Experiencing God is something every Christian wants

Pastor Linn: 00:43 Hey Cornerstone how are you. I'm glad you're here.

Pastor Linn: 00:50 Just for all the visitors in the room for clarification that was not Jesus doing baptism. Just so you know that was actually Pastor Tim, he works with our college kids. Jesus wouldn't have worn glasses. Anyway, all right. Anyway, hey we're in a series called Experiencing God and my hope is that everything we've said together and done together has been helpful up to this point and that in your life, you're finding yourself moving forward in your walk with Christ. So let me ask you a question. OK this is just for you to answer to yourself. If you were going to rate the level at which you're experiencing God personally in this season of your life and 10 being the best 1 being the bottom. What number would you give yourself? Where would you rate yourself in your present experience with God and where you are, where your walk is, where your intimacy with him is. What number would you give to yourself?

Pastor Linn: 00:50 -- audience member calls out, "8." --

Pastor Linn: 01:50 Well thank you. All right. I was thinking six for you but that's OK. I'm just teasing. All right. But here's the deal. If the number you're currently experiencing you go, You know what? I wish it was higher, wish you could move a little bit. The reality is if you would simply go after last week's message and what we're going to talk about today it would hugely move your numbers. It just would.

Pastor Linn: 02:12 If you remember last week we talked to this idea of God speaking to us and you and I hearing from him and one of the things we said out loud was that 70 percent of everything that God wants to say to you he's already put it in writing. It's already there, it's available to you every single day. It's called the Bible. And 70 percent of what you, want you to know is constantly available to you. And then we talked about the idea of prayer. In the prayer instead of telling ought to be an exercise in listening and saying, "God what do you want to say to me?" And that's probably another 20 percent of what God wants to speak in your life. So simply by doing those two things 90 percent of the conversation that God wants to have with you would cover that.

Pastor Linn: 02:50 Here's the struggle, you're ready for this? The average Christian spends less than five minutes in their bible and in prayer combined every single day. And then we wonder how come I'm not hearing from God, why am I not experiencing God And so my nudge to you today is to simply say, hey what if, what if you left this place and you simply committed yourself and said look, I get that in order to start experiencing and hear from God I'm going to lean in a little harder. So what if you just said I'm going, I'm going to, I'm going to do the horrible sacrifice of getting up ten minutes early and I'm going to spend five minutes reading my one chapter in Scripture. I'll spend five minutes in prayer and just see if God begins to speak into my life more. Than I've ever experienced before. What if you simply did that?

Pastor Linn: 03:35 But today is the other side of the coin. Today's the second foot forward in this conversation. And it's actually a conversation about what I call the crisis of belief. It's this moment in our lives where we begin to obey God, we begin to do what he said for us to do. And in that moment we think OK I finally surrendered, that I finally decided to let that area of my life be obedient. And as we move forward our expectation is well now that I've given that to God then everything should be OK. See I just gave my finances to God. So I should be a millionaire within a week. Hey, I just gave my homelife to God. So my kids should start saying yes sir yes ma'am instantaneously. I mean because I'm obeying everything should come up roses. And the irony of the conversation is simply this, that more often than not when you and I choose an area of where we begin to obey God in an area it's not uncommon for it to instantly get harder. That in the moment I decide to be faithful all of a sudden it's as if God says, "OK so you trusted me for this. Will you trust me if it's a little bit tougher for you. Will you trust me if the water is deeper for you?" And if you and I are not careful that moment when God ups the game a little bit in our lives becomes a crisis of belief. It becomes the moment we say it wait, wait, wait God. I gave you that part of my lifem why isn't it easier now? And guys I'm going to say to you I'm not sure that I don't explain this well, I'm not sure I have the right words today so if you would simply lean in and just say, look, I need to figure out what we're trying to say to each other because if you can figure this out it will change your walk with God.

Pastor Linn: 05:18 So here we go. Grab your bibles and you're going to go with me to the book of Exodus. And you and I are going to have the opportunity today to peek into the life of a guy who struggles, struggles, struggles, finally gives his heart, finally becomes obedient to God and almost instantaneously it gets harder than he expected and he finds himself in a moment of crisis for his belief. He's saying, "God wait a minute. If I trusted you, if I obeyed you how can it be getting this hard. Why, why haven't you made it simpler for me?" And he faces his own personal crisis of belief and you and I in watching this moment happen are going to begin to understand how God works more clearly. And you and I are going to learn how to navigate this moment in our own lives. Because I guarantee you, I guarantee you, I guarantee you we will all run into the crisis of belief.

Pastor Linn: 06:09 So here we go, it's Exodus chapter 4. Many of you will know this story, it's all too familiar as the story of a guy by the name of Moses. But my thought is today that perhaps you'll see this just a little differently than you did when they told it to you as a child in Sunday school. So here we go. It's Exodus Chapter 4 starting at verse 10 and let me set this up for a second. So this is that burning bush experience, so Moses has been out tending sheep. As he's tending the sheep he looks off to the side and there's a bush on fire. Now if you're a shepherd this is a big moment because you're trying to see if the fire's expanding and which way the wind's blowing. And is it coming toward your herd because if it is then you need to move the herd. So I'm telling you that little flame on the side of the hill has his full attention as he watches something unusual occur. The flames are not spreading. It's staying confined to that one bush. And yet the bush isn't burning out. It's kind of like a candle. And so now this has intrigued him and he's going up to see what's happening there and if you know the story he's going to meet God there, him and God are going to have a conversation because God is going to speak to him from this burning bush. Now here's what you may not have noted in the story. Moses will spend the next chapter and a half arguing with God. If you're reading this passage you just want to go, Moses come on give it up already, a chapter and a half of arguing with God. I mean think about this, here is God. Moses free my people and you're arguing with God what are you thinking Moses? And yet he's unrelenting, he is not going to give up this wrestling match that he's having to learn. So it starts out with hey God look, I'm just not worthy. Who am I? You realize God what you're doing, you're sending a shepherd to talk to Pharaoh. You, you're sending a fast food worker to go talk to the most powerful man in the world, God, God, God. There's no way this makes any sense and then, you're ready for this? He's a murderer. He, he's a fugitive on the run. If you know the story of Moses he actually grew up in Pharaoh's palace probably part of the original plan of God for Moses. And yet he hijacks it because one day he looks out and he sees an Egyptian abusing one of his fellow Israelites and he decides that god's been silent for far too long. He takes matters into his own hands, kills the Egyptian and now he has to flee because he's wanted for murder. So think about this. God not only am I unqualified to go back I'm a fugitive, I'm a criminal. Which means, are you ready for this? That when you begin to have this wrestle with God, God does not care about your resume. Because there are some of us in this room, and you say well Linn I just don't have the abilities, I just don't have the qualities that it would take to do something like that and God says, "I don't care." And some of us have a past. And you'd be tempted say, God look, based on how badly I've screwed up my life and the things that I've done I'm just telling you I'm unusable to god. Have you met a guy named Moses who committed murder, And God still restored. And so then the argument continues and, and, and Moses says, well God wait, wait, wait, the Israelites have been in Egypt for like 400 years now. And so they've started adopting the God of the Egyptians and so now they worship like a plurality of gods. I mean the Egyptians worship beattles and they worship cats and they think the pharaoh is a god. So when I go to them and tell them that God has spoken to me it's going to be a little hard to talk about the bush God. Which God do I tell them it is? And God then says that incredibly powerful line. Moses you tell them, you tell them that I Am, that I Am has sent you. The God who is bigger than any of their gods. The God who is smarter than any of their gods. The God who is stronger than any other gods. The God who was here before creation, the God who'll be here after it's all gone and burned away. You tell them that God. I Am that I Am sent you. And Moses goes, he's still not done, he goes, well wait, wait, wait, but what if they still don't believe me? And he says, "Okay Moses what's that in your hand?"

Pastor Linn: 10:49 And he says, "Well it's my Shepherd staff." He says, "Throw it on the ground," and when he throws it on the ground it turns into a snake. And then God says, "Okay, so pick up the snake because picking up the snake game is really really fun." So he picks up the snake and it turns back into a rod. He then says to Moses, he says, "Moses take your hand and slide it inside your robe." And when he pulls it back out it's covered in leprosy and then he says, "Moses stick it back in and pull it out." And now it looks like the skin of a baby. And he says, "If they won't believe that then you go out to the Nile River, you raise your staff I'll turn it to blood." He says, "Moses don't worry about them listening, I'll prepare the way, I'll do that for you." And a chapter and a half into Moses complaining and arguing to God that he has the wrong guy he's still arguing and you and I are going to jump in. It's Chapter 4 Verse 10. And here's what it says. Moses said to the Lord pardon your servant Lord. I've never been eloquent neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I'm slow of speech and of tongue. The Lord said to him who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf mute who gives them sight or makes them blind isn't it I the Lord? Now go. I will help you speak and I will teach you what to say.

Pastor Linn: 12:07 But Moses said, "Pardon your servant Lord, please send some one else." So a chapter and a half in of arguing and God has answered every question and he simply said," God don't, don't ask me to do this. Just just send anybody except for me." Then the Lord's anger burned against Moses. You think, you think? I mean God shows up in person to have the conversation and all Moses does is argue and then the Lord's anger burned against Moses and he said, "What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and and put words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak and I will teach you what to do. I will speak to the people for you and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it." You get why he's arguing. Because what God is asking him to do feels too big.

Pastor Linn: 13:28 And here's what you need to know. When God speaks it will always feel too big. And you'll have the same conversation. Before you start putting Moses down I guarantee you every one of us does wrestle like this with God. Every one of us has said god you've got the wrong guy. I couldn't possibly do that. I'm not qualified. You don't understand my track record. You don't know that people would call me a hypocrite if I ever did that. God please choose somebody else. For some of us it was when God came to us and said hey, give me your dating life. And we just God you don't, you don't get it. I could never leave that up to you. I got to make sure this one lands right. For some of us it was our marriage. And we just said God look, if I were actually to be a servant to my spouse, I mean if I was, if I was to obey what you've asked me to my spouse would run all over me, they wouldn't appreciate it. It wouldn't change their attitude or their mind at all. God I can't, I can't possibly be the husband or the wife you've called me to be until my spouse straightens up. For some of us it's a habit. It is something that we're addicted to or maybe it's just something that we've just become so accustomed to in our lives we just can't even imagine our lives without it. Matter of fact it it feels like the only way we could be happy is to have that sinful behavior in our life and we just say God look, here's the deal. You can have everything else but you just can't have that.

Pastor Linn: 15:19 And guys I'm just... when God speaks it will always seem way, way, way too big. And when God speaks you and I have to make a choice. See you'll really that I have to say God as terrified as I am, as scared as I am, in this moment I choose yes. Or will say God there's not a chance. I'm not ready to give that to you. Or will say maybe later. You know what maybe later is right? Maybe later is "No" clothed hope. It's still no.

Pastor Linn: 16:06 You get that God's an unrelenting God that, that at the end. God's not going to be satisfied with us until he's pushed into every single part of our lives and guys not, not because he is a bully, not because he's a control freak, but because he knows that you and I will never fully experience him until you've given him access to all of you. And so he's going to come and say, Hey, I just I want to be in charge of your parenting. And you go wait a minute god. There's just, there's just no way. I mean there's no way I could have that kind of a home, and you're going to ask me to pray at my meals and make sure that my kids come to church every Sunday and you might even push me to start coming back on Wednesday night. Do realize what shows are on on Wednesday night? And God I just I don't know. I don't think I'm ready for that. God's going to push into your entertainment. Because chances are there are some things that you and I put in front of our eyes. There are some places that we go to be entertained. We would never take Jesus with his. And God says no, no, no I'm, I'm asking for that.

Pastor Linn: 17:22 For some of us, and many of the men in this room God is saying, hey I want your career. And you go, wait, wait, wait God I've got this plan and it involves the corner office and this little plaque on the thing and you know I've got a pretty good idea how I'm going to get there. And God says, Hey look. It's not about the plaque and it's not about what your take home is at the end of the month, It's about discovering what I created you to do in this world. And if you stay focused on that you'll miss your very purpose here. And it's not that you won't maybe be doing this, it just can't be what you aim for. For some of us in the room that are single it's your dating life and God's going, look, here's the deal. You can only date Christians. And you're going only Christians? Yes only Christians and worse than that, you ready for this? Worse than that they actually have to be Christians who love the Lord. And you're going, Oh my goodness, Christians who love the Lord by the time I add on decent looking I'm out of luck, I'm out of luck.

Pastor Linn: 18:33 For some of you it's going to be spiritual growth and God's going say, no, no I get it, it's work you don't wake in the morning and by osmosis ... Oh I'm more spiritual and I'm more in love with Jesus. This is effort, this is getting to church every Sunday. This is signing up for extra Bible study, this is reading your bible every single day. This is spending time in prayer. And you know God I've got bigger priorities. And for some of us it's our marriage. And we just simply say hey God I'm just telling you I would be more than happy to be the husband I need to be as soon as you fix my wife. I'm there. But you haven't done your part yet.

Pastor Linn: 19:17 And here's the problem guys. We know this right? We know that God wants to push into every part of our lives but we live as Christians is what I call selective believers. In other words we say to God, here's a deal, I'm going to select which parts of my life you can have and which parts you can't. And so we look and we go, OK. All right. I'll start parenting better or start taking my kids to church more often. I'll pray, we'll do that. All right, all right we'll turn off the premium channels. I'll do that. The career, nah. Dating? Man you would give me a goober. Spiritual growth? No that's not going to happen. Marrriage ... and we selectively believe and then we wonder why we rate our experience with God a 2. Is it because maybe you've only given two parts of your life to God? Is it possible that's why you and I aren't experiencing him? You realize the sum of your life will be how you answer these questions and how many of these arguments God wins versus how many you win.

Pastor Linn: 20:54 Think for a second. What if Moses had won his argument with God. What if Moses had just finally worn God down and finally God goes, Okay, okay Moses alright I'm done, I'm done. Go back to the sheep. I'll find someone else. Where would Moses' his life have turned out? He would have been a shepherd and I don't know, I don't know, I don't know maybe he his herd gets to two, three hundred, I don't know but here's what I know. You wouldn't know because who would care if his herd got to two or three hundred. Matter of fact the truth is if God had lost that argument, if Moses had won you wouldn't even know Moses' his name. The best thing that ever happened to Moses was losing that wrestling match. When he finally gave in and said God take control. You'd be the boss of this and suddenly a criminal Shepherd became the rescuer of his people. Millions, millions of lives were changed, millions of lives were saved because Moses lost the argument. Children danced around fires singing songs about Moses, men set up straighter in his seats when he walked in and they told the story of a man who had the courage to follow God. The best thing that ever happened to Moses was losing that argument because, you ready for this? Because God's plans for Moses were bigger than Moses' plans for Moses, and God's plans for you are bigger than your plans for you. And the best thing that could happen in your life is to lose this argument. And say God it is scary and it's big and I don't know how it turns out but I'm just telling you I'll go. I'll do that.

Pastor Linn: 22:49 I tell you all that because this isn't even the hardest part. It actually gets harder after this. So here's what happens. Moses heads to Egypt. When he gets there. Yul Brenner is not so happy to see him and gives him a hard time. How many of you saw the movie? OK. All right. Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, okay anyways, so Yul Brenner, Pharaoh, not happy to see him there. It's horrible. You just list the plagues that goes on. Flies are flying, toads are toading, locusts are locusting. I was just ... it's a mess, it's a mess all over Egypt. And finally, finally Pharaoh relinquishes and he sends them out and he says, okay just get out of here. And think about, just think about how incredible this victory is that when the children of Israel leave the Egyptians are so glad to see them go that they bring handfuls of gold and hand it to them, say just go away, go away we don't want you or your God anywhere near us. Go away and they leave Egypt carrying armfuls of gold. Now if you're Moses in this moment you're going, Hey this following God thing is pretty cool. This is great. And guys are you ready for this? This is one of the mistakes we make in following the Lord. Because we, we've got this incredible idea that hey, I know I gave god a hard time about this and I know it took me a long time to get into it. But if I surrender it then God's got to make it turn out perfect. See if I give God my dating life. He's got to bring me a husband in a week. Because that's what God does. If I, if I give God my finances I'm going to be a millionaire. And we've got this crazy illusion that says if I finally surrender it then God's going to make all the rest of it easy.

Pastor Linn: 24:47 And what's about to happen in the life of Moses is exactly what happens in your, my life. Moses is about to encounter a crisis of belief. Everything that seems to be working out because he surrendered that part of his life to God is now going to begin to fall apart. They leave Egypt, they go out into the desert they get a slight ways out and they decide to camp next to a thing called the Red Sea. It's a horrible tactical decision because the Red Sea now blocks any chance of retreat. And guess what. In that moment Pharaoh comes to attack the children of Israel.

Pastor Linn: 25:27 So grab your bibles again. Go with me to Exodus Chapter 14 starting in Verse 10. Here's what it says, as Pharaoh approached the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians marching after them. They were terrified and they cried out to the Lord, they said to Moses, was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us up out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you while still in Egypt, didn't we say to you leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert. Moses answered the people, do not be afraid, stand firm and you will see the deliverance of the Lord will bring to you today. The Egyptians that you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still. Guys get the moment. Moses has obeyed. He's done exactly what God asked him to do. He's now being successful. The children of Israel are leaving and suddenly what had taken this much faith to obey God. It gets worse. And now it's harder. They're about to be slaughtered. It's as if God was saying hey Moses, you trusted me for this, will you trust me for more? See you trusted me and I showed myself faithful. But what if it's harder than you thought. Do you still believe?

Pastor Linn: 27:22 And you say, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Why would God do that? Why doesn't he know? This is God's M.O.. God does this all the time. Matter of fact if you read your bibles at all you're gonna find story after story where God begins to work in the life of his people. Everything's turning out great and then God throws a curve ball and goes, OK you trusted me for this, will you trust me for more?

Pastor Linn: 27:41 How many you know the story Gideon? So here's Gideon. The Midianites are showing up, there's just zillions of men. The Bible says they look like locusts crawling all over the ground. Gideon goes out to round up the armies of God. He ends up with 32,000. Guess what God says? Gideon thanks for obeying, 32,000 against a couple of hundred thousand. The odds are too good, you need to lose some men. Are you kidding me? Does anyone know what size Gideon's army ends up when God's done whittling them down to size? 300. And if you're Gideon you go God, wait wait wait. It was scary enough to obey you when I had 32,000, you just sent thirty one thousand seven hundred men home. God goes yes just about the right size.

Pastor Linn: 28:31 Remember Abraham? Abraham's in there and God says, Abraham you're gonna be the father of nations and god ends up giving him how many sons? One, that he waits for for twenty five years. And right about that moment God ... Abraham's going, man God is good. Came in at the last lap and you know I've got Isaac. God says to Abraham hey, let's go sacrifice him. Guys I understand that you cannot let this freak you out. Because it's as if God says, Okay so you trusted me for. You had enough faith to. What if I upped the game? Am I still god then? Do you still have faith now?

Pastor Linn: 29:14 So why does he do that to us. Because he's coaching. He's growing. Remember we said that everything God does He is going to win people to himself or he's going to grow old Christians up. And this moment in which God says OK you trusted me here but do you trust me now? This crisis of faith. This crisis of belief. It's the coach coming to you and saying hey, you know that 12 foot jump shot? You got it mastered. So from now on in practice I don't you to take any shots closer than 14 feet. And you go, why not? I'm no good at 14 feet. Exactly. You're good at 12. Let's get you good at 14. And it's God growing US.

Pastor Linn: 29:59 Know the other part if you think of it he's actually preparing the children of Israel when the children of Israel get to the promised land what are they going to discover there? Remember they send in the 12 spies and the spies come back and see who those guys are big and they got bad breath and they got hair hanging out of their nose and I'm just telling you this is going to be awful. And what does God do to prepare them for the battle in the Promised Land? He takes the strongest army in the world and drowns them. So that he can say hey, your God was able then your God is able now. It's that moment when you finally decide OK look, I'm just going to honor God at work. Because that's a big deal. There is a culture at work that says hey, it's OK to lie to the client. Is all right to step on your coworkers neck to get the advancement that's just, it's just kind of what you do. You can't get there if you don't play the game, and those conversations around the water cooler that really are inappropriate for you. But you know everybody chuckles right? I mean because you got to be one of the guys, you've got to be one of the gals and it's that moment that you say hey, you know what? I'm just not going to be that anymore. I'm going to, I'm going to start being God honoring in my workplace. And don't be surprised in the moment that you surrender, that the moment you choose that, that all of a sudden you come under criticism that that's going to be the month that your supervisor comes back and starts talking about performance reviews. Why? Because God said OK so you trusted me here. Will you trust me there. It's that moment that you say OK we're going to have a godly home, I'm taking my kids to church every Sunday, I'm bringing them back to midweek bible study. We're going to start praying. We're going to start doing bedtimes. We're going to, we're going to be a God centered family and don't be surprised in that moment that one of your kids decides to go crazy and you go, wait a minute. I just got this right. I just stepped into obedience. I haven't been nearly this good apparently. And now I'm following you. And I got a kid going crazy. You trusted me here, will you trust me there? Crisis of belief. It's when you come to me and say, hey Linn last week was the first week I tythed and on Monday my engine blew up. You trusted me here, will you trust me there?

Pastor Linn: 32:50 For me, for me recently in my life this has been the whole building project. I sit in a church where on Sundays our campuses are full. Guys we have a 7:45 service. What a stupid time to have a service and we do that to make room. The nine o'clock service today, think about this on a rainy holiday was nearly at capacity, our 10:30 service today filled this room. People were in overflow and people were sitting in the Student Ministries Building in the venue. And here eleven fifty five. This is also not the greatest ... I mean you realize how hungry you are right now? I mean stomachs are growling, let us out of here a lot of just waiting. I get it. Who does an 11:55 service? Churches that are overcrowded, and then guys, guys, guys I sit and watch those baptismal waters and I watch those stories and they go, we have to have a thousand more of those. And when we have a thousand more of those then we got to grow those Christians up. And guys we don't have enough seats. And so in obedience and just surrender we say, OK God we're going to start a building program and it's going to be sacrificial but we're going to do it. We're going to pay for people who aren't here yet. Even though we already have our own chairs and then the banks won't loan us. I go God, we were being obedient. We're doing exactly what you wanted us to do. And you just let it get harder because God here's the deal, here's what I believe and I know what you believe. I believe God could turn the heart of a bank just like. So what do you do when God says, Hey believe me, here will you believe me there? You do what Moses said, "Stand firm and watch the hand of the Lord."

Pastor Linn: 34:49 We've got a family in the church. They own a skydiving company and when I say skydiving company I don't mean, you know, you know taking people to jump out of planes. It's kind of a performance skydiving thing. So you know like when you go to the games and the skydiver comes in with a big American flag or streamers coming out and they land in the middle of the field, and it was kind of stunt skydiving thing. And they owned a skydiving company. And I don't know if you saw the news a couple months ago about a plane that crashed into a house. That was their plane.
Pastor Linn: 35:21 And here they were trying to honor God, they said god you're the head of our company. You're the head of all of this and it's for you and we're going to honor you in it. And then here's their plane crashing into the side of a house. They've got lawsuits. They've got the FAA all over him right now. It's probably going to end up as best, from human eyes in personal and then business bankruptcy. What do you do? And here's their story.

Pastor Linn: 35:21 -- Video plays describing the accident and the family's response --

Pastor Linn: 39:59 You noticed we told the story before the happy ending. That's because when you're facing your crisis of belief, when God takes the scene there won't be any happy endings in sight. And you'll have to decide in that moment, what do we do. And did you hear what they said they were doing? We're looking for God in this. That's Moses, stand firm and wait for the hand of the Lord. And that's what you do when the stakes get higher. Can you, can you imagine if the children of Israel in that moment had fled? They would have run to their deaths. The only thing to do was stand and wait for the Lord. And so I say to you, if you're facing your crisis of belief today stand and wait for the mighty hand of God.

Pastor Linn: 40:59 I get it. I get the stakes just got higher. I get that it just got scarier. I get that when you surrender to God you said, hey OK God it should be all smooth sailing from here. Stand and wait for his hand. And there are some of us in the room that when the crisis of belief came, when that moment and you said wait, wait, wait, this is a lot tougher than I thought. I never imagined this. And we've started to flee. We've started to go back on our promise, turn around. Come back to where you made ... and stand. If they can stand, we can stand.

Pastor Linn: 41:37 Let's pray. Dear Lord Jesus we we simply come to this moment and we're going to be honest. We wrestled and wrestled and fought with you about even giving you that part of our lives. But in our minds we thought if we ever did surrender, if we actually tried to bring that part into obedience, that everything would turn out OK. That suddenly it would be a bed of roses and this would be easy street because you would go before us and make it simple. And God we're just going to say out loud we're surprised, we're surprised that when we obeyed it actually got harder next. It was as if you were saying, "You've trusted me here. Will you trust me for more." God we've faced a crisis of belief. We've faced a moment when we were ready to throw in the towel and give up and say this isn't what I signed up for. And God, would you speak into our hearts right now? Stand, stand and see my mighty hand. God we know what happened with Israel next, that they walked across on dry land, that the armies of Egypt followed in behind and you closed in the waters and in an instant all of their fears were vanquished. All of their enemies were defeated. But God we've got to make this decision before we see your hand. And so today we choose to stand.

Pastor Linn: 43:05 In Jesus precious name, amen.



Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.