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In Exodus 33, we see the people 
of God presented with a dilemma,

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a choice, essentially a choice 
that will reveal their heart. 

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And the choice is this. 
If I give you the progress that 

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you're hoping for without my 
presence, is that enough for 

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you? 
If I give you the progress that 

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you're hoping for, but without 
my presence, are you good? 

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In the back story of this 
passage here in this moment in 

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Israel's history, the people of 
God essentially have been 

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rescued from slavery and 
oppression in Egypt. 

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They've been liberated and 
brought out, and they're on 

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their way to this land of 
promise, this special place 

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where God has promised to root 
them deeply. 

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And in the between these kind of
two chapters of their story 

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there in the desert, I don't 
know if you've spent much time 

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in deserts, but based on what we
read here in the Pentateuch, and

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this is a tough space. 
There is not water to drink. 

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There is not food to eat. 
Everything looks like everything

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else. 
It is barren. 

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And the people have got to find 
themselves in this place, in 

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this space, in this desert where
essentially they are 

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uncomfortably dependent on the 
provision of God, like 

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uncomfortably so. 
Like if, if God doesn't show up 

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tomorrow, we don't get to eat 
food. 

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That level of dependence on God.
I don't know, some of you have 

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been in a season like that in 
your life. 

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You've you've had an experience 
where it was like, if God 

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doesn't show up right now, I 
don't know how I'm going to pay 

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the bills. 
If God doesn't show up, like I 

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don't know how I'm going to make
it another day. 

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And maybe you haven't had that 
kind of experience from the 

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outside. 
I can tell you like before I had

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had an experience like that, I 
thought, wow, that would be so 

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cool to see the provision of God
and God just coming in and 

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supporting and providing guys. 
It's, it's rough. 

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It feels deeply, deeply, deeply 
uncomfortable. 

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I don't know if any of you have 
ever jumped out of an airplane 

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and like then been hoping for 
the parachute to open up when 

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you pull the cord. 
It kind of feels like that. 

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It's like, it's like I'm 
entirely out of control right 

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now. 
I'm entirely dependent on 

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something that like, I'm going 
to do this thing and hope it 

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works out for the best, but I'm 
really at the mercy of someone 

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else. 
And I don't know about you. 

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I I don't prefer that. 
I don't like that. 

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I don't enjoy that. 
I don't think most of us do. 

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And certainly we see here in 
Exodus chapter, it's really the 

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whole section 24 verse through 
chapter 32. 

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Israel is not a fan of the 
situation, right? 

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They're really uncomfortable. 
And that's especially true after

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their leader Moses says, Hey, I 
got to go pow wow with God. 

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I'm going to go up to the top of
this mountain and he takes off 

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for days and then weeks. 
And then there's like this crazy

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thunderstorm that happens at the
top of the mountain. 

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And then he's gone for more 
weeks and the people are like, 

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like, what happens? 
Where did he? 

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Is he coming back? 
We don't know what's going on. 

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And so we, we see at the, the 
beginning of the previous 

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chapter, right before this, 
essentially the people rally to 

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Moses's brother-in-law and they 
say like, Hey, we're going to 

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need you to make us another God 
because this whole situation is 

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just not working out for us. 
Like there's, there's too much 

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discomfort, there's too much 
uncertainty, there's too much 

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vulnerability. 
We, we need a God right now that

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we can see physically. 
That's right here. 

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And we know, like I bring an 
offering and then it, it takes 

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care of us, just like we saw in 
Egypt, like a God that I can can

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see and control is the kind I 
would prefer to worship. 

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I know this sounds really 
foreign to most of us. 

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And also like some of us relate 
to our investment accounts in 

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that way, right? 
That God is cool, but like I 

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would prefer to to worship this 
God that like I know exactly 

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what I get out of it. 
And this is where the people of 

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Israel are resisting this 
dependence on God, trying to 

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manufacture control in chapter 
32. 

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And all of this results in some 
severe discipline, some painful 

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consequences based on their 
idolatry that we read about in 

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chapter 32. 
And that gets us to the 

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beginning of chapter 33. 
Our, our texts today where 

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essentially God comes to them 
and he asks them a question we 

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read in verse in the beginning 
of, of chapter 33 and verses 3. 

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God basically he says, hey, I'm 
going to offer the situation to 

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you. 
I'm going to give you everything

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that you want. 
I'm going to defeat your enemies

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for you. 
I'll take care of the Midianites

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and the parasites and all of 
these others that have stand 

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have stood in your way. 
I'll give you the provision that

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you want the the milk and the 
honey that you are are longing 

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for. 
You know, you're not going to be

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dependent on my provision. 
All this mana, all this, all 

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this undependable, vulnerable 
stuff anymore. 

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You you'll get to just be secure
and taken care of enemies out of

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the way. 
But here's the catch. 

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I won't go with you. 
You don't get my presence 

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anymore. 
And this, I think, raises the 

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central tension of this passage,
the passage, the point of the 

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passage that I think really is 
an invitation for us to sit with

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this morning, to wrestle with. 
How would you, how would we 

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respond to that offer? 
If God gave you everything that 

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you wanted, all the things that 
you prayed for, healing of our 

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family members, bank accounts, 
all set vocational purpose and 

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significance in our work, that 
significant other you know who 

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you've been longing for. 
You got all the goods, but you 

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didn't get caught. 
How would you respond to this? 

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This is a test. 
I will not go with you. 

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And the question for Israel and 
also I think for us is simply 

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this, do we want what God can 
give us or do we want God? 

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Are are we satisfied with 
progress if it doesn't include 

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presence in the series? 
We've been talking a lot about 

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prayer and stepping into prayer.
And I hope you've been stepping 

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into prayer. 
I know I've been trying to take 

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some baby steps in that 
direction to lean into more 

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depth in my own prayer life. 
And any prayer is good prayer. 

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So if you've taken any steps 
towards more prayer, well done, 

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keep going. 
And also, I've noticed as I've 

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prayed especially and sometimes 
as I've listened to other people

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do it like our prayers. 
I think one of the reasons it's 

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vulnerable to pray in front of 
other people is our prayers 

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reveal a lot about our hearts, 
right? 

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When you start to pray at like 
your heart tends to come out in 

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a way that sometimes is 
uncomfortable to share in front 

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of other people. 
And sometimes when I like step 

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back and listen to my prayers, 
I'm like, it sounds kind of like

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a kid was writing Santa A wish 
list, you know, and, and I, I 

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think sometimes our, our prayers
are, are a little bit like this,

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right? 
Dear God, please give me clarity

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about my career. 
Please send me a girlfriend. 

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Please help us get pregnant. 
Please help this offer be 

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accepted on the House. 
And if there's a room in the 

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sleigh, could you fix this toxic
relationship with my coworker 

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too? 
And we ask for all of these 

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things and, and look, that's 
good. 

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Please keep doing that. 
Nothing wrong with asking. 

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But so often I think we get in a
posture where especially if that

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is all that is true in our 
prayer life, where we or begin 

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to relate to God, almost as if 
he is a heavenly vending 

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machine. 
You know, if I, if I punch the 

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right buttons, then hopefully he
dispenses the things that I'm 

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longing for in life, you know, 
fills up the cravings that I 

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have. 
And if the vending machine 

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doesn't work right, we tend to, 
we tend to get irritated with 

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God, annoyed with God. 
God isn't showing up. 

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God isn't taking care of me. 
God's presence is distance. 

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And I think this is so 
important, so instructive for us

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because here when God actually 
distances himself from the 

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people, when he says, go ahead, 
I'm going to give you the stuff 

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that you want, but just not me. 
Honestly, I'm fed up. 

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If I stay here in this room one 
minute longer, I'm a blow you 

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up. 
So God says I'm I'm I'm taking a

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time out. 
You can go ahead. 

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You can have the stuff that you 
want and Israel having 

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completely face planted in the 
test in chapter 32 here in 

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chapter 33, learns from their 
failures. 

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They turn to God and they it we 
read, they mourn, they cry out, 

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they grieve. 
They say, God, don't whatever 

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you do, don't take your presents
for us. 

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The text tells us that they they
strip off their jewellery. 

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They say I'm not getting dressed
up. 

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I'm putting on my yoga pants. 
I'm sitting on the couch like 

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this is a this is a grief moment
because even if I get the goods,

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but I don't get God, it's not a 
win. 

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I want your presence, God, this 
is this is so important. 

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And I think when we think about 
this, we understand, you know, a

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dad who writes the check every 
month, right, who mails some 

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presents, but is completely 
absent in his kids life. 

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It's not a good dad, right? 
And and what we need from God is

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not just stuff from God. 
What we need is actually God's 

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presence and Israel here, having
missed this in chapter 32, here 

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in chapter 33 recognizes this 
and they respond to the risk of 

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losing the presence of God with 
grief, with mourning, crying out

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in their desperation for God's 
presence. 

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Friends, I think it's a 
vulnerable thing when God pulls 

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back in our lives and I don't 
maybe, maybe you haven't 

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experienced this in your 
spiritual journey. 

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Maybe you have, if you've been, 
if you've been a believer for 

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very long, I would suggest I, I,
I know this has been true in my 

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life that there are seasons of 
life. 

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Often times right after we come 
to faith, there's seasons of 

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just this incredibly robust 
connection to God, right? 

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It's, it's very, it's fervent, 
it's brilliant. 

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It feels like God is right 
there. 

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He's right next door. 
We're learning to relate to him 

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as a friend. 
You haven't had that season. 

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It's available. 
I want to talk to you about how 

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to, how to enter relationship 
with Jesus. 

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But I, I think sometimes in, in 
a similar way to like in a 

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dating relationship, we get in 
that and we're like, Oh, what's 

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going to happen at the first 
will be the whole totality of 

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the relationship forever. 
And it's not, it's not like as 

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we go on in our spiritual 
journey, not, not always for bad

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reasons, God sometimes steps 
back a bit and acts a bit more 

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distant. 
He's not being coy or, or weird.

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I think I think God, in a 
similar way to how we do with 

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our own children at times is 
like, Hey, I've given you some 

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things. 
I want you to work this out a 

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little bit on your own right 
now, right? 

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Use the wisdom I've given you 
learn to build some muscles of 

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of discernment and judgement. 
You can, you can walk in my ways

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without hearing from me step by 
step. 

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I, I would suggest to you that 
the like highest form of 

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spirituality is not the one 
that's like, what shall I eat 

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for lunch? 
Will it be chicken or fish? 

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You know, I'm not saying that 
there's anything wrong with that

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necessarily, but, but, but 
there's a, there's a form of 

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spirituality which is like every
I can't, I am completely 

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impotent to make any decisions 
or moves in my life unless I 

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hear a word from God about it. 
I don't actually think, please 

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hear me. 
I'm I'm talking about dependence

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on God, but that's not what I'm 
advocating for. 

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But on the flip side of that, 
sometimes when God feels 

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distance, when he pulls back, I 
know, at least for me, like 

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feels vulnerable, like, and, and
there's a tendency for for me at

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least, it's it's like I want to 
blame God for the situation. 

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I want to shamestorm about like 
something's wrong with me. 

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Or sometimes I just want to make
do And I just like, OK, well, I 

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can't count on you. 
I've got to figure stuff out. 

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I'm just going to keep going in 
my life. 

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Do you know what I'm talking 
about? 

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Right. 
And sometimes it God feels more 

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distant in our life. 
He, he's less accessible. 

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And, and so we, we make it well,
God's not real. 

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God can't be trusted. 
I'm, we blame God sometimes when

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we, when we don't have that 
encounter with God, we don't 

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show up to church and we're not 
deeply moved. 

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We don't feel the presence of 
God in the way that we, we once 

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did. 
We, we say, you know, like 

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something's wrong with church or
something's wrong with me, like 

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I must have done something 
wrong. 

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Maybe God is punishing me in 
some way. 

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Or I think the most dangerous is
honestly that we just like we 

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make do we say, well, all right,
that's a bummer. 

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I wish God was closer, but I'll 
figure it out. 

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After all, I've got what it 
takes to run my life. 

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I'll manage. 
And so we just kind of move on 

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without him. 
We we avoid the the 

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vulnerability of actually doing 
what Israel does here. 

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We're in a space where God's 
presence is less available. 

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They cry out in desperation. 
They say, God, we need you, we 

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need your presence, we need you 
to go with us. 

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And I, I love this. 
I love how Moses talks about 

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this here in verse 16. 
Moses says to God, he says, God,

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what else will distinguish me 
and your people from all the 

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other people on the face of the 
earth if your presence doesn't 

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go with us? 
Moses says, hey, this is this is

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Our Calling card. 
This is our very identity and 

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desperation. 
They cry out for God. 

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Friends, I think this is 
instructive for us. 

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I think this is important for us
because it is so easy to be 

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self-sufficient. 
It is so easy to manage life on 

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your own terms and for a while 
that can work. 

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I think a lot of what we do in 
church, a lot of what I do, even

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as a a spiritual leader, often 
times it's so easy to lean into 

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your own gifts, your capacities,
your strategies, ChatGPT, 

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whatever, right? 
And just kind of figure it out 

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on our own. 
AW Tozer wrote these searing 

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words that have really stuck 
with me. 

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He says we have become so 
self-sufficient that we can get 

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along quite well without God. 
Goes on to say if the Holy 

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Spirit was withdrawn from the 
church today, 95% of what we do 

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would go on and no one would 
know the difference. 

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Ouch. 
It is if the Holy Spirit have 

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been withdrawn from the New 
Testament church, 95% of what 

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they did with stop and everyone 
would know the difference. 

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It's convicting to me, friends. 
I want to be a man, a person 

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who's dependent on the Spirit of
God. 

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I want us to be a church 
community that is dependent on 

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the Spirit of God that's in tune
with that, that's In Sync with 

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that, that, that when, when 
God's present feels a little 

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distance, we don't just say, OK,
you'll catch up later. 

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Here we go. 
We're on to the next thing. 

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We're going to figure it out on 
our own. 

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We're going to, we're going to 
tackle the next challenge 

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without you and, and hopefully 
you'll get there eventually. 

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Or conversely, I think sometimes
we relate to prayer, right? 

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And we relate to it as though 
it's, it's the emergency valve, 

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right? 
It's like, I've got plan A and 

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Plan B and plan C and I can 
handle all of these on my own. 

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I'm good. 
But then if all three of my 

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contingencies fail and I'm like 
really desperate, then I'm like,

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prayer, God help God, friends, 
What? 

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What if God wasn't a backup plan
for us? 

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What if he was like the first 
option? 

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What if, what if he was one a 
the the first thing that we went

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to, the first one that we went 
to, If we understood, as Israel 

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does here in this text in Exodus
33, that that the presence of 

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God is essential to the promised
land without the promisor is 

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just dirt. 
The promised land without the 

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00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:29,160
promisor is just dirt. 
They understand in desperation 

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00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:34,920
that that it's not a win to get 
the things they want if God 

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doesn't go with them. 
This is like, I don't know if 

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you've ever been in a situation,
Hopefully you are have less ADHD

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00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,640
brain than I do. 
But I remember very vividly, 

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00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,160
quite painfully, a moment a 
little while back where I went 

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00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,440
grocery shopping and I did all 
the things, you know, I got to 

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00:16:54,440 --> 00:16:57,560
the store, got the car rolled 
back and forth down all the 

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00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,640
aisles, filled it up, got the 
like kind of salad dressing that

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00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,840
Ali likes and the right kind of 
tortillas and all these things, 

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00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,119
you know, roll up, pass 
everything through. 

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00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,599
It's all bagged up. 
And then I go for my wallet. 

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00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:11,400
This is, this is before Apple 
Pay, guys. 

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00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,079
And it was that moment. 
And some of you have these 

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00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:17,240
knowing smiles. 
It's like, I can't pay for this.

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00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,480
Yeah, I, I mean, I have money, 
but I don't, I cannot prove it. 

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00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:22,880
I cannot transfer it to you 
right now. 

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00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,599
I do not have anything with me 
at this very moment in time. 

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00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:29,080
And you're just looking. 
The bag person is like, dude, 

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00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:31,120
the people behind you in line 
are like, come on. 

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00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,240
But sometimes I think we try to 
live even the Christian life, 

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00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,600
friends without, without the key
ingredient, without the one 

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00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,360
thing that makes it all go like 
there's lots of emotion happen, 

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00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:47,160
there's lots of activity 
happening. 

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There's maybe even spiritual 
practices. 

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00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,400
We're going to church. 
We're trying really hard to be 

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good people, but we kind of just
left the presence of God, the 

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00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:58,520
power of God, out of the 
equation. 

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00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:01,480
We're over here trying to to do 
it on our own. 

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00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:07,560
And that that check doesn't cash
because nothing of profound 

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00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,080
significance in the Kingdom of 
God happens without the power of

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00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:13,320
God. 
As Jesus said in John without 

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00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:19,040
me, you can do nothing like 
it's, it's actually all about 

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00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,240
him. 
We are vessels, we are channels 

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00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,120
and when we abide in the vine, 
then we get fruit and when we 

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00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:28,600
don't, we get a lot of activity.
We get grocery carts running up 

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00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:33,520
and down the aisles without the 
ability to cash the check and 

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00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:39,240
and actually take anything home.
So friends for us this morning, 

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00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:45,920
I think, I think the question 
is, will we be a people like 

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00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,800
Moses Here is a stand for in 
Exodus 33 when he says what else

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00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,520
will distinguish me and your 
people from all of the other 

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00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,880
people on the face of the earth?
How will anyone know that you're

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00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:58,840
pleased with us? 
If you're present doesn't go 

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00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:01,040
with us. 
If you don't go with us, don't 

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00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:05,640
send us. 
I would prefer to to sit here in

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the desert than to be the kind 
of people who who worship a cow 

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00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:16,120
that I think I can control so 
that I can make progress without

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00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:20,720
your presence. 
How about us friends? 

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00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:26,720
Like how about, how about me? 
How about you like are are you 

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00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:30,240
in your life willing to trade in
the the presence and power of 

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00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,960
God for a cow that we can 
control for for the ability to 

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00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,640
get the gifts of God without God
himself? 

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00:19:40,120 --> 00:19:44,320
Are you like Israel's wisdom in 
in chapter 33 here at a point 

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00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:47,920
where you've realized the whole 
game is God. 

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00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:55,080
It's not his gifts, it's him 
friends, what if we recognized 

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00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:58,960
that God was the best thing that
we could possibly offer? 

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00:20:00,880 --> 00:20:04,960
What if we were people like in 
Acts 3 when Peter and John are 

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00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:07,960
are walking into the temple one 
day and. 

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00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,920
Somebody hits them up for cash. 
A pan handler, his lame says 

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00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,640
hey, can can I have some money 
and they say like silver or gold

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00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:21,560
I don't have, but what I have I 
give you in the name of Jesus 

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00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:26,320
Christ. 
Walk like the early church to 

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00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:28,720
Tozer's comment. 
They had nothing. 

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00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:34,920
They had nothing, but they had 
the power and presence of God. 

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00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,360
So often this is true for us 
today. 

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00:20:38,360 --> 00:20:41,560
I'm I'm we're part of a a global
collaborative churches here at 

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00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,280
the garden called the Ethnos 
Network. 

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00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,920
And man, I can't tell you what a
what a challenge, conviction, 

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00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,320
blessing it is to be on the 
phone with pastors from Nigeria,

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00:20:51,320 --> 00:20:54,840
pastors from South Africa, 
pastors from places in the 

357
00:20:54,840 --> 00:21:00,960
Middle East and, and Southeast 
Asia who are like, like poor as 

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00:21:00,960 --> 00:21:04,920
dirt in some cases, don't have a
lot going on. 

359
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:09,040
And like freaking was in a 
conversation with this dude 

360
00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:11,920
who's pastoring in the immigrant
context in Cleveland this week. 

361
00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,720
And, and they do not have two 
nickels to rub together, but 

362
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,280
they are seeing signs and 
wonders of God supernaturally 

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00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:22,560
showing up week in and week out.
Friends, so often I think we 

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00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,440
miss out on the power and 
presence of God because we're 

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00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:30,040
we're privileged, we're 
competent, we're running out 

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00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:34,760
ahead and just kind of hoping 
that God will bless our plans 

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00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:41,000
with a splash of grace. 
He the presence of God is the 

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00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,600
whole meal. 
The presence of God is the whole

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00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,280
meal. 
What if we were known friends as

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00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,400
a church where God showed up? 
What if we had a reputation as a

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00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,880
community? 
Just one of the banners you 

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00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,800
passed on the way in here. 
It says we attuned to the Holy 

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00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:01,880
Spirit. 
What if what if we really lived 

374
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:05,320
that not just not just people on
stage, but all of us day in and 

375
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,800
day out. 
If, if, as that value states, 

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00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,520
You can go read the full text on
our website. 

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00:22:09,520 --> 00:22:13,440
But but if, if we pursued 
intimacy with Jesus as our first

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00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:17,840
calling, if we prioritized our 
our our prayer life and and 

379
00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,200
believed that being with Jesus 
comes before doing for him. 

380
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,920
Contribution flows from 
connection. 

381
00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:29,520
Friends, this is Israel got it 
wrong a lot. 

382
00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,960
They didn't live in Exodus 33 
mode all the time. 

383
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:34,640
The space of faithfulness was 
not necessarily indicative of 

384
00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:36,240
the whole journey, which maybe 
gives us some hope. 

385
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:40,120
OK, so if you're not there 
today, like OK, they weren't a 

386
00:22:40,120 --> 00:22:44,200
chapter earlier either, but in 
Exodus chapter 3, they got it 

387
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,680
right. 
In Exodus chapter 3, they 

388
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:51,960
recognized that that to to 
pursue the plan of God, they 

389
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:56,800
needed the presence of God. 
The gift without the giver was 

390
00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:01,200
bankrupt. 
So, friends, I want to invite us

391
00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:07,160
into this posture this morning 
to truly believe that the best 

392
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:08,840
thing about us is not our 
intelligence. 

393
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:11,400
It's not our gifting. 
It's not the school we graduated

394
00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:12,520
from. 
It's not the professional 

395
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:18,200
network that we have. 
It's not how aware we are or how

396
00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:20,400
politically correct we are about
something. 

397
00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:26,600
It is the presence of God. 
Will we live in His presence or 

398
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:29,800
rush ahead and impatience?