Sweet 16%
Part of living with Christ is to trust Him and believe his promises.
Scott Rodgers
Aug 6, 2017 39m
In this final part of the Exodus series, Scott Rodgers talks about living with Christ and God's promises. God make us many promises in our life, but his promises are conditional. They are conditional because we have to obey him and do what he tells us to do to experience his promises. There is a difference between believing in God and trusting enough in God to do what he tells us to do. It is only then that we will experience his promises. Video recorded at Chandler, Arizona.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
Scott: 00:52 Good morning Cornerstone. What's going on? Are you guys doing good? Man, look it's you guys here at the Chandler location. My name is Scott Rogers. I'm so excited to be with you here this morning. Let's give a shout out to everyone at the San Tan campus. C'mon Cornerstone San Tan. Let's give it up, part of the family. Cornerstone Scottsdale, the Scottsdale location. Come on. Let's give it up for Scottsdale, part of the Cornerstone family. Folks in the venue. Come on give it up for folks in the venue, in the overflow room, the 5:00 service. Come on give it up for the 5pm serve here in Chandler. Come on. Keep it rolling.
Scott: 01:23 And for those of us here in Chandler look at the person to your left and give them a small applause too because they're looking for some encouragement this morning. You know the catch is that when you're all in the same direction, no one looks one, each other in the eye right? Oh man, we're so glad that you here especially if this is your first time here at Cornerstone or San Tan or Scottsdale or across the way in the venue or here in this room right now. We're so glad that someone invited you to Cornerstone. And because that's probably how you got here man we just pray, literally, that you are encouraged today. That you walk out of here, regardless of where you are in your faith, regardless of where you are in your relationship with God, that you walk out of here knowing that God cares about ya. That he loves ya and he's inviting you into more. And he just has done everything he can to have a relationship with you. So we're just thrilled to have the honor to represent him as best we can today. Right? Let's give it up for those who are here for the very first time. Thank you for coming out today.
Scott: 02:27 We're wrapping up this series in Exodus. Everybody say Exodus. And I do give a little apology out of the gate here. I've had a little cold, for what seems like a year, so my voice isn't because I was out late last night doing things that pastors probably should be doing before Sunday morning. So just trying to shake this cold off. So we're you wrapping up this series in Exodus if you have a Bible with ya I want you to naturally turn to The Book of Numbers.
Scott: 02:56 Thank you. Yes seriously, go to the Book of Numbers and just camp there for a moment because this whole series has been incredible. As Linn's been teaching through this and really the parallels, of God bringing the nation of Israel out of bondage and slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land, the parallels are so incredible and similar to you and I in our life. For those of us who are here today who would say, "I'm a Christian. I'm a follower of Jesus." Many of us maybe, and likely, are living and wandering in our spiritual wilderness. Wandering around maybe dissatisfied with our spiritual life, wondering what's going on and the joy that we had and following Christ in the beginning has waned and now we're like, "WHAT. I don't know. I'm not experiencing much now" and we're just wandering in our wilderness.
Scott: 03:51 Well I want encourage you today and I hope that today when you walk out that you're hungering for more. For those of us who maybe don't have a relationship with God we're just wandering through life, wondering if God exists. If he does, does he care? And if he cares, how does he express that to us? And so today I want you to see yourself in this story that we're going to talk about in the Book of Numbers that relates to the exodus of God's people.
Scott: 04:19 Fourth grade was one of the best years of my life. Fourth grade is awesome. Because in fourth grade you're old enough to start ruling the roost in elementary school. You're getting there. You're almost fifth grade but you're young enough to still be naive and innocent to the harsh realities of everyday life.
Scott: 04:43 But maybe what makes 4th grade the best or most awesome year is that you have, after lunch every day, you know your four food groups including chocolate milk, you have what? Recess, and you get to go out and play for however long that is. Recess rocks. And when I was in fourth grade, what would happen is after lunch we'd be dismissed to recess and we would all hightail it out of the doors of West Elementary School in western Michigan and we go out into the field. If there was snow or grass it didn't matter. Someone had a football in their hand and about 20 of us ran out to play fourth grade football.
Scott: 05:27 And what happened every day is we'd all, about 20 of us, get out there and for some reason it would just happen, a few people would automatically become captains. And we'd all stand there in a group, in a cluster, and the captains would start picking people to be on their team. And most often the captains would pick those who looked more athletic, and maybe they were, maybe they were bigger, stronger and faster than the rest of us. But inevitably it always ends up with two of us standing there wondering who is going to be the last one picked? Because nobody in 4th grade wants to be the last one picked.
Scott: 06:04 And so for those who were left standing, maybe I was there, maybe I wasn't. That's my business I'm keeping it's myself. We kind of like look down and kick in the dirt because you know we're like, "Oh man I don't want to be the last one." Because the last ones never picked. It's just by default. All right you're going over there. You're the last guy. But always there was just two guys left standing. And it was kind of a brutal reality of 4th grade football.
Scott: 06:34 Well today we're going to look at two guys who were left standing but for a good reason. Because these are two guys, who not only were left standing, but they purposely stood up and stood out because they chose to believe that what God said was true. And because they believe what God said was true they experienced God's promises in their life. You might be walking in your spiritual wilderness right now wandering around going, "What does God have for me. Where is all this stuff that God wants to do for me?" And when I'm done talking in like 25 minutes I'm going to recruit you to take the steps to start experiencing more of God's promises in your life.
Scott: 07:14 Is anyone who you're interested? San Tan? Scottsdale? In experiencing more of God's promises your life? C'mon someone raise your hand. Say, "That's me. I'm in. Let's go on this thing." OK. I want to get rid of this football. Somebody gave me the last service football. All right sir, I'm gonna throw it to you. Everyone watch your head. Look at that, Kurt Warner, man. I could have done it. If they would just would have put me in the game we would have take state. Right back there. Oh my God, I didn't sign a rider on this thing. Dude, you better catch this ball. Everybody eyes up, looking around. All right here we go. And there it is. Oh over threw him. But somebody's got it. There you go. Give it to the kid. Give it to the kid. Please, give it to the kid.
Scott: 08:00 OK. So. God takes his people, the nation of Israel, removes them from the bondage and the slavery of Egypt. Right? Does all the miracles and parts the Red Sea and all that stuff that Pastor Linn has been teaching about, looking at, wow, there's an obedience factor to getting from where we are to where God wants to bring us. And so God bring his people through and sets them apart as a group of people, as a nation, because they are going to become part of God's redemptive plan for the world. Because through them is going to come Jesus, the savior of the world. And he brings them out and they're kind of going through this wilderness and they come right up to the edge of this land that God promised them, that was for them. It's called Canaan. And God calls it the Promised Land. Eveybody say "Promised Land." It's simply God's promise to them. "Hey I'm going to give this land to you." And they're standing at the edge, like so many of us do, when God's saying, "Hey I want you to experience this in your life. It's right there." Pause. "I don't know. I don't know."
Scott: 09:02 They're doing the very same thing that you and I do. So let's not act too spiritual in this thing. OK? So they're standing there giving pause. And here's what God says to them. The Book of Numbers, Chapter 13. So go to Chapter 13 if you have it. If not the scriptures will be on the screen for you as we go along. And here's what it says. First one. The Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I'm giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders." So God says, "Hey. There's 12 Tribes. Find a man in each tribe to become part of this reconnaissance team. And I'm going to send them out not to wage battle but to get the information and bring back a report."
Scott: 09:48 So here's what it says in Verse 18. Scroll Down. Moses then goes on and says this, gives them instruction. He says, "See what the land is like and whether" God told them go see what it's like. But I wonder if Moses now goes beyond what God said here. I don't know? I'm just curious about it because Moses says, "See what the land is like. Whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. Verse 19. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good? Or is it bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they walled? Are they, are they unwalled or only fortified? Verse 20. How's the soil? Is it fertile? Is it poor? Are there trees? Yes or no. Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. And scripture says it was the season for the first ripe grapes. So forgive me for my sniffles as we go along.
Scott: 10:40 So the twelve guys go out and the Bible tells us that for 40 days they scour through this area called Canaan. Up and down and back and forth and all that kind of stuff and they're just checking it all out making observations taking notes. They started to post it to their Instagram story but the battery ran out. They couldn't plug it back and so they had to go old school and just remember what they saw.
Scott: 11:07 After 40 days they returned. Now imagine the setting. The whole community of Israel, thousands and thousands and thousands of people, gathered together. And Moses and Aaron, the leaders, are standing there and they're back to give the report. Now imagine this isn't some small thing. This is important enough for everybody to gather together because they're going to give a report for what their future looks like. They're going to tell them what their children are going to face, what their grandchildren are going to experience later on in life. I would imagine the suspense, kind of pins and needles, like what did they see? Is it what God said? It is.
Scott: 11:52 And so they get one guy. He steps up and he begins to give the report. And he starts by sharing the facts. He says, well before he even spoke I would imagine someone probably standing in the crowd going, "1 ,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Wow. They all made it back. They survived. That's a good sign." And then one stands up and he says, "Let me give you the report. There are a lot of people there. They look pretty strong. The cities are big. They're fortified. The soil is rich. There are trees. In fact, look what we brought back with us." And two guys walk out with this stick on their shoulders and it's a big cluster of grapes that was so big that they had to carry it on a stick.
Scott: 12:49 Now imagine, OK, these folks have been wandering around in the wilderness for a long time. Kind of, what do we eat? So picture yourself wandering around in Casa Grande for like a month living in a tent. And you're eating protein bars and crackers and someone comes up and says I got a whole bunch of beautiful, delicious grapes from Napa. That's kind of what's going on here. And they carry out the big grapes. Now imagine people like, "Whoa! look at the grapes. Oh my goodness." And the guy says, "Yeah it's the land that flows with milk and honey, just like God said."
Scott: 13:32 Now for you and for me that statement is kind of obscure a land that flows with milk and honey. What does that mean? Well in agrarian culture that means a lot because their sustenance, their survival was dependent upon the livestock and the agriculture and the natural resources. So when God says, "a land that flows with milk", where does milk come from? Not the store. Cow, it represents livestock. And Honey, how do bees make pollen? Plants, it represents agriculture.
Scott: 14:13 So they are saying, "It's a land of flows of milk and honey, the natural resources. It's rich. It's awesome. Look at these grapes." And I can only speculate people were like, "Whoa! Wow! It's like God said it is. Glory! Hallelujah. Past the offering basket. Let's have church. Awesome. God is good." I'm just thinking they might have done that. It's exciting.
Scott: 14:33 Then read this sometime Numbers 13 and Chapter 14. It's fascinating. And then it gets down to verse 28. They go for sharing the facts to now sharing their fear. And Verse 28 begins with a three letter word. But. Everybody say "but." I'm talking a single B but here, a single t but, single B but, but.
Scott: 15:09 Isn't it funny? For those of us who are followers of Christ, when we see what he's done in our life and we even read our Bible we see the more that he wants to do in our life. Human nature always comes up and says, "But. But." Then they sharing their fear. The guy says, "But, you know the people are really strong. Way stronger than us. I mean. Yu Darvish Clayton Kershaw are on the same team over there." Four of you knew what I'm talking about. I'm trying to be funny. It doesn't work for me. I've got to stop it. But they're really strong. And then they said, "And the land devours its inhabitants." I mean see it escalating here. And then they go, "And we look like grasshoppers in our own site. And we look the very same way to them." And they start sharing their fear.
Scott: 16:14 Isn't it funny how we get so fearful when God's leading us into something new? How many of you here, and you could say, with all integrity all honesty, San Tan, Scottsdale, you guys at 5 o'clock in the venue, you could say, "Man I can tell you without a doubt I know, that I know, that I know, that I know, God has come through for me and my past." Raise your hand. "God, there is does no doubt in my mind."
Scott: 16:38 Why are we so afraid to trust him to do what's next? Why does it seem easier to trust God with our eternity than trust him with our life? Have you ever thought about that? It seems easier to me. "God forgive me my sin. Jesus be my savior. I'm trusting that my faith in you is going to get me into your presence and eternity. But don't, don't get my life don't. Don't tell me to do this. I can do that. That's crazy."
Scott: 17:17 We wander around our spiritual wilderness standing on the edge of God's promises and that's what these folks are doing. So he starts saying, "But it's too strong. We look like grasshoppers in our own site." And this guy named Caleb, everybody say Caleb, this guy, one of the twelve spies he can't stand it anymore.
Scott: 17:43 He's had his Popeye moment. "I've had all I can stand and I can't stand anymore." He stands up and he speaks out and he says, "We can take this land. We can go and possess this thing." Evidently the people didn't listen much because the very next verse, Numbers Chapter 14, Verse 1 says the people wept aloud and complained all night long saying, "Why didn't God just leave us in Egypt to die there? Why don't we just die here in the wilderness. Why would God take our families and lead us to a place where we're going to die?" And all night long they're just, they're just complaining.
Scott: 18:25 And Joshua, another guy, joins Caleb and stands up and stands out and says, "Hold it here. God is with us. God is giving us this land. We can do this thing." You see Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the 12 spies who saw everything with their very own eyes who chose to trust God and believe that he would do what he said he'd do. Just two and when I pull out my calculator and I run the math that equals just about 16 percent of the spies. So we're going to call Joshua and Caleb the sweet 16 percent. The sweet 16 percent of those who trust God enough to do what he says to do. So God gets upset. Excuse me, I've got to pull out my Kleenex. This is a legitimate cold here. I'm not faking.
Scott: 18:25 Joshua and Caleb stand out and God is pretty ticked. Read it. It's fascinating. God's ready to wipe them all out. He says, "You know what? How long will I put up with these people who treat me with contempt. I'm going to wipe them all out except for Joshua and Caleb." And Moses steps in and literally talks God out of wiping them out. Let that rattle your theology for a little bit. So God says, "qAll right here's what I'm going to do. For every one of you who are 20 years old and older, you are never going to enter into the land I promised you. In fact, for every day that you spied out the land 40 days you're going to spend a year wandering around the wilderness. You're never going in. The only ones that are going to go in of this adult generation -Joshua and Caleb."
Scott: 19:07 Why? Because they're the sweet 16 percent. They trust him enough to do what he says. God doesn't wipe them out. They end up wandering. In love, I'm going to just kind of throw this out, anybody here wandering today? You're like, "I see what God wants me to do. I don't know." And we're just kind of going in circles. Spiritual life's dry. We're not really get anywhere. Well wanna encourage you to jump on board with the sweet 16 percent. Be more like Joshua and Caleb. "Well God said he's going to do it. I'm going to trust him so I'm going to do whatever he asked me to do."
Scott: 21:08 You guys with me? Shall I keep on going? OK. Because Caleb and Joshua were basically saying the same thing to the nation of Israel that Jesus is saying to you and to me today in a very clear statement and Mark 11:22. Jesus says, "Have faith in God. Have faith in God." Let me read that again to make sure I get that real clear. "Have faith in God."
Scott: 21:33 So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to help a bunch of us to stop wandering around the wilderness and to step into God's promises for our life. To them, it was the land that God promised. To you and to me, God has a lot of promises for you and for me to experience. In fact, do a google search sometime, and type in 'God's promises for my every need.' You'll literally get almost 3 million response, things that pop up.
Scott: 22:03 We talk about God's promises all the time. They're on coffee cups all over the place. Someone's going through a hard time, "Well God promises this for you and God promises this for me and God promises this and God promises that." God promises a lot according to people and he actually does. But I want to say something that might surprise some of us. Scottsdale. San Tan. This might even, a few of us might even disagree with what I'm about to say, but I challenge you and encourage you to go back to scripture and study your Bible. I think you'll find that this is consistently true. And here's the statement. God's promises are conditional.
Scott: 22:43 His promises to you and to me are conditional. Just because God promises something doesn't mean that we're going to experience it. Some of you like, "What's going on?" Let me give you an example. This is a big example, somewhat of an easy example. Does God, basically promise to you and to me, that Jesus's death on the cross pays the price for the sins of the whole world? Does God promise that? Yeah he does. Does Jesus's resurrection and our putting, entering into a relationship with him, does that, does God promise that when we come into relationship of Christ that we will spend eternity forever with him in God's presence? Is that a God, God's promise to us?
Scott: 23:32 Has everybody throughout history and everyone in the world entered into a relationship with Jesus that guaranteed that they'll be in God's presence for eternity? You see God's promises are conditional. He does what he needs to do and he always does what he needs to do. But the condition is- do we do what he tells us to do to experience the promise.
Scott: 24:04 There are conditional. Did you know that God wants you and I to experience contentment. I can tell you for a fact, I've talked about it before even as a pastor, I wasn't content at all. I had to do some things that God was telling me to do before I experienced contentment. So God promised contentment was available but I wasn't experiencing it at all. I had to obey him in some areas of my life and do what he says. Does God promise that we can be forgiven of our sin as I just mentioned? Absolutely. I wasn't, I was 21 years old when I ask Christ into my life. Before that I was going to a place in eternity that I don't want anyone to go. Why? Because I didn't respond to God's promise and do what he said. Call out on him. Ask for forgiveness. Everyone who calls him the name of the Lord will be saved.
Scott: 25:05 God's promises are conditional. Let's take a look at something here. Go to the Book of Hebrews in your New Testament if you have it. And here's, here's what it says. In Verse 6 of Chapter 11. Hebrews 11:6. It says without faith it's impossible to please God. Isn't that interesting? Like we can never perform nor do we have to perform for God. That's religion. And that doesn't get us anywhere but frustrated and empty. But our faith pleases our Heavenly Father. It says that without faith it's impossible please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that what? That he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Scott: 25:50 You know what I see in the Scripture right here. I see two kinds of biblical faith. One I could just call a entry level faith. Everybody say "entry level faith." Every one of the 12 spies and probably everyone of the nation of Israel at that time standing in front of their promised land had entry level faith. What is it? They believe that God exists. They believed in God. But I think we all know that simply believing in God doesn't really make a whole lot of difference or life until we exercise the second type of faith we see in this verse. You see entry level faith believes in God. What I call life changing faith believes God. See life changing faith not only believes God exists but life changing faith believes got enough to do what he says to do.
Scott: 26:46 You see I can remain, I can be an abusive relationship and believe in God. It doesn't make a difference for my life but when I choose to believe God, trust that what he says is true and do what he's telling me to do, I begin to realize hey I'm a brand new creation in Christ as a follower of Jesus. I'm accepted by my Heavenly Father. I can have relationship with him. He's the one who truly affirms who I am in life. I don't need to cling to this dysfunctional abusive relationships, wanting acceptance. I can let that thing go because I believe God. That he's trustworthy and I'm going to do what he says. You see I can believe in God and stay in abusive relationship until I believe him and do what he says. My life changes. I can be an addict and believe in God and it doesn't change a thing.
Scott: 27:44 But when I choose to believe God that Jesus said he's come to give each of us an abundant life, life to the full, where Jesus literally says, "I've come to set you free" that he will give us the strength and empower us to be free of our addiction. I don't experience that until I believe him and I trust him and I start doing what he tells me to do. And I start walking it out. That's life changing faith. I can, I can go through life alone believe in God but doesn't change anything. But when I believe God, that he says, "I've falling short. I've sinned. I need to call on his name. And when I do I'll receive forgiveness." So when I believe him enough to do what he says that changes everything. It changes my life.
Scott: 28:41 These folks were standing on the edge of their Promised Land. They believed in God. Maybe 90 percent of us in San Tan and Scottsdale and Chandler today and online, believe in God. But how many of us are wandering through a spiritual wilderness because we don't believe God enough to trust them and do what we say and to do. The sweet 16, the sweet 16 percent, Joshua and Caleb, they had a different spirit they believed God enough to do it. To get after.
Scott: 29:19 Let me, let me tell you a quick cycle. And then I'm talking about how we live this thing on a very practical way. Here's the normal pattern of the Christian life in my experience. So when we come to Christ meaning I ask Jesus into my life. I pray. I ask God for forgiveness. I asked Christ to be my savior, to lead me my life and all that kind of stuff. Most often we come to Christ when one of two things are happening. We're suddenly spiritually hungry. Everybody say "hungry." Somehow something triggers something in our life and we become hungry spiritually.
Scott: 29:54 Maybe that's you today. Maybe you're here and you don't have a relationship with God. And you're caught off guard by like, "Wow I'm kind of hungry for whatever this, he's talking about, this relationship of God stuff." Something triggered it. Maybe it was being at Cornerstone. You're like, "Whoa. This kind of shook me up. I'm hungry all of a sudden spiritually." And our response to that is, Well, I'm going to do what God says." And all of a sudden life begins to change.
Scott: 30:19 Or maybe it's not that we're hungry but we're hurting. And we're in a place where we lost someone or something and we're grieving. And we don't know what to do and we turn to the church who, ultimately hopefully, points us to Christ. And we start the relationship with Christ because of our hurt. And God changes our life because we need him desperately.
Scott: 30:45 But then what happens is that becomes our new normal or our hungers satisfied or hurt is healed. It's our new normal when we start going through the routine. And it's at this point it gets dangerous because we start going around the wilderness. You see at that point we know I am not who I used to be by the grace of God. But God I think is saying, "Yeah you're not who you used to be but you're nowhere near who you could be. Don't stop there." And we get complacent and we go through the motions until something else triggers our spiritual hunger or hurt in our life and we reengage. It's kind of a normal process.
Scott: 31:31 I want to trigger your hunger today. And maybe if you're hurting maybe that's all you need to say. "OK what do I do? What do I do? I want to be in that sweet 16 percent that experiences God's promises in our life." So here's what we're going to do to experience God's promises in your life. I'm telling you take this to the bank. Live it out. You're going to experience more of God in your life. Maybe than you ever have. And I'm gonna sort it out in a statement and then unpack it.
Scott: 32:18 To experience more of God's promises in our life we have to faith our fear. Yes faith. Everybody say, "Faith my fear", resists complacency, say "resists complacency" and stay hungry, say "stay hungry." Let's talk about faithing our fear for just a moment. I didn't say face but faith it just like these folks did. They're standing at the edge of the Promised Land. What do they see they see? They see all the good stuff. It's a land that flows of milk and honey. And you come to Cornerstone and you're sitting in San Tan and then you hear about how God wants to this for our life and Jesus is that. And this can be an incredible experience in life and you're standing at the edge of those promises just like those folks.
Scott: 32:48 But, you got to go about my life a little differently. Well if God says so. Yeah. Why? Because he wants us to experience more of his promises. He wants to change our life. So we faith our fear by realizing that standing between us and God's Promise Land, God's promises for our life is this big wall of fear with a single b but in a single t but. We've got to push through it and if we to trust God enough to do what he says. We gotta punch through that thing. Faith that fear.
Scott: 33:27 What if God doesn't come through? You'll never know to you give it a shot. "What if I don't succeed and my friends laugh at me that aren't Christians and say 'see that doesn't work.'" The probably were laughing at you get over it. We experience God's promises by faithing our fear. Going for it. Trusting him enough to try and to take action.
Scott: 33:51 This whole series we're wrapping it up by saying, "Just do what God says. Be obedient and go forward and trust him." The next thing is we resist complacency and we stay hungry. Here's how we do that. Nothing is rocket science. We resist complacency. We stay hungry by staying in the scriptures, spending time with God. We stay hungry by staying in church. Be a part of the church. Worship your face off. And when Linn's teaching or Tim's teaching, or whomever, lean in. Take notes and say, "God I'm here to grow. Speak to me." Pray like crazy. Throw some flames on your prayer life. Talk to God. Worship God driving to work. Instead of giving somebody else the finger, just say, "God I love you." Worship God. Stay hungry, serve, give, be generous. Live the life. That resists complacency, that keeps us hungry.
Scott: 35:02 See we experience more of God's promises in our life when we faith our fear, resist complacency and just stay hungry. It's simple but not easy. Just like these folks are standing facing the Promised Land. Here's what God says about Caleb. Part of our sweet 16 percent. He says this in Numbers 14:24. "But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit he follows me wholeheartedly. I will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it." Let's never forget God's promises are conditional. We have to do our part. Trust him and obey and do it.
Scott: 35:43 Let me read something to Joshua 14 and just let this speak to you and then we're going to pray. Speaking of Caleb. They've gone through the wilderness and they've wandered for the 40 years. And Caleb is now 85 years old. I love this guy. Here's what he says in Joshua 14 Verse 10. "This is now then just as the Lord promised." See back to the promise. "He kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, 85 years old." Anybody in Scottsdale or San Tan or Chandler 85 or older? Raise your hand. Sir give me a hand. That's awesome. Here's what it says, "Caleb says 'I'm 85 years old. I'm still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.'" He's a sweet 16 percenter, man. Verse 12, "Now give me the hill country the Lord promised that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakims where there (they're big people) and their cities are larger and fortified, but", everybody say but. This is a good but. "But the Lord helping me. I will drive them out just as you said." An 85 year old guy still living with a sweet 16 percent attitude saying, "You know what? If God said it, I trust him. Let's go do it." He says, "Give me the toughest of the land. We're going to go kick some butt." Two t's for God.
Scott: 37:18 Let me wrap it up. Statistically speaking, excuse me, statistically speaking if that's the norm, the 12 spies, (I hope it's no)t but if it's any indication it's probable that only 16 percent of us, at all three campuses and online in the venue at 5:00, only 16 percent of us are going to do anything of what we heard today. What would have happened if the whole nation of Israel would have been like Joshua and Caleb? The whole stinking nation said, "God I trust you. Let's go possess this land."
Scott: 38:03 I'm going to believe different for Cornerstone. For you and for me. What would happen if all of us said I'm part of the 16 percent? I'm going to live my life in such a way where I'm going to trust God when he says to do something I'm going to go for it, trusting the results to him. What might happen? That's my encouragement to you. Let's bow our heads and let's pray.
Scott: 38:32 Father God, we thank you so much. God thank you that you do give us a lot of promises, Lord. You promise us eternal life in Christ. You promise us joy that endures regardless of circumstances. You promises peace within like we can never experience it outside of you. God you promise to give us direction in life. You promise to provide for us. God you promise to help us to be, to have emotional strength and be strong and know who we are and be established in our identity. God you promise us that you want to use us to make a difference in the world around us, and on and on and on go your promises God.
Scott: 39:10 But today we just, we realize it's conditional. Just because you promise doesn't mean we're going experience it. But today Lord the wandering in the wilderness stops. We're going to become part of the sweet 16 percent that chooses to trust you and to do what you're telling us to do. To walk in obedience and step into our Promised Land and God we thank you for this. In the name of Jesus. And if you agree you can say Amen.
Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.
Scott: 01:23 And for those of us here in Chandler look at the person to your left and give them a small applause too because they're looking for some encouragement this morning. You know the catch is that when you're all in the same direction, no one looks one, each other in the eye right? Oh man, we're so glad that you here especially if this is your first time here at Cornerstone or San Tan or Scottsdale or across the way in the venue or here in this room right now. We're so glad that someone invited you to Cornerstone. And because that's probably how you got here man we just pray, literally, that you are encouraged today. That you walk out of here, regardless of where you are in your faith, regardless of where you are in your relationship with God, that you walk out of here knowing that God cares about ya. That he loves ya and he's inviting you into more. And he just has done everything he can to have a relationship with you. So we're just thrilled to have the honor to represent him as best we can today. Right? Let's give it up for those who are here for the very first time. Thank you for coming out today.
Scott: 02:27 We're wrapping up this series in Exodus. Everybody say Exodus. And I do give a little apology out of the gate here. I've had a little cold, for what seems like a year, so my voice isn't because I was out late last night doing things that pastors probably should be doing before Sunday morning. So just trying to shake this cold off. So we're you wrapping up this series in Exodus if you have a Bible with ya I want you to naturally turn to The Book of Numbers.
Scott: 02:56 Thank you. Yes seriously, go to the Book of Numbers and just camp there for a moment because this whole series has been incredible. As Linn's been teaching through this and really the parallels, of God bringing the nation of Israel out of bondage and slavery in Egypt into the Promised Land, the parallels are so incredible and similar to you and I in our life. For those of us who are here today who would say, "I'm a Christian. I'm a follower of Jesus." Many of us maybe, and likely, are living and wandering in our spiritual wilderness. Wandering around maybe dissatisfied with our spiritual life, wondering what's going on and the joy that we had and following Christ in the beginning has waned and now we're like, "WHAT. I don't know. I'm not experiencing much now" and we're just wandering in our wilderness.
Scott: 03:51 Well I want encourage you today and I hope that today when you walk out that you're hungering for more. For those of us who maybe don't have a relationship with God we're just wandering through life, wondering if God exists. If he does, does he care? And if he cares, how does he express that to us? And so today I want you to see yourself in this story that we're going to talk about in the Book of Numbers that relates to the exodus of God's people.
Scott: 04:19 Fourth grade was one of the best years of my life. Fourth grade is awesome. Because in fourth grade you're old enough to start ruling the roost in elementary school. You're getting there. You're almost fifth grade but you're young enough to still be naive and innocent to the harsh realities of everyday life.
Scott: 04:43 But maybe what makes 4th grade the best or most awesome year is that you have, after lunch every day, you know your four food groups including chocolate milk, you have what? Recess, and you get to go out and play for however long that is. Recess rocks. And when I was in fourth grade, what would happen is after lunch we'd be dismissed to recess and we would all hightail it out of the doors of West Elementary School in western Michigan and we go out into the field. If there was snow or grass it didn't matter. Someone had a football in their hand and about 20 of us ran out to play fourth grade football.
Scott: 05:27 And what happened every day is we'd all, about 20 of us, get out there and for some reason it would just happen, a few people would automatically become captains. And we'd all stand there in a group, in a cluster, and the captains would start picking people to be on their team. And most often the captains would pick those who looked more athletic, and maybe they were, maybe they were bigger, stronger and faster than the rest of us. But inevitably it always ends up with two of us standing there wondering who is going to be the last one picked? Because nobody in 4th grade wants to be the last one picked.
Scott: 06:04 And so for those who were left standing, maybe I was there, maybe I wasn't. That's my business I'm keeping it's myself. We kind of like look down and kick in the dirt because you know we're like, "Oh man I don't want to be the last one." Because the last ones never picked. It's just by default. All right you're going over there. You're the last guy. But always there was just two guys left standing. And it was kind of a brutal reality of 4th grade football.
Scott: 06:34 Well today we're going to look at two guys who were left standing but for a good reason. Because these are two guys, who not only were left standing, but they purposely stood up and stood out because they chose to believe that what God said was true. And because they believe what God said was true they experienced God's promises in their life. You might be walking in your spiritual wilderness right now wandering around going, "What does God have for me. Where is all this stuff that God wants to do for me?" And when I'm done talking in like 25 minutes I'm going to recruit you to take the steps to start experiencing more of God's promises in your life.
Scott: 07:14 Is anyone who you're interested? San Tan? Scottsdale? In experiencing more of God's promises your life? C'mon someone raise your hand. Say, "That's me. I'm in. Let's go on this thing." OK. I want to get rid of this football. Somebody gave me the last service football. All right sir, I'm gonna throw it to you. Everyone watch your head. Look at that, Kurt Warner, man. I could have done it. If they would just would have put me in the game we would have take state. Right back there. Oh my God, I didn't sign a rider on this thing. Dude, you better catch this ball. Everybody eyes up, looking around. All right here we go. And there it is. Oh over threw him. But somebody's got it. There you go. Give it to the kid. Give it to the kid. Please, give it to the kid.
Scott: 08:00 OK. So. God takes his people, the nation of Israel, removes them from the bondage and the slavery of Egypt. Right? Does all the miracles and parts the Red Sea and all that stuff that Pastor Linn has been teaching about, looking at, wow, there's an obedience factor to getting from where we are to where God wants to bring us. And so God bring his people through and sets them apart as a group of people, as a nation, because they are going to become part of God's redemptive plan for the world. Because through them is going to come Jesus, the savior of the world. And he brings them out and they're kind of going through this wilderness and they come right up to the edge of this land that God promised them, that was for them. It's called Canaan. And God calls it the Promised Land. Eveybody say "Promised Land." It's simply God's promise to them. "Hey I'm going to give this land to you." And they're standing at the edge, like so many of us do, when God's saying, "Hey I want you to experience this in your life. It's right there." Pause. "I don't know. I don't know."
Scott: 09:02 They're doing the very same thing that you and I do. So let's not act too spiritual in this thing. OK? So they're standing there giving pause. And here's what God says to them. The Book of Numbers, Chapter 13. So go to Chapter 13 if you have it. If not the scriptures will be on the screen for you as we go along. And here's what it says. First one. The Lord said to Moses, "Send some men to explore the land of Canaan which I'm giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders." So God says, "Hey. There's 12 Tribes. Find a man in each tribe to become part of this reconnaissance team. And I'm going to send them out not to wage battle but to get the information and bring back a report."
Scott: 09:48 So here's what it says in Verse 18. Scroll Down. Moses then goes on and says this, gives them instruction. He says, "See what the land is like and whether" God told them go see what it's like. But I wonder if Moses now goes beyond what God said here. I don't know? I'm just curious about it because Moses says, "See what the land is like. Whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. Verse 19. What kind of land do they live in? Is it good? Or is it bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they walled? Are they, are they unwalled or only fortified? Verse 20. How's the soil? Is it fertile? Is it poor? Are there trees? Yes or no. Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. And scripture says it was the season for the first ripe grapes. So forgive me for my sniffles as we go along.
Scott: 10:40 So the twelve guys go out and the Bible tells us that for 40 days they scour through this area called Canaan. Up and down and back and forth and all that kind of stuff and they're just checking it all out making observations taking notes. They started to post it to their Instagram story but the battery ran out. They couldn't plug it back and so they had to go old school and just remember what they saw.
Scott: 11:07 After 40 days they returned. Now imagine the setting. The whole community of Israel, thousands and thousands and thousands of people, gathered together. And Moses and Aaron, the leaders, are standing there and they're back to give the report. Now imagine this isn't some small thing. This is important enough for everybody to gather together because they're going to give a report for what their future looks like. They're going to tell them what their children are going to face, what their grandchildren are going to experience later on in life. I would imagine the suspense, kind of pins and needles, like what did they see? Is it what God said? It is.
Scott: 11:52 And so they get one guy. He steps up and he begins to give the report. And he starts by sharing the facts. He says, well before he even spoke I would imagine someone probably standing in the crowd going, "1 ,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Wow. They all made it back. They survived. That's a good sign." And then one stands up and he says, "Let me give you the report. There are a lot of people there. They look pretty strong. The cities are big. They're fortified. The soil is rich. There are trees. In fact, look what we brought back with us." And two guys walk out with this stick on their shoulders and it's a big cluster of grapes that was so big that they had to carry it on a stick.
Scott: 12:49 Now imagine, OK, these folks have been wandering around in the wilderness for a long time. Kind of, what do we eat? So picture yourself wandering around in Casa Grande for like a month living in a tent. And you're eating protein bars and crackers and someone comes up and says I got a whole bunch of beautiful, delicious grapes from Napa. That's kind of what's going on here. And they carry out the big grapes. Now imagine people like, "Whoa! look at the grapes. Oh my goodness." And the guy says, "Yeah it's the land that flows with milk and honey, just like God said."
Scott: 13:32 Now for you and for me that statement is kind of obscure a land that flows with milk and honey. What does that mean? Well in agrarian culture that means a lot because their sustenance, their survival was dependent upon the livestock and the agriculture and the natural resources. So when God says, "a land that flows with milk", where does milk come from? Not the store. Cow, it represents livestock. And Honey, how do bees make pollen? Plants, it represents agriculture.
Scott: 14:13 So they are saying, "It's a land of flows of milk and honey, the natural resources. It's rich. It's awesome. Look at these grapes." And I can only speculate people were like, "Whoa! Wow! It's like God said it is. Glory! Hallelujah. Past the offering basket. Let's have church. Awesome. God is good." I'm just thinking they might have done that. It's exciting.
Scott: 14:33 Then read this sometime Numbers 13 and Chapter 14. It's fascinating. And then it gets down to verse 28. They go for sharing the facts to now sharing their fear. And Verse 28 begins with a three letter word. But. Everybody say "but." I'm talking a single B but here, a single t but, single B but, but.
Scott: 15:09 Isn't it funny? For those of us who are followers of Christ, when we see what he's done in our life and we even read our Bible we see the more that he wants to do in our life. Human nature always comes up and says, "But. But." Then they sharing their fear. The guy says, "But, you know the people are really strong. Way stronger than us. I mean. Yu Darvish Clayton Kershaw are on the same team over there." Four of you knew what I'm talking about. I'm trying to be funny. It doesn't work for me. I've got to stop it. But they're really strong. And then they said, "And the land devours its inhabitants." I mean see it escalating here. And then they go, "And we look like grasshoppers in our own site. And we look the very same way to them." And they start sharing their fear.
Scott: 16:14 Isn't it funny how we get so fearful when God's leading us into something new? How many of you here, and you could say, with all integrity all honesty, San Tan, Scottsdale, you guys at 5 o'clock in the venue, you could say, "Man I can tell you without a doubt I know, that I know, that I know, that I know, God has come through for me and my past." Raise your hand. "God, there is does no doubt in my mind."
Scott: 16:38 Why are we so afraid to trust him to do what's next? Why does it seem easier to trust God with our eternity than trust him with our life? Have you ever thought about that? It seems easier to me. "God forgive me my sin. Jesus be my savior. I'm trusting that my faith in you is going to get me into your presence and eternity. But don't, don't get my life don't. Don't tell me to do this. I can do that. That's crazy."
Scott: 17:17 We wander around our spiritual wilderness standing on the edge of God's promises and that's what these folks are doing. So he starts saying, "But it's too strong. We look like grasshoppers in our own site." And this guy named Caleb, everybody say Caleb, this guy, one of the twelve spies he can't stand it anymore.
Scott: 17:43 He's had his Popeye moment. "I've had all I can stand and I can't stand anymore." He stands up and he speaks out and he says, "We can take this land. We can go and possess this thing." Evidently the people didn't listen much because the very next verse, Numbers Chapter 14, Verse 1 says the people wept aloud and complained all night long saying, "Why didn't God just leave us in Egypt to die there? Why don't we just die here in the wilderness. Why would God take our families and lead us to a place where we're going to die?" And all night long they're just, they're just complaining.
Scott: 18:25 And Joshua, another guy, joins Caleb and stands up and stands out and says, "Hold it here. God is with us. God is giving us this land. We can do this thing." You see Joshua and Caleb were the only two of the 12 spies who saw everything with their very own eyes who chose to trust God and believe that he would do what he said he'd do. Just two and when I pull out my calculator and I run the math that equals just about 16 percent of the spies. So we're going to call Joshua and Caleb the sweet 16 percent. The sweet 16 percent of those who trust God enough to do what he says to do. So God gets upset. Excuse me, I've got to pull out my Kleenex. This is a legitimate cold here. I'm not faking.
Scott: 18:25 Joshua and Caleb stand out and God is pretty ticked. Read it. It's fascinating. God's ready to wipe them all out. He says, "You know what? How long will I put up with these people who treat me with contempt. I'm going to wipe them all out except for Joshua and Caleb." And Moses steps in and literally talks God out of wiping them out. Let that rattle your theology for a little bit. So God says, "qAll right here's what I'm going to do. For every one of you who are 20 years old and older, you are never going to enter into the land I promised you. In fact, for every day that you spied out the land 40 days you're going to spend a year wandering around the wilderness. You're never going in. The only ones that are going to go in of this adult generation -Joshua and Caleb."
Scott: 19:07 Why? Because they're the sweet 16 percent. They trust him enough to do what he says. God doesn't wipe them out. They end up wandering. In love, I'm going to just kind of throw this out, anybody here wandering today? You're like, "I see what God wants me to do. I don't know." And we're just kind of going in circles. Spiritual life's dry. We're not really get anywhere. Well wanna encourage you to jump on board with the sweet 16 percent. Be more like Joshua and Caleb. "Well God said he's going to do it. I'm going to trust him so I'm going to do whatever he asked me to do."
Scott: 21:08 You guys with me? Shall I keep on going? OK. Because Caleb and Joshua were basically saying the same thing to the nation of Israel that Jesus is saying to you and to me today in a very clear statement and Mark 11:22. Jesus says, "Have faith in God. Have faith in God." Let me read that again to make sure I get that real clear. "Have faith in God."
Scott: 21:33 So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to help a bunch of us to stop wandering around the wilderness and to step into God's promises for our life. To them, it was the land that God promised. To you and to me, God has a lot of promises for you and for me to experience. In fact, do a google search sometime, and type in 'God's promises for my every need.' You'll literally get almost 3 million response, things that pop up.
Scott: 22:03 We talk about God's promises all the time. They're on coffee cups all over the place. Someone's going through a hard time, "Well God promises this for you and God promises this for me and God promises this and God promises that." God promises a lot according to people and he actually does. But I want to say something that might surprise some of us. Scottsdale. San Tan. This might even, a few of us might even disagree with what I'm about to say, but I challenge you and encourage you to go back to scripture and study your Bible. I think you'll find that this is consistently true. And here's the statement. God's promises are conditional.
Scott: 22:43 His promises to you and to me are conditional. Just because God promises something doesn't mean that we're going to experience it. Some of you like, "What's going on?" Let me give you an example. This is a big example, somewhat of an easy example. Does God, basically promise to you and to me, that Jesus's death on the cross pays the price for the sins of the whole world? Does God promise that? Yeah he does. Does Jesus's resurrection and our putting, entering into a relationship with him, does that, does God promise that when we come into relationship of Christ that we will spend eternity forever with him in God's presence? Is that a God, God's promise to us?
Scott: 23:32 Has everybody throughout history and everyone in the world entered into a relationship with Jesus that guaranteed that they'll be in God's presence for eternity? You see God's promises are conditional. He does what he needs to do and he always does what he needs to do. But the condition is- do we do what he tells us to do to experience the promise.
Scott: 24:04 There are conditional. Did you know that God wants you and I to experience contentment. I can tell you for a fact, I've talked about it before even as a pastor, I wasn't content at all. I had to do some things that God was telling me to do before I experienced contentment. So God promised contentment was available but I wasn't experiencing it at all. I had to obey him in some areas of my life and do what he says. Does God promise that we can be forgiven of our sin as I just mentioned? Absolutely. I wasn't, I was 21 years old when I ask Christ into my life. Before that I was going to a place in eternity that I don't want anyone to go. Why? Because I didn't respond to God's promise and do what he said. Call out on him. Ask for forgiveness. Everyone who calls him the name of the Lord will be saved.
Scott: 25:05 God's promises are conditional. Let's take a look at something here. Go to the Book of Hebrews in your New Testament if you have it. And here's, here's what it says. In Verse 6 of Chapter 11. Hebrews 11:6. It says without faith it's impossible to please God. Isn't that interesting? Like we can never perform nor do we have to perform for God. That's religion. And that doesn't get us anywhere but frustrated and empty. But our faith pleases our Heavenly Father. It says that without faith it's impossible please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that what? That he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Scott: 25:50 You know what I see in the Scripture right here. I see two kinds of biblical faith. One I could just call a entry level faith. Everybody say "entry level faith." Every one of the 12 spies and probably everyone of the nation of Israel at that time standing in front of their promised land had entry level faith. What is it? They believe that God exists. They believed in God. But I think we all know that simply believing in God doesn't really make a whole lot of difference or life until we exercise the second type of faith we see in this verse. You see entry level faith believes in God. What I call life changing faith believes God. See life changing faith not only believes God exists but life changing faith believes got enough to do what he says to do.
Scott: 26:46 You see I can remain, I can be an abusive relationship and believe in God. It doesn't make a difference for my life but when I choose to believe God, trust that what he says is true and do what he's telling me to do, I begin to realize hey I'm a brand new creation in Christ as a follower of Jesus. I'm accepted by my Heavenly Father. I can have relationship with him. He's the one who truly affirms who I am in life. I don't need to cling to this dysfunctional abusive relationships, wanting acceptance. I can let that thing go because I believe God. That he's trustworthy and I'm going to do what he says. You see I can believe in God and stay in abusive relationship until I believe him and do what he says. My life changes. I can be an addict and believe in God and it doesn't change a thing.
Scott: 27:44 But when I choose to believe God that Jesus said he's come to give each of us an abundant life, life to the full, where Jesus literally says, "I've come to set you free" that he will give us the strength and empower us to be free of our addiction. I don't experience that until I believe him and I trust him and I start doing what he tells me to do. And I start walking it out. That's life changing faith. I can, I can go through life alone believe in God but doesn't change anything. But when I believe God, that he says, "I've falling short. I've sinned. I need to call on his name. And when I do I'll receive forgiveness." So when I believe him enough to do what he says that changes everything. It changes my life.
Scott: 28:41 These folks were standing on the edge of their Promised Land. They believed in God. Maybe 90 percent of us in San Tan and Scottsdale and Chandler today and online, believe in God. But how many of us are wandering through a spiritual wilderness because we don't believe God enough to trust them and do what we say and to do. The sweet 16, the sweet 16 percent, Joshua and Caleb, they had a different spirit they believed God enough to do it. To get after.
Scott: 29:19 Let me, let me tell you a quick cycle. And then I'm talking about how we live this thing on a very practical way. Here's the normal pattern of the Christian life in my experience. So when we come to Christ meaning I ask Jesus into my life. I pray. I ask God for forgiveness. I asked Christ to be my savior, to lead me my life and all that kind of stuff. Most often we come to Christ when one of two things are happening. We're suddenly spiritually hungry. Everybody say "hungry." Somehow something triggers something in our life and we become hungry spiritually.
Scott: 29:54 Maybe that's you today. Maybe you're here and you don't have a relationship with God. And you're caught off guard by like, "Wow I'm kind of hungry for whatever this, he's talking about, this relationship of God stuff." Something triggered it. Maybe it was being at Cornerstone. You're like, "Whoa. This kind of shook me up. I'm hungry all of a sudden spiritually." And our response to that is, Well, I'm going to do what God says." And all of a sudden life begins to change.
Scott: 30:19 Or maybe it's not that we're hungry but we're hurting. And we're in a place where we lost someone or something and we're grieving. And we don't know what to do and we turn to the church who, ultimately hopefully, points us to Christ. And we start the relationship with Christ because of our hurt. And God changes our life because we need him desperately.
Scott: 30:45 But then what happens is that becomes our new normal or our hungers satisfied or hurt is healed. It's our new normal when we start going through the routine. And it's at this point it gets dangerous because we start going around the wilderness. You see at that point we know I am not who I used to be by the grace of God. But God I think is saying, "Yeah you're not who you used to be but you're nowhere near who you could be. Don't stop there." And we get complacent and we go through the motions until something else triggers our spiritual hunger or hurt in our life and we reengage. It's kind of a normal process.
Scott: 31:31 I want to trigger your hunger today. And maybe if you're hurting maybe that's all you need to say. "OK what do I do? What do I do? I want to be in that sweet 16 percent that experiences God's promises in our life." So here's what we're going to do to experience God's promises in your life. I'm telling you take this to the bank. Live it out. You're going to experience more of God in your life. Maybe than you ever have. And I'm gonna sort it out in a statement and then unpack it.
Scott: 32:18 To experience more of God's promises in our life we have to faith our fear. Yes faith. Everybody say, "Faith my fear", resists complacency, say "resists complacency" and stay hungry, say "stay hungry." Let's talk about faithing our fear for just a moment. I didn't say face but faith it just like these folks did. They're standing at the edge of the Promised Land. What do they see they see? They see all the good stuff. It's a land that flows of milk and honey. And you come to Cornerstone and you're sitting in San Tan and then you hear about how God wants to this for our life and Jesus is that. And this can be an incredible experience in life and you're standing at the edge of those promises just like those folks.
Scott: 32:48 But, you got to go about my life a little differently. Well if God says so. Yeah. Why? Because he wants us to experience more of his promises. He wants to change our life. So we faith our fear by realizing that standing between us and God's Promise Land, God's promises for our life is this big wall of fear with a single b but in a single t but. We've got to push through it and if we to trust God enough to do what he says. We gotta punch through that thing. Faith that fear.
Scott: 33:27 What if God doesn't come through? You'll never know to you give it a shot. "What if I don't succeed and my friends laugh at me that aren't Christians and say 'see that doesn't work.'" The probably were laughing at you get over it. We experience God's promises by faithing our fear. Going for it. Trusting him enough to try and to take action.
Scott: 33:51 This whole series we're wrapping it up by saying, "Just do what God says. Be obedient and go forward and trust him." The next thing is we resist complacency and we stay hungry. Here's how we do that. Nothing is rocket science. We resist complacency. We stay hungry by staying in the scriptures, spending time with God. We stay hungry by staying in church. Be a part of the church. Worship your face off. And when Linn's teaching or Tim's teaching, or whomever, lean in. Take notes and say, "God I'm here to grow. Speak to me." Pray like crazy. Throw some flames on your prayer life. Talk to God. Worship God driving to work. Instead of giving somebody else the finger, just say, "God I love you." Worship God. Stay hungry, serve, give, be generous. Live the life. That resists complacency, that keeps us hungry.
Scott: 35:02 See we experience more of God's promises in our life when we faith our fear, resist complacency and just stay hungry. It's simple but not easy. Just like these folks are standing facing the Promised Land. Here's what God says about Caleb. Part of our sweet 16 percent. He says this in Numbers 14:24. "But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit he follows me wholeheartedly. I will bring him into the land he went to and his descendants will inherit it." Let's never forget God's promises are conditional. We have to do our part. Trust him and obey and do it.
Scott: 35:43 Let me read something to Joshua 14 and just let this speak to you and then we're going to pray. Speaking of Caleb. They've gone through the wilderness and they've wandered for the 40 years. And Caleb is now 85 years old. I love this guy. Here's what he says in Joshua 14 Verse 10. "This is now then just as the Lord promised." See back to the promise. "He kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, 85 years old." Anybody in Scottsdale or San Tan or Chandler 85 or older? Raise your hand. Sir give me a hand. That's awesome. Here's what it says, "Caleb says 'I'm 85 years old. I'm still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then.'" He's a sweet 16 percenter, man. Verse 12, "Now give me the hill country the Lord promised that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakims where there (they're big people) and their cities are larger and fortified, but", everybody say but. This is a good but. "But the Lord helping me. I will drive them out just as you said." An 85 year old guy still living with a sweet 16 percent attitude saying, "You know what? If God said it, I trust him. Let's go do it." He says, "Give me the toughest of the land. We're going to go kick some butt." Two t's for God.
Scott: 37:18 Let me wrap it up. Statistically speaking, excuse me, statistically speaking if that's the norm, the 12 spies, (I hope it's no)t but if it's any indication it's probable that only 16 percent of us, at all three campuses and online in the venue at 5:00, only 16 percent of us are going to do anything of what we heard today. What would have happened if the whole nation of Israel would have been like Joshua and Caleb? The whole stinking nation said, "God I trust you. Let's go possess this land."
Scott: 38:03 I'm going to believe different for Cornerstone. For you and for me. What would happen if all of us said I'm part of the 16 percent? I'm going to live my life in such a way where I'm going to trust God when he says to do something I'm going to go for it, trusting the results to him. What might happen? That's my encouragement to you. Let's bow our heads and let's pray.
Scott: 38:32 Father God, we thank you so much. God thank you that you do give us a lot of promises, Lord. You promise us eternal life in Christ. You promise us joy that endures regardless of circumstances. You promises peace within like we can never experience it outside of you. God you promise to give us direction in life. You promise to provide for us. God you promise to help us to be, to have emotional strength and be strong and know who we are and be established in our identity. God you promise us that you want to use us to make a difference in the world around us, and on and on and on go your promises God.
Scott: 39:10 But today we just, we realize it's conditional. Just because you promise doesn't mean we're going experience it. But today Lord the wandering in the wilderness stops. We're going to become part of the sweet 16 percent that chooses to trust you and to do what you're telling us to do. To walk in obedience and step into our Promised Land and God we thank you for this. In the name of Jesus. And if you agree you can say Amen.
Recorded in Chandler, Arizona.
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