question. Does anybody here love a good road trip? Do you guys? Anybody here like taking road trips? I love road trips, as you know. Just a couple of weeks ago, I told you that I was taking a quick road trip. Flew out to California on a Sunday night. Moved my uncle's car with my cousin to Texas as he is moving. So we drove two days to Texas, and then I flew home. But let me tell you something. I love road trips. We did Route 66. The entire way to Amarillo and then down to Dallas is where we went from there. But one of the things I love about a road trip is how the landscape changes as you go. Like you go through the desert of California and then you go up into northern Israel. On northern Israel, my car flies, sorry, northern Arizona. And as you go up into northern Arizona, the whole landscape changes, becomes a little bit more mountainous, it's a little cooler. Then you go down again into another desert and then you get into New Mexico and it starts these big rock features, red rocks. It's really beautiful. And then you get into Texas and in the Panhandle, there is nothing there.
But as you drive, the landscape constantly changes and it's something really fun to watch. Well, I say that because this journey that we read about here in these passages, it's meant for us to slow down and to really think about what it was that the spies were encountering and experiencing as they moved through the land. So I'm going to walk you through this quickly. If you have your notes. Letter A. They begin at Kadesh Barnea in the wilderness of Zin. The wilderness of Zin. Write this down. Dry, rugged, south. Okay. It is a very dry area. It is very rugged and it is the furthest south in the Promised Land. The wilderness of Zin was not just though an endless sand desert, as you will see on the screen. It was rugged. It was rocky, dry, highland with very broad wadis. Wadis were basically dried out riverbeds. It had limited water, though, with long stretches of seemingly inhospitable country. Their survival in this area would be completely dependent on the Lord. This helps you to understand what they experience as they move from Egypt to the doorstep of the Promised Land. They would traverse through a lot of country like this that was very cruel and did not provide much for them. And so they needed to be dependent upon the Lord. And that's what the Lord was teaching them. Then they would move into letter B, the Negev. The Negev is kind of this transitional area where they would go from being in a desert like space to traveling in this kind of transitional place towards the agricultural heartland of the country. The Negev is essentially a semi arid bridge, not a lot of rain, between the desert and the agricultural heartland. It consisted of rolling hills of dry valley valleys with vegetation, maybe a little bit of grazing potential. But then it would move letter C to Hebron. Hebron would have been known as the High country.
The terrain would have changed substantially from the Negev.
They would move through The Judea and Sumerian highlands. Which were characterized by rocky soil. By slopes, valleys, but also agricultural terraces. Where they would find things like grapes, olives, Grains that could be cultivated despite the challenging terrain. But as they continue, the landscape continues to change. And it only gets better and better. Because as they come out of the high country. They come letter D to the valley of Eshcol. Where the passage really slows down. And causes us to look at it. And the word that you need to remember for the valley of Eshcol is abundance. This was, like, likely the most visually impressive part of the trip for them, according to what we read.
Just to give you a quick illustration. When I moved from California to Ohio. And made that very long drive.
We did the same. We went through some of the deserts. We went through Utah. We went and we started though going up into the Rocky Mountains. And as we went into the Rocky Mountains, Let me tell you. Is one of the most beautiful things that I have ever witnessed. As the landscape changed, we get into the mountains. It's green, it's lush. There's, like, big streams following the road. And animals everywhere. And it was just awesome. And as we were coming down out of the Rockies into Denver. It had been raining just a little bit. And I looked in my rearview mirror at this, like, just beautiful thing. That you only see in pictures. And there was this huge, bright, massive rainbow covering all the. I was like, lord, I think this is heaven. Like, it's so great. Of course, we went into Denver. And to nothing the rest of the way to Ohio. But it was awesome. I had never seen anything like it. Can you imagine for them coming from the wilderness of Zen. This transitional place. Into the high country. And then breaking out into the valley of Eshcol. Picture a valley surrounded by hills. With vineyards growing on cultivated slopes.
[00:53:11] Speaker A: And.
[00:53:11] Speaker C: And what they would see is fig trees, pomegranate trees. Lush vegetation, Water sources that are supporting the agriculture. We know that because of the grapes that the passage talks about. That they would find. It says that they were so large that they had to take them. And they put them on a large stick. That was carried by two people on either end. Like, this must have been incredible. What does it mean?
That it is exactly what God told them it was. Would be a land flowing with milk and honey. God's promise to them was real. And they are realizing it in this moment.
From this point, they would continue north. And the passage is a little bit silent. We do know that they go to the north. But here's what they would have passed through Letter E. The central hill country, which would have also been beautiful but difficult land to traverse. The book of numbers doesn't tell us the precise route that they would have followed all the way up into the north. But if they traveled through the central spine of Canaan, they would have hit the hill country of Judea and Samaria. Think ridge after ridge of rolling to steep limestone mountains with valleys between olive groves, vineyards, springs, hilltop villages, grazing land, cultivated fields. The land was beautiful, but it wasn't easy. And then coming down out of that space let us they would have come out into the Jezreel Valley, which would be known for wide open, fertile plains. I've gone and traveled through this part of Israel and let me tell you, it is beautiful. You come down out of the hill country into the Jezreel Valley. It is broad, relatively flat, but extraordinarily fertile.
You see, you imagine the spies coming down out of these hills and setting their eyes on, on this land. They would have seen broad open fields, rich soil, grasslands, grain producing areas, springs and seasonal water hills that are rising around the valley, major routes that were running through the land, large strategic settlements. This wasn't just pretty farmland that they were beholding. It was strategically valuable real estate in the land. And whoever would control this valley would control a major north, south, east, west corridor to protect the land, but also for trade. And then finally you will come up letter G into the Galilee region.
And when you think about the Galilee region, it is abundant water, agriculture, and it is forested. As it continued north and moved into the hills of Galilee, the landscape would become even greener, more, more lush, beautiful, but even more abundant in natural resources. As you go through these pictures, you get an idea of what this area looks like today. It is so incredibly beautiful. The best part is, is that as you think about this journey, they go from the nothingness of desert and no provision into a place that their eyes could have never imagined.
And yet when they travel back and come all the way back to the rest of Israel to give a report of what they have found, it says that the report was mixed.
Here's what's crazy about this. Isn't it crazy how people can see things, see the same things, and yet see them so differently? When I was on this trip with my cousin going from California to Texas, I found that the same thing is true. Like I told him, I said, bro, we are in New Mexico and there is this little city called, what was it? San John. And they have the world's largest flip flop. We have to go see It.
I was so excited. There's like, it's the smallest town I've ever seen. And there it is. Look. That thing is huge. It was awesome. And my cousin is like, this is the dumbest thing we've ever done. I'm like, no, man, this is awesome. I got a picture. This is going straight up on Facebook. Right then as we're going, there's another stop right before you get to Amarillo and. And you come to Cadillac Ranch.
[00:57:12] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:57:13] Speaker C: Like, dude, who doesn't love half buried Cadillacs that you can spray paint?
Not my cousin.
I. I stood there, I'm like, drawing pictures with paint. I'm like, hey, this is normally illegal and I'm allowed to do it. This is fun. So we do that. Then we come just past Cadillac Ranch to the Big Texan Steakhouse, and there the seventh 72 ounce steak challenge. What you have to do in this challenge is eat 72 ounces of steak, a baked potato, three shrimp, a roll, and a salad in an hour to get a T shirt. Now, my cousin, we watched somebody do this, and my cousin was like, that is impossible. How did I feel? That is a hill to be conquered.
Now, I didn't do it on this trip because I'd drive another five hours and I probably would have made it five minutes before I went off the road. But I will do it one day. That was incredible to see. But isn't it funny how we can see the same things and experience them totally differently?
Numbers 13, verses 25 through 33. At the end of 40 days, they returned from spying out the land. They came to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel. In the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. And they told them, we came to the land to which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Like, guys, it's everything that we ever dreamed it would be and more.
God has said. What God has said is true, however, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified. And.
And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negev. The Hittites and Jebusites and Amorites dwell in the hill country.
And the Canaanites dwell by the sea along and along the Jordan. But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are able to overcome it.
But then the men who had gone up with him said, we are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are.
So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, the land through which we have gone to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants. And all the people that we saw in it are of great height.
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim. And we seemed to ourselves like grasshopper.
And so we seemed to them, Isn't it crazy how they can see the same thing and see it so differently? Letter A. They saw, everybody saw, that the land was extraordinarily good. It had incredible potential for fields, for vineyards, for orchards. It had abundant natural resources and water. The soil would grow heavy crops and provide an abundance, abundance of food. And even more, the land would generate wealth beyond anything they could have ever imagined.
And yet they also encountered formidable obstacles.
They would come across fortified cities that would have high, impenetrable walls. They would come across giant people, the sons of Anak, that were terrifying to behold.
And they would also come across strong arms, armies of highly trained, established regional forces that weren't just fighting with the weapons and tools of former slaves, but with weapons of warfare.
And what's intriguing, as you understand what they saw, is that everybody saw the same thing. They saw the incredible blessing of the land, but they also saw the obstacles. And what does Caleb say? Let her see. Caleb was ready to muster the troops. He says, let's go. Let's get everybody together and we can go and we can take the land. We will run through it. We will overrun them, and it will be ours. He's pumped up. He's ready to go. But letter D, the other spies say, hold your horses. We're not going in. Because as they look at all the obstacles, they see something different.
Letter E.
They saw the same things, but came to vastly different conclusions.
What was the difference?
The difference is this, number one. The difference wasn't what they saw.
They both saw the same things. They saw the incredibleness of the land, and they saw the obstacles.
The difference, number two, wasn't what they saw. It was what they believed about God.
And I want that to sit with you this morning.
I want you to think about the trials and the difficulties that we face in our own lives, that many of us at times in our lives will face similar difficulties and trials and how we all have the capability to look at them and to see them in a completely different way.
Oftentimes it's not simply because of what the trial trial is, but the truth is, like Israel, it's about because of what we believe or they believed about God.
As I look at this passage and the response of the Israelites, what happens here is that I believe this large segment of the people has this belief that God is not good.
They have been brought to the doorstep of the land. And what is it that they say?
We should have been died in Egypt, or we should have died in slavery, or we should have died on this journey. It would have been far better for us.
They look at it and they go, God has just brought us out here to get slaughtered by these people. This is no good.
In other words, somehow in their mind, as they feel uncomfortable and they look at the trial that they are in the middle of and what is out in front of them in their minds are. There's no way that it could tell them that God is good.
How many times do we do the same thing in our own life when we walk through something that makes us uncomfortable, that's difficult and feel that tension as well. I also believe that for the Israelites, that not only was there this sense or error that God isn't good, but there was this idea that maybe God also isn't able to deliver us.
And so it would be better for us to not move forward.
You see, what happens is that Israel is at a crossroads.
Follow or not to follow.
That's the question.
And the answer was a mixed response. Letter A. The Israelites responded with fear and frenzy.
It's intriguing when we read this in Numbers, chapter 14, verses 1 through 4, I want you to see, see what takes place here. It says, then all the congregation raised a loud cry. And the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in this wilderness. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?
In other words, what? God's not really good.
He's not able to help us. Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt? And they said to one another, let us choose a leader and go back.
What's intriguing about this passage, and you don't catch it right off the bat, is that the outcry of the people. Just how dramatic it was when I used the words, that it was fear and frenzy. I want you to understand why in that first verse of chapter 14, it says, all the congregation of Israel raised a loud cry. The people wept that night. There are two phrases that are actually used and joined together here, two standard phrases throughout the Old Testament that are used for lifting one's voice. One is to raise your voice, one is to utter with your voice. And we get pictures of that in the Old Testament of Hagar lifting her voice at potential death of her son Ishmael. You have Joseph weeping before his brothers. You have Jeremiah's lament over the wickedness of Jehoiakim. And what they do is they take these two phrases that would be used, they join them together in verse one for an expression of intense lament.
In other words, it's indicative of a chaotic fear.
What they have done is they have put their eyes on. On their uncomfortability, the difficulty that is in front of them. They have allowed themselves to be aroused to nothing but fear. And they are looking to their own devices to find a way out. And so they're not even thinking rationally about what they have seen God done or how God, what he has promised is actually true. But they just simply go, we gotta
[01:06:17] Speaker B: get out of here.
[01:06:19] Speaker C: And how many times do we find ourselves in that same position when things are hard and when things are difficult that we forget the promises of God and how he has proven himself?
And rather than pause and wait and listen, we just simply react to our situation and we say, I've got to find a way out.
Ultimately, what do they do? The Israelites were satisfied to let their past become their future.
It's far easier to accept the past, then face the difficulty of what lies ahead.
This is true for the Israelites and it's true for us.
The fear of difficulty, of pain, of uncomfortableness, of trials and struggle is the enemy of our growth in Christ.
We don't like difficult, and so our flesh is willing to settle for far less than God's best friend.
[01:07:15] Speaker A: For us.
[01:07:16] Speaker C: It's the reason why we grumble against God when we go through hard things.
It's why we return to old sinful habits, because it's easier and seems immediately fulfilling. It's why we allow ourselves to stay bound in sin because it seems so hard to change.
It's just easier to go back.
It's why people who don't know Jesus struggle to move to a place of surrender. We intuitively hate situations that make us uncomfortable or that don't bring immediate fulfillment.
So it's just easier to get mad at God, to stay bound in the chains of sin. Or refuse the good that God desires to do in our lives and church?
I'd say, what are you walking through today?
What situations have you been walking through that have caused you fear and uncomfortableness?
And have you gone to the place where, as you feel uncomfortable, you say, I don't like this and want to be there? Has it moved you to a place of questioning God? Are you really good? Why would you let this happen, God? Are you really able to overcome this? What is your purpose in this whole thing?
Maybe you've wrestled with sin and you think to yourself, it'd be far easier for me just to go back to the way I was than to keep wrestling through this. And can I tell you what happens when we start to wrestle with these questions? We take our eyes off of the blessing that God desires to do in our lives and we put them on our troubles. And we allow ourselves to move backwards. And we forget one really essential truth. Often, as the Israelites find when God is moving us to a place of blessing, there is a season that he takes us through, of reflection, refinement, where he is growing and stretching and changing our faith and trust in him, but also using our lives as a testimony to other people. Why? Because the purposes of God are not about immediate fulfillment and satisfaction for us. It has eternal purposes that we can't possibly see.
And God is trying desperately to. He's been trying desperately to teach this to his people.
And so this is the picture we have with the Israelites.
They just decide we're going to let the past become the future because it's easier and more expedient and will leave us from being uncomfortable. Just give us Egypt. And what we see, letter C in the text is that Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb mourned the foolish choice of the people.
As Moses and Aaron and Caleb recognize and Joshua recognize what is going on, they grieve because they know that judgment is about to come. It says, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel, and Joshua the son of nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes, and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, the land which we pass through to spy it out is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us as a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us, their protection is removed from them. And the Lord is with us. Do not fear.
And then all the congregation said to stone them with stones, letter D.
We don't have time to dig deep into this, but as you look at this passage, I want you to see this truth.
What it teaches us and what these men teach us is that faith also means standing with God when everyone else around you won't.
These people were ready to execute in order to get what they wanted.
But they were so faithful to God and believing in him that they would stand through the hardest moments of their life. Not only were they dealing with the uncomfortability of what was to come, but the uncomfortability of that none of the people were with them, and yet they stood for truth and trust in God.
With the end of this passage comes a warning, though. And the warning is simply this.
You can experience God's faith in and still miss God's blessing because you refuse to trust and to follow.
I'll say that again, internalize it this morning. You can experience God's faithfulness and still miss God's blessing because you refuse to trust and follow.
Numbers, chapter 14 says this as God speaks to his people.
But truly, as I live and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet you have put me to the test these 10 times and have not obeyed my voice.
None of you shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers, and none of those who despised me shall see it.
I want you to notice what happens here.
The people reject what Moses and Caleb and Joshua and Aaron are saying. They want to stone them and God is about to unleash punishment on them. If you continue reading in the text, Moses intercedes on behalf of the people and God's response is what we just read. Fine, I will spare them.
However, they will never experience the blessing that I had planned for them because they have rejected me.
And I think it's so profound because on one hand, God doesn't just wipe them out and say, enough with you.
But he says, well, if that's your choice, you're just not going to get to experience everything I had planned.
And guys, it's so easy for us to miss out on the blessing that God intended for us because we don't want to travel through the uncomfortableness that requires us to put our faith and our trust in him as we journey through this life and through Difficulty and hardship.
What we often miss, as I said earlier, is that that journey through difficulty is often part of the blessing because God is changing us and transforming.
I'm reminded of the words of James in James, Chapter one, verses two through four. Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kind because you know that the testing of your faith will develop perseverance. And perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.
You see, God's purpose is for you, is to use all of life's experiences to. To take you to a deeper place of understanding of who he is, of deeper fellowship. But to bring you to a place of blessing and blessing is not just about a perfect life that is devoid of difficulty.
It's about understanding God's eternal purposes and the joy of being a part of that. Because you know one day you will live and reign with him forever.
He desperately wanted his people to understand the blessings that he wanted to pour out. And yet they rejected it because they said, well, the journey is just too hard.
And so they began to accuse God of not being good and not being able dare that we ourselves would ever move into that place of forgetting who God is and how he has proven to us how good he is.
Christian, that trial that you're facing today, no matter what it may be, you know in your heart God intends it for eternal good.
He wants to refine your faith.
He wants to use your life as you walk through that season and grow in him to be a testimony to other people.
Don't miss the blessing of what God wants to do.
My question for you would be, would today be the day where you choose to say, lord, I know you are here.
God, I know and I believe that you are good, and so I choose to follow you, or Christian, maybe the sinful habits that you have been wrestling with, that you've allowed to become acceptable, and the choices that you know know that go against God's plan for your life, they may seem good in the moment, but ultimately you know that they bring destruction and ultimately separation in your relationship with God.
Sometimes it's easier to stop the battle and to just give in to the sin.
Sometimes we don't even want to deal with our sin because we know that if we were to confess it and actually deal with it, it might mean loss for us.
You. Here's what happens. You miss the blessing that God intends to pour out on you as you learn to surrender Him. If you don't surrender.
And my question to you is, would today be the Day that you declare again. Lord, I know that your plans for me are best today.
I choose to surrender to and follow you.
And I also say for those that are here this morning that have never placed their faith and trust in Jesus, you can experience God by being in a church and being around his people. And maybe you've been doing that, you've been coming to church, you've been singing the songs, listening to the messages.
But I want you to hear very clearly this morning that you can come to church and be around his people. But you will miss the blessing of eternal life if you never surrender your life to Him.
The message of the the Gospel is clear that God loves you. He is not against you. He loves you so much that in spite of your sin and my sin that separates us from God where we were bound for eternal destruction.
The Bible says that God so loved the world that he sent his one and only son into the world to die on a cross to pay the penalty for our sin so that we could be reconciled to God.
And the best part of what Paul describes for us in the New Testament is in when God looks at us and we've placed our faith and trust in him, is that he doesn't look at us in our brokenness and our failures, our rebellion against him, but because of the forgiveness of sin through Jesus shed blood on the cross. When he looks at us, what does he see? Not our sin and failure.
He sees his Son.
And that His Son paid your price and he invites you into a relationship with him.
I would say to you today the Bible tells you that God loves you and his son died in your place to pay the penalty for your sin so that you could be restored to a right relationship with God and experience the blessing of eternal life in Him.
It can be yours today.
Would you you declare, lord, I believe in you.
Believe that what God's word says about you is true. I place my trust in you and I choose to follow you.
Father, I pray that for every person in this room that your Holy Spirit would take your word this morning, that you would speak into each and every, every one of our individual circumstances.
You know the places where we are struggling to follow, where it is far easy for us to keep our eyes fixed on the difficulty or the uncomfortableness or the trials or the bad news or the sin that we're struggling with. And it's easier to just run in chaos than it is to just pause and sit and trust and follow.
And so God, remind us that you are good.
Remind us the ways in which you have proven it over and over again.
And teach us, Father, to put our faith and our trust in you each and every day and every moment of our lives. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
[01:20:15] Speaker A: Creation suddenly articulate With a thousand tongues lift wise and from north to south and east to west we hear Christ be magnified.
We're the whole earth echoing his imminence his his name would burst from sea and sky from rivers to the mountain tops we hear Christ be magnified Sing it out. Christ, be magnified Singing oh may Christ be magnified Let his praise arise.
May Christ be magnified in me Sing it oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me Is.
When every creature finds its inmost melody and every human heart it's made of cry Then in one in raptured h of praise will sing Christ be magnified as Christ be magnified oh sing it oh Christ be magnified Let his praise arise Christ be magnified in me oh Christ be magnified from the altar of my life Christ be magnified in me.
It's our prayer, that's our desire. Amen Church and He would be magnified above anything else in our lives Amen.
Sing this next part. Really think about these words here.
I won't bow to idols I'll stand strong and worship you and if it puts me through the fire I'll rejoice Cause you're there too I won't be form my feelings I hold fast to what is true Cause if the cross brings transformation you can't hang me there with you Cause death is just the joy into resurrection life if I join you in your sufferings then I'll join you in and when you return glory with all the angels and the saints My heart will still be singing for my song will be the same Sing it oh Christ be magnified Let his praise arise Christ be magnified Sing it oh Christ be magnified from the altar of our lives Christ be magnified in me Sing it oh Christ be magnified Let his praise arise Christ be magic Magnified in me Sing it all Christ be magnified from the altar of our lives Christ be magnified in me Sing it oh Christ be magnified the altar of our lives Glorious Christ be magnified in Sing that one more time Sing it all Christ be magnified the altar of our lives Christ be magnified in me.
Amen.
[01:25:29] Speaker C: Let's give God glory.
Church I'll just say as we close that our prayer team is here at the front this morning and I know we got stuff going on in just a few months. Can we bring the sound down on the keys for me?
I know we've got stuff going on in a few moments outside big family picnic. But if God's speaking to you this morning and there's some stuff you need to deal with, it is far more important to hang back here and to spend some time with Him. Our prayer team would love to minister to you today. So if there are needs that you have, things that you've been wrestling with, come forward as we close and spend some time with the Lord with them, allowing them to minister to you. I'll also say if you want to make a first time decision today to say yes to Jesus and to surrender your heart and life, don't leave without doing so today. Our prayer team would love the opportunity to talk and to pray with you as you begin that relationship with Him.
But as I mentioned, as we do close, we are going to go out, we're going to have this really big fun family picnic. I would encourage you all to hang around. It is a great time to fellowship together, to just talk about what God is doing in our lives, get to meet new people. You'll see a little map that's up on the screen. For those of you that like taking the long route through the land.
Follow the red line. It goes out our main drive and down the street to kind of that front property. But there's a faster path. It's a little walking path that our landscape team has dug through the forest. You get to see a whole new landscape on your way.
You can, you can cross through there as well. That'll open up right into the picnic area. And so we're going to be over there having a great time of fellowship and food. Please stop by. But church, most importantly, as you go out today, however, the spirit of God is speaking to you. Don't let the moment be lost by going out to a picnic and just forgetting about it.
If there's a way in which you've been wrestling with something and dealing with like whether or not you choose to trust and follow God or not, take time to do business with God.
Remember his goodness.
Remember that he is present.
Remember the ways that he has been faithful and learn to trust him through the hard seasons. Because it's through those seasons that he will bring the greatest blessing into your life. Not just for the moment, but for eternity.
And he will use your life to be an impact and a testimony to other people. Trust Him.
He is good.
And so church, family, go out this week. Serve God with all of your heart and let your life speak to others of the goodness of God. God bless you. Look forward to seeing you in a few minutes outside.
