Welcome to the official podcast of Rock Hill Baptist Church 2
where we are focused on glorifying God, spreading the
gospel, and making disciples of Jesus Christ right here in the
heart of Greenville, SC. Each week we bring you a life
changing word from our Senior Pastor, Pastor Matthew D Long
Junior, or one of our anointed guest speakers.
We pray this message strengthens your faith, deepens your
understanding, and empowers you to elevate in every area of your
life. Let's join the service already
in progress. Amen.
Hallelujah to God. Exodus chapter 3.
Let's start at verse one. We've been reading the Bible all
day by stop NOW. Verse one of Exodus chapter 3
reads as such. Now Moses kept the flock of
Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the
flock to the backside of the desert and came to the mountain
of God, even to Horeb. And the Angel of the Lord
appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a Bush,
And he looked, and behold, the Bush burned with fire, and the
Bush was not consumed. Verse 3 reads.
And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight
by the Bush is not burnt. 4 And when the Lord saw that he turned
aside to sea, God called unto him out of the midst of the
Bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
Verse 5 And he said, Jaw not nigh, hit her, put off thy shoes
from off thy feet, for the place where on thou standest is holy
ground. Verse 6 Moreover, he said, I am
the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God, the word of God, for the people of
God, Thanks be unto God. I'm going to preach.
I'm going to preach from this thoughts.
Are you ready? Help me out.
Turn to neighbor. Say neighbor.
Don't look lean in. Don't look lean in.
Don't look lean in, don't look lean in.
I could be honest by dear brothers and sisters that as we
have found ourselves stumbling into Exodus chapter 3.
Come on here I love it. Come on, he going to help me for
real. He he we got a constant praise.
He just running for everybody. He gonna run for me.
We found ourselves here in Exodus chapter 3 with a man,
Braylon, the man who is not a wide eyed baby floating down the
Nile River. He's not a fiery young Prince
slaying Egyptians in a fit of righteous anger.
No, when we meet him here. This man, Mother Gordine, is an
older man at this point, Deacon Davis.
He's weary and has been humbled saying you know him.
His name, Sister Hauser, is Moses Moshi.
In Hebrew, it means drawn out. And isn't that the paradox of
his entire life? He's always being drawn out of
something, drawn out of the water, drawn, drawn, drawn.
Good to see Jesus being drawn out of Egypt, drawn out of
position, drawn out of pride. And yet here he is again,
finding himself always being drawn into something else, drawn
into tension, drawn into destiny.
Moses is a man who is living in two worlds.
Help me out, say 2 worlds. He's living in two worlds, but
belongs to neither one. He's too Hebrew for the palace,
and he's too Egyptian for the slaves.
He learned early how to survive by cold switching and Pharaoh's
palace. He spoke the language of power,
but in his mother's Hut he whispered the prayers of a
slave. He never fully fits into either
place. So he walked the tightrope
between both a Prince with a slave's memory and a slave with
a prince's education. And now by the time we see him
in Exodus chapter 3, he is 80 years old.
I'm going to say that one more time and let that settle in. 80,
not 08, but 80, if I don't mind. I guess I better help paint this
a little bit more vividly for you.
That's about 960 and a third month of life he's had.
That's about 4174 and 286 weeks of life at this point.
That's about 29,220 days of life.
Or if you really feel being analytical, that's about 7 and
701,280 hours of 42,076,800 minutes.
Check this out at 80 years old, Mother Spurgeon.
He's been alive for 2,524,608,000 seconds, 40 years
and Egypt thinking he was somebody.
And now 40 years in Midian realize that he was nobody, but
God was about to show him what he, God can do, but somebody who
knows he's a nobody. For four decades he had been
hidden. No miracles, no no angelic
visitors, no visions, no burning bushes yet.
Just sheep and sand. Just the grind of a man who has
learned to settle. I'm going to say that again.
Just the grind of a man who has learned how to settle.
Many brothers and sisters. How do you survive 40 years and
the gap between what was promised and what is possible?
I know that made me say too, when I was researching and
studying the texts because really, how do you keep walking
when your past feels wasted and your future feels gone?
Moses is caught in detention of what was and what will be, and
he carries palace memories but lives and desert realities.
Deacon Glenn, he's, he's the education.
He has the education Deacon Davis of Egypt, but the
occupation of a shepherd, of a pastor, of a caretaker.
He is both overqualified, Sister Chris, and underutilized.
He is both called and sidelined. He is both drawn out and shut
in. And maybe that's where somebody
is sitting right now. Not in your Egypt anymore, but
not yet in your promise. Not who you used to be, but not
yet who you're going to be stuck in detention.
Sister Davis of an unfinished testimony.
Woo Lord, I'm sorry, I thought the little preaching slip on me.
But the backside of the desert is not a glamorous place.
It's it's, it's the place of obscurity.
It's the place of forgottenness, the place no one celebrates, no
one visits, no one sees. It's the place, Dick and Davis,
where second guesses piled up with the sand and old dreams
start to dry out in the sun. And here.
Here, yeah, I believe. I believe in the backside he
finds a place of life that really nobody will post about.
It's the quiet corner where unfulfilled dreams collect dust.
It's the space where applause has faded and all you hear are
your own second guesses. It's where time feels long,
where opportunities feel lost and, and even where the world
seems to have moved on without you.
Right. And yet it is here, in this
hidden geography, if I could say it like that, in this place of
exile, obscurity and second chances, that the next chapter
of God's story featuring this life begins.
Yes. And my dear brothers and
sisters, if you don't mind, I think, I think we may have a
little gas. Join me in observing 3 movements
in this text. You got your Bible open right?
Exodus chapter 3, verse #2 says, And the Angel of the Lord
appeared unto him, and a flame of fire out of the midst of a
Bush, and he looked, and behold, the Bush burned with fire, and
the Bush was not consumed. Verse 3 just to make sure we add
to this. And Moses said, I will now turn
aside and see this great sight. Why the Bush is not burned.
Many brothers and sisters. The first movement of this text
is the strange sights. Strange sights.
It's the desert. Hot, dry and quiet shrubs are
out there, and so that they can they can really catch heat, They
can catch fire at any drop of a moment.
But this time, under brothers and sisters, something different
is happening. The Bush is burning, but it's
not burning up. Moses looks, then looks again.
Because the fire won't quit. Lord, I think somebody need to
hear me. I think they need to hear me.
The Bush is burning, but it's not burning up.
Moses looks that looks again. Because this fire won't quit.
It's not the clouds opening up in the sky.
It's something lit right in front of him and your Bible, our
scripture for today says in Exodus chapter 3, verse 2, it
says, behold, the Bush burned with fire and the Bush was not
consumed. This isn't a show up there sign.
It's a sign for right here, in this moment.
Sometimes what's near you lights up to see if you're still paying
attention, and what should burn up is being held together.
That's really the tension of this entire text.
The flame is real, but the finish never comes.
Sometimes the very thing you step over is the thing set on
fire for your future. You keep stepping over.
The little nudge to pray before you scroll on your phone.
The quiet conviction to forgive before you clap back.
The the kids question that carried more God than your whole
entire calendar. The open door that didn't look
like your dream but sounded like more of God's will.
The reminder to call the person you've been avoiding.
You keep calling it nothing, pushing it off to later, saying
not yet, it's not the right time, it's not the right season.
But may I suggest that might be the Bush?
Because what feels like an interruption is often an
invitation. John Ziegler's zinger, Excuse
me, says great leaders are not defined by the absence of
weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths.
And my dear brothers and sisters, as we are perusing
through this sets of strange sights, I got to take you back
to verse #1 because verse #1 starts off with a very
particular set of words for the grey.
Did I get it right? This ain't the Lord, all right?
I've been, I've been working all week.
I'm like verse #1 of Exodus chapter 3 says Now Moses kept
the flop. Now Moses kept the flop.
You might have missed it. You might have missed it.
Now Moses kept the flop. So in one hand he has a
shepherd's staff, ordinary wood in an out of the way place and
it's really revealing Moses clear strength.
You ready the staff that he used to keep the flock reveals the
staff as guidance, the muscle of movements.
I promise you I'm going somewhere.
It represents protection, the staff being strong for everybody
else. It represents provision, the art
of making a way to pasture for the flock and providing water
for them. It also represents discipline,
firmness with tenderness, correction without crushing.
But then also the staff these out of this these few words
represents testimony. Help me out.
Turn to your neighbors and neighbor testimony, testimony
and notice notice, notice for the Bible readers.
If you go to Exodus chapter 4 around about verse #2 the
question becomes since you keeping sheep, what's that in
your hand? Moses responds and says arrived
the ordinary thing becoming an instrument of extraordinary use.
And here's the shout for us as we journey along that even in
obscurity, I want you to know that your ability is still seen.
Oh Lord, that head, not Spirit, just went, Josh, that God often
brands your gifts in the backfield because before He
broadcasts your name in the spotlight, He needs you.
He needs you. He needs you to know what's in
your hand. Because what's in your hand may
look like a stick. But may I suggest that what's in
the hand is really a strategy in God's hand?
You may not realize that one small flame can change a whole
room. But that's why when we come
together, when we come together, I'm so intentional about pushing
you to praise the Lord. I'm intentional about pushing
you to hug your neighbor. I'm intentional about pushing
you to pray together over your offering and your tie.
Because a candle shifts the atmosphere, Huh.
Y'all must not like no candles. I thought.
I thought this is the candle crew.
I thought it's the crew. What's near gets lit to reveal
what's next. So you got to watch out the
sight. The sight, the sight of what
Moses observes pulls him into a shift notice.
Notice in the text that the Bush gets his eyes but the turn gets
his ears. Moses said in Exodus chapter 3
verse three. He said, and I will now turn
aside and see this great sight. I think the NIV says strange
sight. Uh huh, why the Bush does not
burn. The text teaches us three steps
in one sentence. You ready?
I got a lot of notes for you to go back to YouTube and get later
on. The text teaches US decision,
direction and discernment. Oh God, I'm going to say it
again. Decision, He says.
I will now turn aside. This isn't maybe later, this is
now. Notice it's not curiosity, but
commitment, because when you give God a glance, you'll only
get hints. But when you give God a turn,
you get instructions. God didn't speak when it burned.
He spoke when he turned. The first thing is a decision.
But notice the second thing of this sentence.
The second step is direction. The text says, and now I was
turned aside. Check this out and see this
great sight. He chooses focus, Sister
Shirley. He doesn't just notice, he
studies what's been lit. Because faith grows when
attention lingers on what God highlights.
No, go to sleep on this part right here.
Because what you stare at, you start to understand.
Thank you. I must say it again.
I said what you stare at, you start to understand and what you
understand you can't obey. I can hear the words of my
pastor Bishop Borders now say you can't stand over what you
haven't stood under. So.
So the second, second step in the sentence is direction.
But notice the third step in this sentence.
He says and Moses said, I will now turn aside one and see this
great sight too. Check this out why the Bush is
not burned. Notice this is not suspicion.
Come here. Notice this is discernment.
Now he asks the deeper question, Come here because, because we'll
read the Bible so fast and miss it.
He says, why is it burning? He asked the question.
He asked the question, why is it burning but not burning?
But that's maturity. Looking past the spark to the
source, I think I'm going to throw this and then this, since
we all together don't just shout about the fire, learn the
faithfulness that sustains it. How about this one?
Don't just talk about the fruit, uncover the roots because it's
so easy that we are attracted to other people's fire that will
want to go and be warned by their own fire without realizing
what is it that keeps it from being not burnt up.
I'm I'm reminded I'm reminded of a real story of a gifted
musician. Deacon houses you're looking
sharp today who had been in a busy train station in New York
and he played beautiful music. People had rushed by they they
would find themselves late for work, heads down, barely really
hearing it. However, the the music that the
man played didn't ever fail. But what really failed was the
focus of the people on the man's playing because greatness
doesn't I better slow this one down.
This might be this one of those moments ready.
Greatness doesn't always dress up.
Sometimes it waits to see who will slow down and listen.
I'll save one more time for you, deke.
Greatness doesn't always dress up.
Sometimes it waits to see who will slow down and listen.
In the same way, God may not turn up the volume, but He'll
cause you to slow down and look, It is here.
It is here by the brothers and sisters that we find ourselves
quickly moving on from this strange sight, our first
movement to the second movement of the text, which is this
sacred summons. It's in your Bible, Exodus
chapter 3 verse #4 it says, And when the Lord saw that he turned
aside to see God called unto him out of the midst of the Bush and
said, Moses, Moses. And he said, here am I Johnny,
we got to get out of here. But, but, but I want you to know
that something happened in that desert that day that changed the
course of history. Not when the Bush started
burning, Sister Chris, but when Moses turned Ed.
I'm going to save one more time for you, Sister Shirley.
I don't want you to get lost on this.
I said something happened in that desert that day that
changed the course of history. Not when the Bush started
burning, but when Moses turned, Ed.
It wasn't the fire that triggered God's voice.
It was the turn. Moses said in verse three that
he would go see, but in verse four he turned aside to see.
And there is always a gap between what we say and what we
do. But it wasn't until Moses body
backed up his curiosity that God broke his silence.
Because God doesn't respond to good intentions, He responds to
holy interruptions. A lot of us say I'll turn
someday, but but God's waiting to see if your turn today.
This was the first time in Scripture that the Lord's
silence is broken by someone's movement, Deacon Glenn and not
their mouth. Come here.
I, I said it and it went over your head.
I said this is the first time in Scripture that the Lord's
silence is broken by someone movement and not their mouth
because when he saw action match curiosity, then direction had
met destiny and don't miss this. The verse says the Lord saw that
phrase is a new it's in Genesis chapter 6 verse five that the
Lord saw the wickedness of man was great and it was even in
Genesis chapter 21 and 17. He saw the tears of Haggai in
Genesis chapter 29 and 31. He saw Leah was unloved.
He even saw the affliction of his people in Exodus chapter 2
verse 25. But this time God saw a man
turning. God, y'all don't know when to
shout? I said.
This time God saw a man turning. I think I better get ahead and
just push this a little bit further.
That I can hear the words later on to be written in the Holy
Scriptures that God will heal a land, but only if the people
will turn from the wickedness. That the same God who sees pain
also sees pursuits. And some of us are living
beneath revelation because we haven't moved yet.
We keep waiting for God to speak.
Yeah, but God is waiting for us to turn.
And I've got to let you know, don't push too hard, John.
I still got away. That God called unto him out of
the midst of the Bush and said, Moses, Moses, you read it too
fast, you missed it. It says And God called unto him
out of the mist within of the Bush and said, most shy, most
shy. Now, now, now, now, this is
deep. He didn't call him shepherd.
No, no, he didn't call him murderer.
Knew he didn't even call him fugitive or sister Walker, but
he called him Moses because that's his name.
That's his identity, that's his intimacy and and even that's his
authority. And let me remind you that God
knows your name even when you've forgotten your calling.
Lord, I feel it. I better ride a little bit that
God even does something strange. He double calls him Deacon
Glenn. Come and look at the text.
He doesn't just St. Moses one time, but he says
Moses, Moses and Hebrew called culture.
Calling a name twice meant urgency.
It meant intimacy. It even meant some type of
divine establishment of some type of covenant or agreement.
It means what's being said and now it has to be established on
earth and established in heaven. Come here, think about it.
It's the same team Lord who called Abraham, he said.
Abraham, Abraham. He shifted him from sacrifice to
substitution. It's the same God that called
Jacob, Jacob, Jacob and shifted him from being a running man to
a man full of revelation. It's the same God that called
Samuel the little boy and shifted him from silence to
speaking. Yeah.
And you even know it's the same one that called Simon, Simon and
shifted him from being sifting to being strengthened.
And I got to let you know that when God called, calls your name
twice, it means he's about to change your story without
changing your name. Yeah, and here's where the
tension lies. That some of us have only heard
our past shouted at us because the enemy keeps yelling failure,
keeps yelling addict, keeps yelling divorce, keeps yelling
broke, keeps yelling unworthy. When the Lord speaks, he calls
you by name. The enemy calls you by your
past, but the Lord calls you by your purpose.
Notice that God didn't say hey you.
He said Moses, Moses. And that name carries a legacy
of survival. It survived genocide.
That name survived rejection. That name survived identity
crisis. That name survive 40 years of
obscurity. But when God calls your name, it
means all that is part of the testimony is not the termination
of your destiny. And I'm so glad that when God
called Moses, Moses shows us what to do next.
The Bible says that Moses responds to God and he says he
says here am I that phrase right there, here am I isn't just
presence, it's posture. Come here, I'm trying to preach
to you that phrase right there, it's availability.
That phrase right there it's surrenderance.
And then Hebrew, that phrase hinay means here I am Lord, I'm
ready. I've got to let you know that
here I, I am doesn't mean I have it all together.
It means I trust the one who does.
It's the same answer Abraham gave.
It's the same reply Jacob gave. It's the same posture Samuel had
and it's the same spirit Isaiah carried.
And Isaiah chapter 6, You know that one when he says woe is me
for I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst our unclean
people. This wasn't ability, it was
availability. I think I better get on out of
here now before we rush past this here, can I ask you a
question today? 19 brothers and sisters, when
was the last time you gave the Lord a fresh yes?
When was the last time you gave God a here I am not a recycled
yes from your youth, not a broken yes.
How do your fear but a fresh surrender The ass God's next
move in your life doesn't depend on your resources, but it
depends on your response. And I got to let everybody on
the side of my voice know that it's not.
It's not tied to your money. It's not tied to your credit,
but God is asking for your commitment.
He's not calling for your resume, but he's calling for
your response. Because God doesn't need your
ability. He's drawn to your availability.
I got to get on out of here for real.
So now Moses has turned and God has called and a holy yes is
hanging in the atmosphere. But before Moses can run off
shouting, God tells him something that would stop
everybody who really understood in the chat.
Deacon house him. Your Bible says that the Lord
tells him in verse #5 Davis. And he said, Draw not nigh unto
me, put off thy shoes, from off thy feet, for thy place where on
thy stand. This is holy ground.
Moreover, he said, I'm the God, I'm thy father.
Yeah, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac.
Yeah, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he
was afraid to look upon God. My name, brothers and sisters,
I'm going to get out of here for real.
Now. If you push, I go even faster.
But if not, I might sit for a second because the last movement
of the tags is they got to surrender.
They got to surrender the sandals.
You got to look at the text here.
He tells unto them, He says try not night there my new brothers
and sisters. The fire invited him, but the
voice corrected him. And the tension of the text is
God says come close but not too quick because access without
reverence is arrogance. That's why we got to praise Him
with intentionality. That's why we got to praise Him,
not out of obligation, but we got to praise Him because we
Revere him, we respect him, we honor Him, and we make sure he
knows that we're thankful for him because God will bless the
steps we take and pride only the ones we take and all.
And this is the part of our walk where yes Sir, where direction
meets discipline. But God says, slow down, take
your time. You can't just run upon this
glory, His calling Moses in, but he's teaching him to come
correct, because the same God who calls your name will check
your approach. And so he tells him, yes, Sir,
put off the shoes from off thy feet.
Now they get to the core of this.
God doesn't ask Moses to lay down his title.
Neither does he ask him to lay down his testimony.
He doesn't even talk about talk about his trauma, but the Lord
says, take off your shoes. Why would he ask this question?
Why would he give him this command?
But Deacon Davis, I'm glad you're wondering because shoes
carry residue and they check dust.
Yes, Lord, from the places you've been.
And so the Lord said unto him, no, not here.
No, not now, because you can't bring the wilderness residue
into a worship moment to Moses's sandals had walked through
Egypt's palace, Moses's sandals had been through Midian's
pasture, and Moses's sandals had been on the backside of the
desert, and they seemed to survive.
Come here. Survive his failures.
Survive. Survive his fears.
Come here, survive. Survive his fight.
But God, I said God, God says, take that off here.
Yeah, take it off here. Because what carried you through
the pain can't cover you in purpose.
You see, sandals represent what we use to protect ourselves from
the rough places. But when you're in the presence
of God, the protection becomes a problem.
Reeling. And he doesn't want your guarded
heart. No, He wants shall bare soul,
because worship us. Lord begins when your defense,
your defense comes down and ends.
And so suddenly the Bible says that he says unto him, for the
place, the place we're on, we're on that stand.
This is holy ground. Let me deal with this real
quick. It wasn't a church.
No, it wasn't a temple. No, it wasn't a tent.
No, it was dirt, sand, and rocks.
So what made it holy? Boiling.
Not the location, but the presence made it holy.
Because holiness is not about the ground.
It's about who's standing in it with you.
The same desert place became sacred because the presence of
the Lord stood in the midst of it.
And when Moses obeyed, when he stood still, when he took off
but separated him, that's when God spoke again.
I think I bore you long enough. Go back and get the word of the
Lord if you want it. But I need you to know, Deacon
Davis, that it's here the Lord reintroduces himself.
And he says, Moses, I am the God of your Father.
I am the God of Abraham, of Isaac and Jacob, not the God God
in your past, not the God God of Egypt, not the God of Pharaoh,
but the God of your lineage. And he's saying I've been with
you all this time. I've been in your bloodline and
I've been walking with the old people.
I didn't just show up here, but I've been there the whole time.
Even when you lost sight of me as a youngster.
Yeah, God is saying I stay in your story.
I stay when you try to run off. I when you try to abandon
purpose and Moses, Moses hid his face, not because he was
ashamed, but because he wasn't all.
And this is what happens when the fire is in front of you.
It reveals the God that's been within you.
I got to get out of here now. But whatever you do, Saints, I
need you to remember the Take your shoes off when you come up
in here next week. Take your shoes off when you
come to practice. Yeah, take your shoes off after
we cut this live stream off. I never thought he's leaving out
of here. Take your shoes off because this
is holy ground and no matter what it looks like on the
outside, you got to know he'll push me a little hard of your
mind. Got this?
Here's where the Lord dwell, and whatever you do, don't just look
lean into it. Don't just look lean into it.
Lean into this place 'cause when
you drop drop your sandals, God going to drop His strategy.
When you find yourself removing the hidden places of your heart,
God would uncover your purpose for this season.
I've got to go, John. You better come a little higher
now because I need the Saints to know that God's not done.
He's not done with you. And no matter what you may be
going through, get on out of it. Don't just look, but leaning to
it. I feel like giving the song the
songwriter's head. Lean with it, rock with it.
Lean with it and rock with it. God saying you've been stuck too
long. God saying you've been here too
long. God said he's not done.
Whatever you do, lean into it because God not done but to you.
God not finish with you. God has more for you.
So don't get stuck gazing at the fire.
Come home, shop in the fire, shop in the fire, shop in the
fire, shop in the fire, shop in the fire.
Might be 80. Jump in the fire because gods
not done with you, Gods not through with you.
If you want to die there's plenty of saying.
But sure, in the fire gods send the revival, gods sending
another glory gods sending another wave.
But whatever you do, don't get stuck looking and gazing that.
Remember after Jesus how to send it to heaven?
He sent some angels back down to ask them a question.
Why stand here gazing? He who has risen from the dead
is a lie. That a lie power, it's going to
heal your body. That a lie power it's going to
save your marriage. That a lie power it's going to
save your family. Get up from here.
Jump in the fire. Jump in the fire.
Shopping the fire. I got to stop shopping the fire.
Shopping the fire. He don't want your ability
Shopping the fire. He wants your availability.
Shopping the fire. I'm at my time.
Hallelujah. Where's mine?
Don't look lean. Lean.
Yes, Sir. Hallelujah.
You keep reading. God tells him about his family.
He tells them I'm the God of your forefathers.
But then he starts to deal with Moses in a very real way.
He says you came here for a fire that attracted your senses.
I'm trying to recalibrate you because I'm not done with you,
he says. I've heard the cries of my
people and I've known the whole time that you've been hiding.
I know the whole time you didn't think you were the 1.
You have discounted your own self.
But he essentially tells Moses, I'm coming to get you off the
clearance rack. I'm buying you back to let you
know they're still fit in your garment.
They're still you send you. Moses says tell it OK, I said it
says yes, Lord, we we got to cut out all the extras.
It's either yes, Lord, or no at all.
We could sit up and meet, have private meet and solve it all.
We did all day long and then the day is, will we do the will of
the Lord or will we wallow in 40 years of obscurity, thinking and
rehearsing what was and what could have been and what did
happen, what what maybe didn't happen or maybe it should have
happened this way. He's a murderer on the run at 80
years old and God says you're Moses.
That's all I really came to tell you today in person online.
You are not what you have done. You are not what you are
currently doing. You are the name God gave you.
That's why I take so much time and baby dedications going
through the name, giving you all these prophetic words.
Yes, yes, because you are your name.
I can hear them, the old writer who says long there's breath in
my body. I've still got hope, still got
purpose. Today's the day for you to give
God another yes, praise the Lord.
I don't want you to come to an altar.
I want you to right there at your seat.
I want you to close your eyes, bow your head, and I'm not going
to pray out loud and I'm going to give us a few moments for you
to create your own space. We love and join corporate fire
gatherings, but when we go home, we complain about the coldness
of our homes because there's no fire within.
Today God wants to relight the pilot, but He's only going to
relight it when you avail yourself to Him.
Hallelujah. I'm just your mailman today.
I know it's 133. I'm over the time I purposely
wanted to take the time to give you this word because I keep
wanting to go back to Matthew chapter 27.
But I keep getting pulled away from finishing the series
because I hear the Lord almost like, like a a strong cry that
he wants us to come back to him. No pretext, no, no extra, no
frill stuff, none of that fake stuff.
Let's come back to him. Let's renew ourselves with him,
Davis said. Lord created me a clean heart.
Yes, yes. And manure within me.
All right, spirit. Every posture we stand and sit
in has meaning. It tells Moses to take his shoes
off. Take your shoes off.
John's going to play for just a few seconds.
Literally. Why don't you create an altar
right there? Listen.
Thank you for never leaving us,
Father. Thank you for always being
there, even in the moments when we were unsure if we were there.
Father, there's still moments when there feel like there are
more question than answers in life.
So, Lord, just as Moses was drawn to that Bush, we are drawn
to your presence right now, my Father, we simply say yes.
Heart still aching, but yes, still unsure about some things
in life, but yes, yes, that you can have the fragile parts of
me. Yes, that you can have this old
feeble body. Lord, I still got a determined
heart to go all the way with you.
So Lord, send the fire. Send the fire that caused the
church to be ignited in Acts 2. Send the fire.
Send it that calls a valley of dry dead bones to become a great
army Lord. Send the fire that protected
Hebrew boys and a furnace. Well, they didn't even come out
smelling like smoke. Send the fire that burns up all
things that are not like you, knowing that this is the
refiner's fire, that you are purifying us, and that which is
not like you. Lord, scrape it away.
Lord, remove it away. Lord, take the desire away.
Lord, take the appetite of it away.
Lord, take the connections of it away.
So Lord, when we leave this place, we leave this place like
Moses left that Bush a new man. We leave this place a new woman,
a new boy, a New Girl, a new church totally committed to you
in Jesus name, Amen. You may not know Jesus in free
partner he's sending, but you pray this short prayer after me
say Lord Jesus, Lord Jesus, come into my heart save me.
I want to be saved. Lord Jesus, thank you for dying
on the cross for me. Lord Jesus, thank you for rising
out of the grave for me. Lord Jesus, thank you for soon
coming again for me in Jesus name, Amen.
Thank you for tuning in to the Rock Hill Baptist Church 2
Podcast. We pray today's message planted
something in your spirit and gave you the strength to keep
growing here at the Rock Hill Baptist Church 2.
We're a growing church, and growth starts with one step.
If you're ready to go deeper, visit us online at
www.myrockhill2.org and click Next Steps to get connected,
join a ministry, or give your life to Christ.
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share this episode with someone you know is ready to grow too.
And remember, no matter what comes your way, you were built
to elevate. Until next time, walk in
purpose, live in power, and grow in grace.