Thank you for listening to the river.
Bend Church podcast Riverbend Church exists, Elite all people
to know love and live New Life in Jesus Christ.
We hope that you enjoy this message.
Now this morning, we're closing out a series called.
What if and the premise of this series is no matter who we are,
where we've been what we've gone through or what we're going
through, we all ask, what if questions we all ask?
What if questions about adequacy or inadequacy?
We ask what if questions about Hope or hopelessness?
We asked what if questions about Community or even loneliness.
These are some very, very common questions that we asked some
very personal questions that we ask and here's What we believe
is, we believe that there's not a question that we can ask that
God's word is solid on. There's not a question that we
can ask that God sits there and goes.
Hmm, let me think on that, that's a good one.
You kind of stumped me. God actually has an answer and
not just an answer but direction to our most personal questions.
But here's the thing in order to not just know what God says, but
actually to experience God and what I mean by that is we can
know a lot of facts about God. If you grew up in church and you
You grew up, like, in a family, playing Bible trivia, or
whatever you can do. A lot of details about God, you
can know a lot of facts about God, but when it comes to
actually spirits and God, that's a whole nother ball game.
And what I mean by that is actually experiencing like, we
know God is love, but experiencing the love of God, we
know that God, gives grace, and mercy and kindness and
compassion but to actually experience God's grace, mercy,
kindness and compassion, that's a whole nother ball game, right?
So one of the things that we come back to In this series and
that we've been together Oakwood in this series, is understanding
to bring our most personal questions to God.
We have to first be honest with ourselves about ourselves about
our questions and we have to be honest with ourselves and with
God about God and our questions towards God.
Now, if you grow up in church, like me that can kind of be a
scary thought, being completely honest and open and transparent
with God about what I About God and here's what like we know,
the Bible stories, right? We know that God flooded the
Earth, we know that God rain down fire from heaven.
We know that God smited, his enemies not really a verb that
we use in 2023, but he smited his enemies.
And if we're really being honest, we really don't want to
be on the equation on that side of the equation.
We can't swim that good. We don't want to be crispy and
we really don't want to be smited.
Horse moated, whatever the verb tense.
There is right. And even further, there's a part
of us that we start to think. How arrogant is it of me to
bring my feelings about God to God?
Like when I'm confused about God, when I may be angry about
God or where God has me or maybe I have some doubts about God or
some fears, how arrogant is it of me to bring that to be open
and honest with God? because, you know, he's God, I'm
not And here's what I would tell you.
I would tell you that God knows it all.
Anyway, we might as well be honest with him.
And number two, God is big enough to handle it and loving
enough to goddess through it. Here's my encouragement to you
Gainesville Oakwood online, keep directing your questions to God,
keep directing your honest feelings in your honest.
Thoughts about God toward God and see.
I think this is what Jesus was getting at in part, when he said
this in Matthew 7, keep on asking, you'll receive what you
ask for. Keep on seeking, you'll find
keep on knocking, on the door, will be opened for you, for
everyone who asks receives everyone.
Seeks finds and to everyone who knocks the door will be open to
them. Here's where I would tell you
keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, keep directing
them at God, whatever. What if questions you may have?
Keep on directing them to God. And this morning, I want to end
this series with probably one of the most personal one of the
most profit one of the most common questions that we ask.
We don't give verbage to we don't say out loud because we're
afraid of what it sounds like. If we say out loud and we're
afraid of what other people may think.
If we say it out loud and somehow we think that if God
Hears A say it out loud then it actually matters more or it
offends him more, here's the question.
What if I feel like God's forgotten about me?
You ever ask that question? Like you've ever felt that
question. What if I feel like God has
forgotten about me? This question is, most often
asked on the backside of some trauma.
This question is often asked, maybe on the backside of a
medical diagnosis, this question is asked maybe on the backside
of a shift and relationships with friends or family.
This question is often asked with a shift of financial
situation, maybe it work. This question is often I asked
when you fill in between what was and what will be, but you
kind of in that in between Zone This question is probably the
most personal most private. The most common question that is
not given voice to out loud, but I want to tell you something
Church, there is great precedence.
In this question being asked remember how I told you that the
Bible is never silent on anything that you and I will
ever face go through field or ask this question is actually
personified and exemplified and a passage in the book of Exodus.
If you have a Bible with you, whether it's hard, copy, or
digital, I want to get you to turn over.
To Exodus chapter 24, starting in verse 1.
Now, while you're looking for it, let me kind of bring you up
to speed on some context. So we're all on the same page.
The book of Exodus is written about a historical event, the
leaving the Israelites captivity, and they're leaving
slavery. They're leaving captivity out of
Egypt. What I mean by that is the
nation of Israel. The Israelites, the Hebrew
people, the Jews. They were enslaved by the
Egyptians for 100 years. And we know this that God
selected an 80 something-year-old Man by the
name of Moses, to be his primary mouthpiece his deliverer to the
nation of Israel for him to go to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and
says hey got the god of the Israelites said, let him go.
And finally he relents, he lets him go and we know historically
around 14 44 BC that about 2 million Israelites left.
The Empire of Egypt and started their track.
Not just East, but Southeast If they left captivity and during
this track called known as The Exodus during this track, the
God would would guide them through a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of Fire by night. And he would do some absolutely
amazing miracles on their behalf.
He would part the Red Sea to where they could walk across on
dry ground. He would feed them daily with
quail. And Manna From Heaven, he would
even when they got thirsty and there were no springs, no Oasis.
And the area he would, he would Instruct Moses to strike a rock.
To speak to a rock and out of that rock, water, would flow
out, and it would give sustenance.
That would give hydration to the people.
He did some amazing miracles on behalf of the people.
So, by the time we get to Exodus chapter 24 and verse 1.
The nation of Israel is kind of camped out at the base of Mount
Sinai. Now, to give you some historical
reference, you can actually visit this site today, it's
actually in the middle of the Sinai Peninsula, which is in the
Middle East and it's called Good job will Musa is the name of the
mountain. That's modern-day Mount Sinai.
So here's where we pick up. The Narrative.
It says in verse 1, chapter 24, then the Lord instructed Moses,
and let me kind of go ahead and put a precursor out there to us.
We're going to do a little bit of reading this morning.
Probably more reading than we normally do, just for the just
for the overview of The Narrative of where we're going.
Because we need to get a complete picture of actually
what's going on, a complete context of what's going on.
Verse 1 chapter 24, says the Lord instructed Moses come up
here to me and bring along Aaron nadab a Bahu and the 70, and 70
of Israel's Elders, all of you must worship from a distance,
only Moses allowed to come near to the Lord.
The others must not come near and none of the other people are
allowed to climb up the mountain with him.
Then Moses went down to the people and repeated all the
instructions and regulations, the Lord had given him and all
the people answered with one voice, we will do everything,
the Lord has commanded. Then Moses carefully wrote down
all the Lord's instructions. Because if your parent out
there, you feel me, your parent, your kids, when you say, hey,
I'm going, I need you to do this.
What do you do before you leave? You write it down for him,
right? Moses did the same thing.
He wrote down all the Lord's instructions, early.
The next morning, Moses got up, and built an altar at The foot
of the mountain and he also set up 12 pillars, one for each of
the 12 tribes of Israel. Then he sent some of the young
Israelite men to present burnt offerings and to sacrifice Bulls
as peace, offerings to the Lord. Moses drained, half the blood
from these animals into basins, the other half, he splattered
against the altar, then he took the book of the Covenant and
read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded we will
do everything. The Lord has commanded.
We will obey it and the worship service is about to intensify.
Then Moses took The blood from the basins and splattered it all
over the people declaring look this Blood confirms the
Covenant, the Lord has made with you and giving you these
instructions. That's how you know, they were
serious about it, right? Because half of us are going
man, that's intense and half of us are going.
That's disgusting, but we can all agree.
They were serious about this skip down to verse 15.
He says, then Moses climbed up the mountain and the cloud
covered it, and the glory of the Lord settle down on Mount Sinai.
And the cloud covered it. For six days, on the seventh
day, the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud.
To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain.
The glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming
fire. Then Moses disappeared into the
cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain he remained on the
mountain 40 days and 40 nights. Now you would assume we've got
all his good. Everything's going great, Moses
already given the instructions. The people say, we will obey
everything you say. They have this massive worship
service, everything is good to go.
And then like we just keep going, right?
Well, There's a problem. Here's why I want to get you do
flash over to chapter 32, Exodus chapter 32, Verse one, it says,
when the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come down
the mountain. Now remember, 40 days, 40
nights, they hadn't seen from him.
They hadn't seen him, they hadn't heard from him, nothing.
When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come down
the mountain? They gathered around Aaron.
Come on. They said make us some Gods who
can lead us. We don't know what happened to
this fellow. Moses who brought us here from
the land of Egypt. So Aaron said, take the gold
rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters and
bring them to me. All the people took the gold
rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.
Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down and mold it into the
shape of a calf. And when the people saw it, they
exclaimed o Israel. These are the gods who brought
you out of the land of Egypt. Aaron saw how excited the people
were. So he built an altar in front of
the calf, then he announced tomorrow will be a festival to
the Lord. And the people got up early the
next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings.
After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking and they
indulged in Pagan revelry, Here's what I would say to us
whether you're in Gainesville Oakwood or online.
Listen, it would be so easy for us to sit wherever we're sitting
where we're watching. We're tuning in and 2023 and go,
what a bunch of idiots. How in the world could the
Israelites do that? I mean, we read through the
early chapters, we've read it, they lived it, they experienced
it. How in the world?
Could you do that? How in the world?
Could you turn your back on? God, how in the world can you
make a golden calf to replace the God who brought you out of
Egypt? Who part of the Red Sea cause
you to walk across on dry ground fed, you quail and Manna out of
nowhere every single day and then gave you water from a rock.
And then in the in between times, defeated the attacking
armies and Enemies. How in the world?
Could you do that? Here's what I would tell us
church. If we take that posture, I think
that we miss out on what God has for us this morning.
What God wants to teach us this morning?
And here's what I mean. Is an order for us to learn what
God has for us. This morning.
We can't simply be over the narrative.
We have to put ourselves in the narrative and listen to me very
closely. We are you me us?
We are the people of Israel in this narrative.
You want to know why the people of Israel melted down gold and
then made it into a golden calf and worship the golden calf
because they felt forgotten by God.
You want to know why they built an altar?
Most likely on the site that an altar was previously built, 40
days prior. And they had this massive
worship service of over 2 million people, rising up with
one voice, we will obey, we will obey everything that the Lord
has commanded us after 40 days, they built a pagan altar on the
side of that. Why?
Because they felt forgotten by God.
And to serve as a launching pad for where we want to go this
morning is I like this underscores a vital truth.
If you're taking notes with this in your, send your note sheet
vital truth, here it is. We were all made to worship.
Whether or not you and I think
of it as worship, we're all made to worship.
Do you know what the most basic the most basic definition of
theology is mind and your thoughts about God, most basic
definition of theology. Our thoughts about God, my
thoughts about God, that means that everyone even an agnostic
or an atheist is a theologian. That doesn't mean that we're
accurate or correct theologians, but we're theologians
nonetheless. Why is that important?
Because we were all made to worship.
We all will worship something. We all will worship someone.
We will either worship God or we will worship something or
someone else. And the place of God, but we
will worship, nonetheless. We will worship.
And when we feel forgotten about God, God, when we feel forgotten
about. God, we are so susceptible to
place something or someone else in the place of worship that
once was reserved for God, think of it this way.
You ever dug a hole in the sand at the beach?
If you don't fill that hole in with something guesses, guess
what's going to happen? It's going to fill in with
something. If you don't intentionally play,
something in that hole. In the sand, in the beach is
going to fill in with something. Same way.
It goes with our worship is when you and I, when we feel
forgotten by God, we become so prone to place something other
than God in the place of God, as the object of our worship.
So before we go any further and I'm packing this text, can I ask
you a really personal question? This is a question that God is
really convicted me of recently. Here it is.
What is my go to golden calf? What's my go to golden calf?
What is the thing or the person that I turn to instead of God
for wisdom guidance Direction. Peace Comfort, courage.
What is my go to golden calf? It can be our spouse.
It can be our our family, our kids, it can be our work.
It can be our friends, it can be other people's advice, it can be
our own personal experience or instincts.
What is ma go to golden calf? When I feel like God has
forgotten about me. What do I turn to to make sense
of life? When you feel like God has
forgotten about you or when you feel that God doesn't have
anything to say about a certain sector or element or facet of
your life, what is your go to golden calf?
We've all got them. We've all got them now.
I do not. Want to dive into this morning,
how to avoid making golden calves in our lives.
Instead of golden calves, make hamburgers.
I'm not diving into that you see.
I think that making golden calves, I think that system is
symptomatic of the overall issue.
What I want to dive into this morning is, what should we do?
What are we called to do from scripture from the word of God?
What are we call to do in those times?
And those seasons in those moments when we feel forgotten
by God, Because if we don't get that right then we're going to
become so prone to making golden calves in our own lives.
So instead of instead of talking about the, the symptomatic issue
of the golden calves, what I want to dive into this morning
as much deeper, it's more of a route.
More of a core question. What do we do when we feel
forgotten by God? So glad you asked if you're
taking notes with us. when I walk through three simple truths
this morning, When I feel forgotten by God, it's important
for me to remember what looks and feels like a consuming fire
is often used by God as a refining fire.
When I feel forgotten by God. What often seems what looks and
feels like a consuming fire is often used by God as a refining
fire. Remember the when we were
reading in Exodus 24, remember what the fire at the summit of
the mountain looked like to the Israelites?
Let me show you this. In verse 17, x is 2417 to the
Israelites at the foot of the mountain.
Remember, Moses is gone up to the mountain, right to the
Israelites at the foot of the mountain.
The glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a what?
Consuming fire. That's how it appeared.
That's how it looked. But just because it looks like a
consuming fire doesn't mean that it was a consuming fire, that's
just how it looked. As a matter of fact, we can read
the rest of Exodus 24. We can read, Exodus, 20:5 all
the way up to 32 X 32 and we discover it was it a consuming
fire? It was a refining.
Fire. Now, what am I talking about
with fires in our lives? Here's what I mean, and I think
that we can all identify, we can all track with this.
Have you ever felt like life just keeps piling up on you?
Like it's one thing after another to where you feel like
you're just about to crack. You feel like you're about to
like just bow under the weight. You feel like you're about to
break. And in all honesty you feel like
you're about to get burned up by life.
That's a fire. And even though, we feel like
they are consuming fires more often than not God's uses the
fires in our lives, those Tom's, those seasons in our lives as
refining fires. Here's what I mean by that is
the is the worker of precious, metals will take gold, for
example. A master Goldsmith.
What this master Goldsmith will do he or she will put a lump of
gold into a basin and then heat that gold up to temperatures
exceeding. 12 thousand one hundred fifty degrees
Fahrenheit, really hot like hotter than the hottest hot
pocket that you've ever had. And that's lava.
But they'll hate that gold up that lump of gold up and they'll
keep heating it up and what ends up happening is you'll start to
see some things bubble to the surface, you'll start to see
some flakes coming to the surface.
And then that Master Goldsmith he or she she'll she'll take a
skimmer and she'll skim across the top and she'll get those
Flakes and she'll like dump them off the technical term for that
is dross, they will draw the dross off the top and then
they'll heat that gold up some more until there's no more
impurities that Rise Up from from up underneath.
So when there's no more impurities, they know that the
gold is purified, our measurement of your unit of
measurement to talk about the purity of gold is carat.
So you can go into a jewelry store and you can look at a gold
bracelet or earrings or necklace or whatever it may be.
And if you see something that is 24 karat gold, 24 Karat means
that denotes that is 100% gold. There is no mixture of copper
silver or any other alloy. However, you can go from 24
Karat. Down to 18, carats 10 14, carats
10, carats 9, carats, the lower. You go in the carrot count, the
higher percentage of impurities in that gold, the lower
percentage of pure gold 24. Carats, the highest from there,
there's a incremental shift down to less purity of gold.
More presents are a higher percentage of a presence of
another alloy. You might say, why is this
important? This is a principle this
actually all throughout. Scripture that God uses refining
fires. Not because he hates us but
because he loves us not because he wants to destroy us, but
because he wants to purify us now because he doesn't like us,
but because he wants to use us and in order to be used for in
the way that he wants to use us and that he knows that we will
be most satisfied in him. We need to be purified of
everything that is not of him. But so easy.
It is so often. It's easy to look at the fires
in our lives and go God why you allow me to go through this?
Where are you? God?
Like, don't you see, don't you care and the entire time God is
going. Yes, I love you.
Ah see, I know I love you so much that I'm sitting here.
I'm trying to purify you. I'm not trying to punish you but
as long as we look at every fire in our lives as A consuming
fire, we will miss out on what God wants to teach us in the
refining fires. So, the first thing that we need
to hold on to the first true that you and I need to hold onto
when we feel that God has forgotten about us, is more
often than not the fires in our lives, they're not consuming
fires. They are refining fires.
And if you surrendered your life to Jesus, then I can make a
strong argument that every fire that we face is the refining.
Fire not a consuming fire. But we see in scripture how the
nation of Israel they miss this. They thought that it was a
consuming fire. They thought they'd look at the
base of the mountain and they go Moses went up there.
It looks like a consuming fire. There's no way that anybody can
make it through that alive. So we skip over 40 days and 40
nights, barely not even six weeks.
Later, the nation of Israel is asking Aaron to make to melt
down their gold and to make an idol for moi because they felt
forgotten by God. God and they did not hold on to
the truth that maybe the fire that they saw, as a consuming
fire, maybe that was a refining fire.
And I got to tell you that, when we miss the point, when we miss
the truth of the fires that were going through and I'm not
minimizing anything that anybody is going through in here or an
oak wood or online. because I know that there's so many of us
that we're going through something that is so hot, so
heavy, so engulfing That we wish that God would pull us out of
that fire. But he has you in the midst of
the fire. He has you where he has you,
when he has you for the purpose that he has, you To teach you
something to purify you to purify me to purify us.
We're going to come back to that principle at the end of our time
together this morning, but because the nation of Israel
missed that point. They also missed the second
truth that I want to go through this morning.
Just as God is present, just as God is present and at work in
the in-between times. God is just as present and at
work in the in-between times as he is, in the perceived
highlight reels of Our Lives. God is just as present and at
work in the in-between times as he is, in the perceived
highlight reels of Our Lives. This means that we know that God
is working. All things for his glory and for
our good, he's working everything to the good of those
who are called according to his purpose that he is just as in
control and just at work. Just as much at work as in
connecting the dots as he is in the dots themselves.
It's so easy for us to kind of take this ESPN, SportsCenter
approach. To the Bible and to our
relationship. We got, here's what I mean by
that, you can tune in to SportsCenter, you can tune in to
YouTube, you can go to, you can go to espn.com or download the
app and they will show you just a barrage of highlights.
They'll show you the home run, they'll show you the diving
catch. So show you the slam dunk.
I'll show you the buzzer beater. Don't show you the amazing
Landing in gymnastics. They'll show you.
The highlights ain't showing you the whole game.
They're not showing you like a 3-1 count.
Whereas you know they threw a fastball over the middle.
They like, all right, even up the count. 32 Full Count,
they're showing you the highlights, right?
It's so easy for us to look at the Bible to look at scripture
and to even look at our relationship with God.
In the same way, we can look at the Bible, we can sit there and
go. Okay, I know the highlights, I
know the highlights. We got Adam and Eve in the
garden. We got Noah.
And the flood, we've got the Exodus and Moses parting the Red
Sea people walking across on dry land.
We've got David killing. Goliath.
We've got Daniel in the Lion's Den.
He wasn't devoured or attacked by the Lions.
We've got Jonah being swallowed up by the whale.
We've got Jesus birth his miracles, his death, his burial,
his resurrection, his Ascension. We've got the ministry and the
Miracles of Paul throughout the New Testament.
Then we've got this the promise of the second coming of Jesus
and let me tell you all those things are historically
accurate, they did happen and or they are yet to happen this
prophecy. They're all historically,
accurate. but every single one of those events happened in the
context of years decades and even centuries in the making
listen, whether you're Gainesville Oakwood online.
I'm more and more convinced that our growth and our relationship
with God is dependent upon our day by day Moment by moment
faithfulness and obedience to him in the seemingly mundane
times. but can I be honest with you that's really hard because
sometimes we think that those times don't matter, God is just
as present in the, in between times of Our Lives, as he is in
our perceived highlight reels. This means, if you are a student
with us or watching With Us online, if your student, you
will grow close to God. If you honor Jesus.
By the way that you do, your schoolwork treat and treat your
classmates and your teachers, if your spouse, if you're, if
you're married in here, you will grow close to God.
If you honor Jesus by unselfishly, loving your spouse.
On Mondays Tuesdays. Wednesdays, Thursdays Fridays,
Saturdays. if you're an employee, you will grow close to
God if you honor Jesus, but doing your job, the best to the
best of your ability without trying to cut corners.
Because you realize you're doing it unto the Lord.
If you're an employer, you will grow close to God.
If you treat your employees with dignity and love and grace, and
mercy, and compassion, and you live as a businessman or
businesswoman, you live with the utmost of Integrity, it's those
day, by day in between times, you see God is just as present
in the in between times as he is in the perceived highlight reels
of Our lives. But in those in-between times,
it is easy to still feel forgotten about God.
Go God, thank you so much for Sunday.
Thank you for allowing me to gather together, and come
together, and be able to sing praises to you, to have to have
Michael in our band lead us and praise.
Thank you so much for teaching me in your word.
Thank you for allowing me to be just surrounded by men and
women, that I know that are for me.
They don't want just from me and Love you and and are so
encouraging. But none of this is here on
Tuesday, right? None of this is here on a
Thursday. So in those in-between times I
want to give you three handles really quick to hold onto.
When we really struggle, that God has seemingly forgotten
about us or when we don't feel close to God, and those in
between times, going to go through them really fast.
Hold on, to God's past faithfulness.
The first handle, hold on to God's past faithfulness.
Can I tell you this? God has never let you down and
he's not going to start now? God has never let you down and
he's not going to start now. Hold on to God's past faithless.
He has always been faithful. He is faithful.
He always will be faithful, but we've got to hold on to that
faith on his that track record number to hold on to God's
personal promises. Years and years and years and
years ago. A very wise mentor of mine told
me this when I was really like struggling with kind of one
in-between times. He told me said Ben never
questioned in the dark what God has revealed to you in the
light. Church.
Got to tell you this Gainesville Oakwood online.
If you're in a mode where you don't feel close to God, and
maybe you even feel forgotten about God, go back to God's
personal promises to you. Don't allow the darkness.
Don't allow what you're going through right now to cause you
to question what God has revealed in the light.
Hold on to God's past promises and then third hold on to God's
perfect timing. Can I tell you something?
That's really frustrating to me about God, since we're being
honest about God, it's really frustrating to me that God's not
early. You ever pray through something
really, really hard. You ever been in a time or
season that you're like God just let it end.
Bring some closure. Bring some finality own to next
chapters. You just pour your heart out to
God. Here like God, where are you?
Listen. God's track record is perfect.
God's promises are perfect but God's timing is also perfect.
God is never early, God is never late.
God is always right on time. God has never really got his
never like God is always right on time. now, some of us we may
be in here, thinking The calls the Israelites lost sight. that
God was just as present and at work in and through them when he
called them to rest and camp at the base of Mount Sinai, as he
was when he split the Red Sea and told me to walk across They
forgot that liar. They thought that God had
forgotten about him. So they turned to another point
of worship, another object of worship.
There's some of us whether you're in the room with us in
Oakwood or online that we sit there and go.
Then I can tell you, I feel like God's forgotten about me after
years and years and years of faithfulness and years, and
years, and years of, praying and years, and years and years of
serving. Been, if I'm honest, I feel like
God's forgotten about me. So yeah, you're talking about
Golden calves. You're talking about turning to
other things or other people as the object, is our ultimate
object as their ultimate source of guidance and wisdom and
Direction and peace and comfort. Yeah.
Right there with them that resonates with me.
Can I give you some hope this morning here?
It is third piece. This morning, Freedom can only
come when we turn back to God. Freedom can only come.
When we turn back to God, let me show you something in.
Exodus 32. And this is in verse 19.
This one Moses was made aware from the top of the mountain.
This is when they came near the camp, Moses saw the calf and the
dancing and he burned with anger.
He threw the stone tablets to the ground smashing them at the
foot of the mountain. He took the calf, they had made
and burned it. And when he Grant then he
grounded into powder. Threw it into the water and
force the people to drink it. That's intense.
So you've got the people of Israel.
They think that they've been forgotten about forgotten by
God. They think that Moses had been
burned up on the top of the mountain.
They make this golden calf. They start sacrificing this
golden calf. They start you know worshipping
this golden calf, this Idol. God tells Moses from the
mountain, you need to go down your people.
They've turned to idolatry. You go down and take care of
business. Let me tell you what take care
of business, didn't mean. It didn't mean that God Thunders
from the mountains. I'm done with all of you.
Let me go start back with Israel, 2.0 to where these
people, they want like worship the golden calf.
Let me tell you what take care of business means or meant it
meant that the golden calf had to be destroyed, but God didn't
destroy his people. Can I tell you this church in
order for us to experience and to live in the freedom and the
plans, and the mission and the purpose that God has for you,
for me for your family, for my family, for our neighborhoods,
for our community, for our region, for our world.
He's got to destroy the golden calves in our lives.
Not because he hates us, but because he loves us, God knows
that. The only thing that will satisfy
us is him. The only thing that will provide
true Direction and true. Hope to a lost and hurting and
broken world is him. But we've got to destroy the
golden calves in our lives. We've got to destroy those
Idols. Listen, it is so amazing.
You go from this point forward. Let me tell you what happens in.
Let me tell you what God does in his people.
The people they were unfaithful to God.
God was continue to be faithful to the people.
Guess what? You can read.
Exodus, Leviticus Numbers. Deuteronomy first page of the
Book of Joshua. God did deliver his people to
the promised land. Out of those out of that line of
people, he raised up a man by the name of David.
A man took to be king over his Nation, Israel.
And this King David went down in his known as a man, after God's
Own Heart, and out of the line of David, God brought Jesus into
this world, to be our Messiah, to be our savior, to be our
Lord, to be our rescuer, to be our remedy, to Be Our Redeemer.
God did not give up on his people, but he had to destroy
their Idol. Can I tell you this?
God's? Not going to give up on you, but
he has to destroy your idol. I heard a really, I too had a
conversation with a really, really good friend of mine.
A couple weeks ago. I was just been through a lot
and he told me, he said Ben, let me tell you something that I
learned a couple of years ago, God is more than willing to
allow us to hit rock bottom. If Rock Bottom is where we'll
find him. So I'm going to let, you know,
let you in look, kind of kind of behind the scenes early in the
morning on Sunday mornings. When we do run through, we get
to do a service. We call it a VIP service for the
Oakwood campus. Oakwood campus.
Right now they have one service. That means that everybody that
volunteers and serves like in kids ministry, they don't get to
go to the service when the service is happening.
So we do a service for them. And in our VIP service, this is
how we closed out our VIP service this morning.
We prayed For every single person online, every single
person on Gainesville Campus, Oakwood campus.
That we know that God is more than comfortable allow, more
than okay to allow us to hit rock bottom.
If Rock Bottom is where we'll find him but we don't have to
hit rock bottom. God wants to save you from that
heartbreak. And from that heartache, if you
just allow your heart to be tender enough to turn, back to
him to, where you say, God, I've tried every all different types
of golden calves in my life. All different types of Idols.
I've turned to a lot of different advice.
I've turned to a lot of different sources for wisdom and
peace and calm and comfort. And none of them satisfy me.
This is the invitation this morning.
Freedom can be found. Hope can be found only in Jesus
Christ. You Have to hit rock bottom to
find him. This is the open invitation for
you, to experience the grace, and the mercy, and the love and
the Forgiveness of Jesus, but it starts with your surrender.
It starts with our overall hunger and desire to be used by
God in a way far beyond we're allowing him to use us right now
so to help us walk through and set the stage for our time of
response. I want to walk you through three
key questions. And at this time, I know the
Pastor Greg, he's going to take it from here just to kind of
navigate these three questions live in the room, with our
family down at Oakwood. So Pastor Greg, go ahead and
take it from there but up in Gainesville and online.
Let me kind of walk you through three questions and these
questions are in your, in your notes.
Number one, do I feel in some way that God has forgotten about
me? And what has caused me to feel
this way. It starts with being honest,
with yourself about yourself and it starts with being honest,
with God, about what you think about God.
Do I feel in some way that God has forgotten about me and what
has caused me to feel this way? Can I tell you this?
God hasn't forgotten about you. He knows you, he loves you.
He knows you by name. He has plans and purposes for
you. He hasn't forgotten about you.
Question number two. What can God teach me about him
during this time or season? That would be difficult for me
to learn. Otherwise can I lean into this
one for just a second? There are some lessons, some
things that God wants to teach us about him.
That they can only happen in the fire.
They can't happen Outside the Fire.
There's some things that I can learn that I can only learn
about God in my walk with him in times of deep sadness that I
can't learn in times of happiness.
And the same thing is true for you as well, but what do we do?
We try everything that we can to escape the sadness to get out of
the sadness. To get out of the storm to get
out of the fire. Can I just encourage you for a
moment this morning? There are some things that God
can teach us only in this time and only in the season.
And when I start to understand that, when we start to
understand that will Embrace two huge words of encouragement,
number one, is we are in the hands of the master Craftsman.
We are in the hands of a master Craftsman, whose not trying to
destroy us. He's trying to purify us He
doesn't hate us. He loves us.
He's not discarding us. He wants to use us and he will
not allow you to be crushed and consumed because you're in the
hands of the master Craftsman. Perfect, loving heavenly father
that knows what he's doing. And the second word of
encouragement to do that when we start to embrace this truth
right here that there are things that there's some things that
God can only teach me in this time and in the season in the
fire and a refining fire that he can't teach me.
Otherwise is it actually causes me to Lean Into the Fire to go.
God if you have me here for this time for this season to teach me
what you want to teach me, squeeze every drop out of this
lesson on to me and into me because God I don't want to go.
Through this. I don't want to have this lesson
re taught to me. It actually causes me to lean
into the time and into the season, not to try to run away
from it. But then, there's that third
question. And what ways do I need to turn
back to God? And what ways do I need to turn
back to God? That is a simple matter of
surrender to where when you start to understand and when I
start to understand when we start to understand that God, I
turn to this person, or I turn to this outlet for my piece, and
for my goddess and for my direction, instead of turning to
you, God, I don't want to do that anymore.
God replaced that person in my life in that spot.
Replace the joy that I'm chasing after by going hard at work.
Replace that Joy with the joy of being, just your son or your
daughter. In what ways do I need to turn
back to God? God want Idols are in my life,
what golden calves are in my life that you need to destroy,
not to destroy me. But so that I can actually live
in Freedom. Like I said, these are three
reflection questions, personal questions that I don't know how
you're answering this morning. I know how God has beat me up
over it over the past several weeks.
But it's driven me to him, it's driven me.
To prayer, is driven me to community.
His driven me to lean into the time into the season Into the
Fire, not try to shirk away from it.
So here's what I want to do, I want to pray over us and our
band. They're going to come back up
and they're going to lead us in a song.
And if you know what you need to do, the whole is most obedient
boldest thing that, you know, that you need to do is just to
stand and sing with us. Then by all means you do that.
But if you know that you need to come down at these steps at this
Altar and say, God, I need to be reminded that you haven't
forgotten about me. I need to be reminded that you
are just as present in these in between times as you are in the
perceived highlight moments of my life.
God, I need to be reminded that there's hope.
God teach me what you want me to receive out of this time.
And out of the Season, you respond.
However God calls you to respond this morning.
God, we thank you, not just for your word.
But we thank you for your presence.
We thank you for your promise. God.
We thank you for your person who you are.
God, and who you are is a perfect loving heavenly father,
that loves us too much to leave us the way that we are there
for. You will bring us through
refining. Fires got even though from our
perspective, sometimes it looks like they're consuming fires.
What you're doing is For Your Glory and for art, for our good.
So God, I pray that you would bring encouragement to anyone in
here this morning, that Is that they have been forgotten by.
You got that your presence would envelop them and engulf them in
such a way that they know that you are not just with them, God,
you were in them and that you are for them.
Got anything in our lives that we need to lay it down at your
feet. God, We Lay It Down freely and
got any lessons that you want to teach us.
During this time that you have us in during the season that you
have us in God, bring it. Bring it in full measure,
knowing that we are in the hands of a master Craftsman knowing
that you are trying to teach us things about you and our
relationship with you that we can learn in no other context.
We got, we just sometimes, we just need to be reminded of Your
Love in the midst of the process.
So God, however you call us to respond, God, give us the
courage and obedience to do that.
And it's in Jesus name, we pray, amen.
Thank you for listening to the Riverbend Church podcast.
Learn more about who we are as a church and how to connect you
can head over to our website Riverbend Church dot lie.