God’s Presence Is Our Priority | Ps Joseph Samuel

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the Newman Church podcast. Wherever you are in the world, we are so glad that you've joined us. Our prayer is that this message will reveal more of who our heavenly Father is as we grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus. Enjoy the message. Hey, this morning I want us to focus. It's a special Sunday because as Newman Church, we try to live our and apply ourselves through kingdom culture values. These are precepts pulled out, dug out from the word of God, that we try to hold ourselves and keep ourselves to those tenets. And it's not the invention of a committee or an executive team or some pastor, it's actually the word of God. And so we've got some kingdom culture values that you might be familiar and Pastor Glenn and others might be talking about. So we're just going to rehearse a few of those even as we begin this morning. Is that okay? All right, what are the kingdom culture values? Number one, prayer fuels power. Oh, it's all, you guys are cheating. Everyone's looking at me and then I was like, why is everyone looking on top of my head? There you go. All right, so prayer fuels power. Have you prayed about it? Is prayer my last resort or my first response? Whenever we have a crisis, people always want to rush and talk about it. The first question we ask ourselves, have you prayed about it? That's number one. Number two, God's word is our foundation. Not what the government says, not what the education system says, not what a political party says. But what does the word of God say? We give preeminence to the word of God. We base our choices, the actions of our life, on the word of God. Third, making disciples is not optional. Hey, it's not just for the paid professionals. It's for everyone who calls themselves a believer. They're called to make disciples. Guess what? You and I wouldn't be here if somebody didn't make disciples of Jesus out of us. And Jesus said, all authority has been given to me, therefore, go and make disciples. The next one. Miracles are normal. It's not some UK spooky fancy thing. In the early days of the church. And now we're all bunkered down waiting for the rapture bus. Nothing's ever possible. Don't worry about it. Don't pray about it. Guess what? Miracles are on the menu every single day. He who has faith, place an order. And I say this to people. I've seen people, I prayed for people. People have been healed of cancer. I prayed for people. They passed away from cancer. My father, including. How does it work? I don't know. But this is what I know. When the son of man returns, he will ask, is there faith? And I want to be known as a guy where God says, that guy, he doesn't understand everything, but he has a lot of faith. I'd rather be known as a guy who has a lot of faith than very little faith. So that's why we adhere ourselves to this value. Miracles are normal. When someone says, hey, I'm sick or I'm going through a crisis, we do not give them a self help book. We respond to them by faith in prayer. Is that okay? Another one. Love gives generously. I'm not going in the order of this, so if I miss out any of that, just call me out. Love gives generously. Are we growing in our generosity towards God and his people, or are we the world? The world of those who hold everything tightly just shrinks. But those who give out generously is expanding. Are we growing in generosity like our Father in heaven? No one can ever outgive God, for God so loved the world that he gave the darling of heaven as ransom for you and me. So no one can outgive God, and we ought to grow in our generosity, just like our heavenly Father. Freedom is a responsibility. We don't need to legislate every bit of life. Can you grow a beard? Can you not grow a beard? Can you wear white? Can you not wear white? Can you wear shoes with heels or shoes without heels? I'll tell you what. I was part of a very orthodox pentecostal movement. I was denied communion because I had a beard. Brother Jay Long, you would not cut it. And the reason why they said their interpretation of the Bible was, you got to be clean shaven. You don't want to look like the rest of the world. So, hey, let's not put more commandments than the Ten Commandments and all of Leviticus on the people. Let's just allow people to understand that the God given freedom is actually a call to consecration. Rather than burdening people with tens of thousands of rules, let's allow them to walk in freedom. Because once you understand and taste what true freedom is, you're less prone to go left or right. And even if you do, you will have a holy gravity that pulls you back to the center line. Is that okay? What's next? Honor. Church is a covenant family. Now, this one is a bit tricky because we've all had different expressions and experiences of family. Some of you have come from amazing families where you want to talk to your mum every single day. But some of you have come from families where even the mention of the word family is hurtful. It's painful. It's filled with experiences that bring lot of sorrow and pain. As a pastor, I understand that because I journey with lots of people who have gone through various expressions and experiences of family. But guess what? God is building a family. And in this family, you and I are part of that family. And Jesus said, I no longer call you friends, I no longer call you servants, but friends. And we are also called as co heirs with Christ. We are part of God's big family. There's space for you, there's space for me. Every color, every race, every denomination, every background. Hair? No hair. Beard? No beard. Sideburns? No sideburns. Every person is part of God's big family. And if we can't learn how to experience that here on earth, I think we will have a bit of a problem in eternity. So this is where we need to set aside our experiences, allow the Holy Spirit to pull us out of our negative experiences and be able to live in a God family, a church family, a covenant family that's built on shared values, shared dreams, shared hopes, and a shared vision of advancing God's kingdom. Forgiving one another, loving one another, sacrificing and laying your life down for one another. That kind of a family environment is actually a dress rehearsal for heaven and eternity. The next one. Honor affirms value. Do we honor people for who they are without stumbling over who they are not? Hey, I'm a person. I want a lot of grace given to myself. And if I want a lot of honor and grace, I must honor every single person. And remember, honor is in vertical. We don't honor the pope and the bishop and the pastor. We honor every single person. This morning, as I walked in and as I've begun my service, as I honored this sister, it is giving honor where honor is due, giving honor where an expression of love and encouragement is due. And as we become a church and a group of people who honor every single person regardless of where they're on the journey, I'm telling you, God is pleased, greatly pleased. And so this morning I want to introduce to you a value that has been kind of bubbling in our hearts as leadership over the last two years and around what has marked the sound of our house, the worship of our house, the trajectory of our church. And so I want to introduce to you this new kingdom culture value. The 9th kingdom culture value. His presence is our priority. His presence is our priority. I want you to turn with me, we're just going to do a little bit of deep sea diving or snorkeling, whatever you want to call it, from the word of God, to understand why God's presence should be a priority. Is that okay? You all with me? You all buckled in? I promise you we'll land this plane before in as lesser duration than it would take from here to Devonport. We good? I want you to turn with me to Exodus chapter 33. Exodus, chapter 33, verse 15 to 17. I'm reading from the English standard version. I think that's what it's called. Or you can call it the extra special version. Exodus chapter 33, verse 15 to 17. And he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken I will do for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name. Now, the context to this passage is that the Israelites have been camping around Mount Sinai for almost a year. God's been giving them lots of rules and regulations on how this bunch of people, a million plus of them coming out of decades and decades of slavery, ought to live as a people called by God in this new, beautiful land. God gives them the Ten Commandments. He gives them a constitution, various laws of how to worship. And now Moses old man Mo has gone up the mountain. He's been gone for 40 days and 40 nights. And as the pastor has gone up to meet with the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights, there's a little bit of a rumble in the congregation. They're like, it's been a while now. We're getting bored. We love that God has done all those miracles. That's amazing. And split the Red sea. And that's all amazing, but we're getting a little bored. Build us a God. And they say this to Aaron, and Aaron says, bring me all your gold people. Give him all the gold and their earrings and whatever not. And he throws it into the fire, and he fashions for them a golden calf. God is a little more than upset. He said, these are a stiff necked people. They've just accepted a covenant. And it's just been. The ink on the page has not even dried up, and they haven't built a golden calf. So Moses is sent away from the presence of God. Moses comes down the mountain, sees the doof doof party going on. He gets a bit annoyed and he calls his two ic and says, aaron, what have you done? And this is where the humor of the Bible comes into full display. Aaron, in typical fashion, says, no hables English. And he says, well, the people were forcing me and they bought me the gold and said, build me a garden. And I just threw it into the fire and out came this golden calf. Talk about the great australian handball. Moses loses his temper. He loses his temper at the people. He takes the latest iPad God has given him, smashes it onto the ground. The tablets, smashes it to the ground, grounds it to powder, force feeds the. Has a real big temper tantrum, rightfully so. Calls the Levites forward and says, who's on the Lord's side? The Levites step forward, says, go and slay your own brothers. 3000 men fall that day. There's a plague in the camp. And this is where the exchange happens. Not a great beginning to the story of forming a nation or being called God's people. But it's in this exchange we find an interesting conversation between Moses, the chief intercessor for the people of God and the Lord God almighty himself. And it's at this place where the Lord promises them, saying, well, I can't hang out with you guys because I will surely end up consuming you all because you just do not know how to just worship me. You go after other gods. I cannot be in a place like that. Your behavior will cause me to anger. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you the promises that I made to your forefathers. I'm going to give you the land, the vineyards, the beach, the everything you need. And I'm going to send my angel ahead of you, and he's going to look after you guys and protect you. But I am not coming. Then Moses says what he says and says, unless you're going, we're not going. And this is the place where he binds and he makes us stand for the presence of God. Now, talking about the presence of God, there's two types of presence of God we understand even in church life. One is the omnipresence. That means God is always present in all places. Another way to think about it is God is everywhere at the same time. And that's what David writes in Psalm, chapter 139, verse seven and eight. Even Pastor J. Long mentioned that this morning. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. This talks about the omnipresence of God. No matter where you go, you can never outrun or escape God's presence. It's worth noting that nothing is ever hidden from God because he is present everywhere at all the time, and he knows exactly what you're doing. This is what it's called, omnipresence. The second is called manifest presence. Now, the manifest presence is when you realize the presence of God. Before we all walked into this room, the presence of God was lingering in this place. But when we sat, we joined together. We united, worshipped him, acknowledged him. And even at the start of my servant, as we gave glory to God and said, you are truly in this place. We are acknowledging and recognizing the manifest presence of God. It's in these moments you sense and recognize that God is near, and you're usually confronted with some aspect of God's character. Could be his power, it could be his holiness, it could be his love. But regardless of what dimension and what facet of God's presence you experience, you know that you know and you can sense that God is here. Some examples of that is Jacob. The guy was sleeping. Then he woke up in the middle of the night and said, I did not know God was here. And he immediately made an altar. This is Jacob in Bethel. Moses at the burning bush, he was tending to his flock, moving around, and then he saw a bush on fire, yet not fully consumed. So he draws near, and he hears the voice of God, recognizing the manifest presence of God. Joshua in Exodus chapter five. He's standing there, ready to wage war against the enemies, and he's ready to wage war against the city of Jericho. And an angel appears before him and tells him, take your sandals off, because the ground you're standing is holy ground. Understanding and recognizing the manifest presence of God. Gideon in the threshing floor, the dude's making wheat and trying to make the next best pastor in town. But the Lord appears to him and calls him by his real name, mighty man of valor. Gideon recognizes and goes on mission. That's recognizing or interacting with the manifest presence of God. There are New Testament examples. For example, the disciples in the storm when they recognized Jesus. Some said it was a ghost. Others said it's the Lord recognizing the manifest presence of God. The Holy Spirit in the upper room. 120 people gathered in the upper room, waiting in prayer and devotion for ten days. The manifest presence of the Holy Spirit begins to move with a manifestation of physical, tangible presence. And so these are some of the examples. And another example would be Peter in acts, chapter twelve, he's in prison. The angel taps him on the shoulder and says, the door is open. You can leave now. So that's Peter recognizing the manifest presence of God in the prison. These are some of the Old Testament and New Testament examples. There's a lot. But in the midst of all of this, let's bring our attention back to Moses. Like a good attorney, Moses stands before the Lord and boldly makes one statement and followed by two questions that changes the course of God's action and attitude towards the people. You could say that it changed the course of history for this group of people. And so I want to commit to you these three things this morning when it comes to prioritizing God's presence. Number one. You ready? God's presence greater than God's presence. In verse 15, he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. In other words, I can see the promised land. It's within my eyesight. It's within my arm's reach. It looks beautiful. We have tasted of its fruit. It is beautiful. As promised, however, I'd rather stay in the wilderness. I'd rather stay in the wilderness with God's presence than in a beautiful palace where there is no presence of God. The promised land was within sight. After all. This was the promise that the Lord had made to the patriarchs. They had endured decades of slavery, and now their promised home was to be theirs. All they needed to take was the key and move in. However, when Moses was literally promised safe passage, every bit of protection, and the assurance of abundant blessings for generations to come, he pulled the brakes on such a deal when he heard that God wasn't going to accompany the people. This is why, in Exodus 33, verse one to three, that exchange with Moses, the Lord said to Moses, depart. Go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying to your offspring, I will give it. I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the parasites, pesticides, the Hevites, and the Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff necked people. For Moses, the gifts of God did not compare to the very presence of God. He did not want the blessings if God did not accompany them as a people. And Moses understood that if God's presence did not accompany them, they might, they could, shoulda, coulda, woulda have had the material capacity or the material capital to be who they wanted to be. But they would end up being spiritually, relationally, and culturally bankrupt. I love this quote from Tim Keller. He says we so often approach God only for what he can give. Gimme, gimme, gimme. Rather than the simple rest in his presence. While preparing for this message, I felt like the Holy Spirit was convicting myself and dropped in my heart a self evaluation test for me to identify the ways I have and continue to prioritize the gifts of God over the ways of God in the presence of God. And I want you to share these with you. See if any of this rings a bell. Number one, prioritizing God's work through me rather than God's work in me. This is one of the ways believers prioritize the gift of God rather than the presence of God. Hey, Lord, do more through me. Take me to the world. Take me from Tennessee to Timbuktu. But hey, God, just leave me alone. We prioritize and we glorify the work that God is doing through someone rather than in someone wanting a model marriage that everyone is envious. But stiff neck from wanting to yield to God's bending, from being a husband who lays his life down for his wife. I'm talking about me. Husbands, don't look at your wives, and wives don't look at your husbands. I want my kids to do well in life and be precious in everyone's eyes. But I'm noncommittal in raising them patiently in God's way, in God's presence. You know what, kiddo? A slip, slop, slap of a minute's prayer and a psalm reading will do before bedtime. As a generation in this country, we love and glorify and worship sports. We spend more time. And I see this as a parent of two children, and I go to drop kids and I do life with other parents, and I find out they spend way more time committed to kids sports than their kids spiritual development. This is people prioritizing the gifting and the gifts over the presence of God. I want my finances to thrive, but every time I think of committing my finances annually to the house of God, it's like giving a cat a bath. Lots of sounds. Screeching, scratching, and not so cheerful. You're wondering, what are you talking about? I used to have a pet cat, and I'm OCD germaphobe. And I thought, it's a good deal to give this cat a bath. Not a good idea. I think I still have scars. I'm a very visual person. So when I wrote that, that's what came to mind. God's presence reminds us of our standing in relation to him, the frailty of our ways, the vanity of our thoughts, and the limitations of our pursuits. And the greatest thing that God gave to us is himself. In John, chapter three, verse 16. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son his presence, his manifest presence to us. That whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. I want to encourage each one of us this morning when we draw near to God, just as in James four eight, when we draw near to God, he draws near to us. When we pursue his presence rather than his gifts, you are met with an equal and opposite reaction from God's end. He's committed to drawing near to you. And I believe that we, as a group of people, need to make a commitment. You know what? I am going to host God's presence in my home. I am going to prioritize the presence of God in my home over all the gifts that God is giving to me. Let us live a life truly that prioritizes God's presence over God's presence. The second one, God's presence brings God's favor. Because in verse 16, you see, for how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? The word presence in the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament also comes from the word face. Both the Old Testament and New Testament imply that God's face or God's presence was connected to God's favor. Genesis 47 27. It says, thus Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the land of Goshen, and they gained possessions in it and were fruitful and multiplied greatly. You see, while the famine was intense and great throughout Egypt and the neighboring countries, for a group of people, the children of Israel, they grew fruitful and multiplied because of God's presence in their midst. Matthew, chapter six, verse six. Jesus said, when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you. What is Jesus trying to say? He's trying to state that when we turn our face towards God, when we turn our face towards God's presence, his favor and his response is released towards us. I could list a few Bible characters whose favor, where God released favor for God given assignments, Joseph in the pit. They wanted to murder him. But the favor of God communicated that to just slavery in the prison. While in the midst of slavery, while he thought his life might be wiling away, and his connections that he had formed in the prison had failed to even mention his name, God had an even better plan. God's favor catapulted him from the prison to the palace overnight. Another example is David, which father amongst you would line up all the sons, and the prophet comes and says, is that all? And that's when it lights a bulb, and you're like, oh, no, there's one more. He's out there. God's favor. Where man overlooked him, God's favor picked him up. Daniel, that guy outlasted every king and emperor under whose service he was a slave. But you know what? In the favor of God, he grew in wisdom and stature, and he outlasted every empire. Esther, a slave woman, a young woman who was sent in as a slave, but she had found favor with the king. Nehemiah, a man who was just pouring. I'm just imagining. I don't know. This is what cup bearers do, just pouring wine for the king. That's all the guy does for a living. He's a cup bearer. He's the assistant, or he's at the king's service. But he had great favor. He had great favor with the king. And the king said, I will give you the materials to build your house. Go in peace, Mary, a New Testament figure, a young virgin who stood before the angel and said, well, I have been to biology class, and that's not how it works. But I believe, may it be unto me, according to what you say, that's favor. Moses understood that Israel would be living in a land surrounded by people and cultures that often try to leave their mark on history with their own might and muscle. But he wanted his people to be in the slipstream of God's favor. This portion of scripture is a great invitation to each one of us sitting here that we are a people of favor. We do not prosper and thrive because of our hard work and hard labor. Not over our striving, but because we have the favor of God. Now, does that mean you don't need to work hard and dial your boss tomorrow and say, I quit? No, that's not what it means. Do you need to work hard? Yes, you do. Do you need to steward your resources better? Yes, you do. But I'll tell you what. There is a greater blessing when you're in the slipstream of God's favor. There is a seizing of striving. There is a seizing from the rat race than every other peer of yours is trying to run. Ask the disciples who toiled all night to catch fish. But when Jesus appeared in John, chapter 21, four to eight, this is the exchange. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, children, do you have any fish? They answered him, no. He said to them, cast the net on the right side of the bone, and you will find some. Now, hang on a minute. This is like the most weirdest conversation I find between Jesus and his disciples. How will it matter if you're on a boat and you put the net to the left or the right? You know what I mean? If you have ended up all night catching nothing, how will it matter if you put it on the left or the right? But you know what? When the messiah spoke, there was a favor released unto them that was beyond their human labor, and they just stepped out in obedience. And the next part of the scripture says, when Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from land, but about a hundred yards off. For far too long, you and I have been casting our lines into the sea of opportunity to see what we'll end up catching. And we have returned empty handed time and time again. But I want to remind us in God's presence, we have a divine favor that is made available for you and for me through Jesus Christ. Romans, chapter eight, verse 32. He who did not spare his own son, but gave himself for us all, how will he not also with him, graciously give us all things? And I've read the translation. All things literally means all things. Every day you wake up in the morning and you open the newspapers. I don't think anyone opens the newspapers these days. You open the newspaper that way and you read the news. It's just full of negative junk. It talks about why today is not going to be a good day. If it's sunny, they'll say, scorching heat, blistering heat like never seen before in the last six weeks. It's called summer. If it rains, catastrophize it in some way that says heavy rains of 6 mm. It kind of tries to give you this perspective that your life is always on the edge, about to fall off the edge of the cliff and into perish. Can I encourage you open with the good news every morning. Now more than ever before. There is nothing positive, even on positive radio. But begin with this. Eat this for breakfast. Consume God's word in the morning before you step out for work. If you don't want to lose your sanctification in the traffic lights, begin here. If you don't want to be a grumpy husband in the morning, I'm looking at all the husbands here. Begin here. Pastor Steve's in our midst. He's a man who will fully testify that of all the journeys he's done across all the world, isn't it better when you begin with the word of God every morning, regardless of which country and culture and context Malin's nodding. I know when my husband's nodding the word. I want to challenge us as brothers and sisters. If you want the favor of God, pursue God's presence in the morning. Before you're screaming your head off at your kids, telling them they're late and they got to do better and all of that stuff. Cultivate an hour in the morning. Cultivate some space in your home in the morning. Where you share the word of God, where you share your insight with your children. Pray for one another. Bless your family as they walk out the door. Cultivate the presence of God. Because the presence of God truly brings the favor of God upon our lives. And finally, the last thing that I want to commit to you. God's presence marks God's people. The latter part of verse 16 says, is it not in your going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth? I realized that Moses knew that nothing the Lord could give them would differentiate them from the people around them. There was nothing tangibly, visibly different about them than the people and the nations surrounding them, other than the presence of God. And this is the very challenge that modern western society throws at the church. I've had conversations with colleagues of mine when I used to work in the airline industry. What is it that you have in church that is so unique? Hey, we have music. Hey, guess what? They have music, too. And apparently two weeks ago this chick came from the US and sold out the MCG three nights in a row. Guess what? They have music, too. We have venues. Look at our churches. They have venues, too. Look at all the temples of arts and entertainment and culture. We have community. The world has community, too. From running clubs to free yoga lessons. Everything is community. So what's different about us? Why are we here at 10:00 a.m. On a Sunday morning when the best smashed avoid coffee in town beckons us. Why are we here? Well, the only thing that marks us unique compared to the rest of the world around us is the presence of God. And unless we as a church embrace the defining mark of the New Testament Church found in acts, chapter two, verse 42 to 47. I want to read it out to you. And they this is the church devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers and all came upon every soul. And many wonders and signs were being done through their apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need. And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God presence and having favor with all the people. Favor and the Lord added to their number, day by day, those who were being saved. See, when the church takes care of devoting itself to hosting God's presence, God takes care of the miracles and the advancement of the kingdom of God. Jesus is the builder, not us. Jesus is the cornerstone, not you and me. He said, I am building my church and the gates of hell will not prevail over it. The defining mark of a true believer is in the great work ethics or morals or character traits. Although some of that is really good. But it is the mark of the presence of God that distings a believer from an unbeliever. I want to pose a few questions to myself and my own family and to you, all of you here this morning. What if our children in school were different from their peers, not because they have a christian name, but because the presence of God made itself manifest in their character to everyone? What if our homes were filled with peace and a joy that is not circumstantial because of God's presence in it and in being so it becomes an oasis that draws the neighborhood to Christ. What if we are the Od ones out in the workplace, who speak different, act different, do not engage in office politics, forego the bitterness, and we esteem others better than ourselves. Truly, we are defined and marked by the presence of God. I want to share a story with you. My wife works in one of the big four consulting firms globally and particularly based here in Melbourne. She's been with the company for 18 years. By now, she should be an equity partner. But to go above a certain level, you need to play the dirty games. You need to be involved in the dirty games, you need to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Play politics, strike one another down. Because she's not been able to do that. Every year, she opens the door for someone else and says, now you have that promotion. I don't want it. So last year, after eight years of that repeated cycle, her boss sat her down and said, hang on a second. What's going on? Why do you not want know? Don't you want to fight for it? And my wife said this one thing to her unsaved boss and said, two things matter to me. My faith in Jesus and my family. Everything else is vanity. So I think that person's dying for that promotion. Why don't you give that person that person's eternity is hinging on that promotion? It looks like. Give them that promotion. And so for the third or the fourth year in a row, she gave up that promotion to someone else. The company blessed her with an increase in pay. They said, you don't have to do the work of that next level, but we'll pay you. I think you're good. You're trustworthy. That's a good deal. Less responsibility, more money. Sign me up. Where do I sign up for a job like that? But that's an encouragement to you all this morning, it might look like we are foregoing the momentum of everybody in the rat race. It's okay. Seek first the kingdom of God. Seek first the presence of God. Seek first the manifest presence of God in your home, in your life, in your marriage, in your family, in all that you do. And all these things will be added unto you. Don't pursue it. It'll pursue you. What if God's presence amongst us reminds us daily of the terrible price of forgiveness heaven bore for you and for me? And when we are reminded of that price daily, it compels us to forgive those who have wronged us in the past. One of the things that I have to grieve and navigate with men and women in the life of our church is someone has wronged them. Horrific things have happened, and that person has done that or said that or been that 25 years ago. And in many cases, they have even passed away. But this one person is held captive in a box. When we truly encounter the presence of God, everything else begins to fade away. Now, that might not happen in an instant, but if you're willing to go on a journey of experiencing God's manifest presence, beholding his face daily, day in and day out, those things that once held you captive, they slip away. They fade away. What if we are a small church, a church with a past, but like Moses, we dare to believe that if we make hosting God's presence our priority, then that pursuit alone would be enough. What if the pursuit of this church, numer Melbourne north, is not to fill all of these seats, but rather every single time we meet, we say, Jesus, you will be glorified. If there's two people and a tambourine, we will still glorify you. What if we make that our pursuit? Rather than filling up auditoriums, what if we make the pursuit of our church not having the best sound and the light and the action and the camera, but making entering with Thanksgiving in our heart. We enter into his courts with praise. We enter into his courts with Thanksgiving in our hearts. What if that was the priority? What if the priority for every single believer coming here on a Sunday is to give something away? And I'm not saying you walk in every Sunday and you hand over the keys to your car to someone else, and the next day you give them an ATM card. That's not what I'm asking. But what if you came with a word to give away? What's it costing you? A word of encouragement. I'm going to use you as an example. Today's episode is brought to you by. It didn't cost me much to encourage you, but I truly meant it. What if we became a church that encourages the socks of every single one feet. We just keep encouraging because freely, we have received an encouragement from God. Freely we have received this gift from God. Freely to give. It's not costing us anything. So often we go to church, and believers on a Sunday, I'm included in this. Look like they've been baptized in lemon juice. Our faces are like, I don't want to be here. I don't know why I'm here. But hey, just open your mouth and say, thank you for being here. Thank you for holding that microphone and singing that song. You could have been anywhere. You're a good looking fella. You could have been anywhere. But thank you for coming to church. We honor you for that. It doesn't cost anything. Let's be a people of encouragement. Let's be a people of his presence because his presence truly defines and begins to shape our characteristics. What if our daily encounters from the morning coffee, the public transport, supermarket trip were all turned into portals where people encountered the presence of God that we host in our lives? The manifest presence of God is not something that we host on a Sunday morning. It's every day. It's every hour, every minute we are awake and we are aware we are hosting the presence of God. This is what two Corinthians chapter six, verse 16, says. For we, you and I, are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. The ultimate expression of God's presence, marking us is Emmanuel God with us. When God entered the human story and traded his life for others, God became man, walked amongst humanity and died for humanity. And now he's seated in the heavenly places at the right hand of the Father as the perfect high priest, interceding for each one of us. Hebrews, chapter four, verse 16. It says, let us then, because of what Christ has done, enter with confidence, draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews, chapter seven, verse 19. But on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God. The presence. And this is one of my favorite scriptures, one Peter, two, nine and ten. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. When Jesus reconciled us to the father, the good news is that the exile that you and I were in has ended. And now his presence marks us for eternity. Only God's presence makes and marks us distinctly as his people, the flock of his pasture and his very own. I feel I'm on mission to say this to you this morning. If one man's pursuit for the presence of God shaped the history of a nation, how much more will the narrative of nations be changed. If a room full of believers decide to make God's presence their priority? One man stood in the gap and said, well, you're promising me blessings, and you're taking care of all of my bills and all of my jewels and all of my toys and all of my needs. But I will not stake a step forward until your presence goes with me. That one decision changed the course of history for that nation. I'm wondering, in a room like this, with all of us gathered here and the word of God speaking to us, what will the history of many nations be and the narrative of many nations be? When you and I decide that you and I are going to make God's presence, our priority in our daily lives. I look at the life of Steve and Malin. They're Aussies. They packed up their bags from here and they went nation after nation in Europe. They've served, they've preached, they've taught, they've discipled, they've poured out. They've given decades. They've given years to the faithful service. You know why? Because God's presence mattered. I'm pretty sure you didn't go there for the money. I'm pretty sure you didn't go there because it's an easy life. In fact, those were some of the hardest years of your life. But you gave it in pursuit of God's presence. And so can I. Encourage us this morning. Let us be a generation that prioritizes God's presence in our gathered expressions, in our scattered expressions, be it in our homes, with our family and our children, and even when we come together as a covenant family of God. [00:51:39] Speaker B: Thank you for joining us. We hope that you enjoyed today's podcast. Now we realize that not everyone has had the opportunity to respond to the good news of the gospel. And for this reason, in all of our services and platforms, we want to extend to you the opportunity to follow Jesus. The Bible teaches us that we have been created for a relationship with God. However, sin, which is essentially disobedience, independence and disbelief, or are simply missing the mark, entered the world and separated us from God. Romans chapter six, verse 23 says that the wages of sin is death and a debt was owed. And the Bible tells us that he, Jesus, demonstrated his love for us, that while we were still sinners, he died for us. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin. John 316 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God so loved the world that he gave us Jesus, that whoever believes in him will be saved. All that is required of anyone is that they believe in Jesus. The son of God who came, lived, died and rose again so that we could be forgiven, made right, and given the right to become children of God and to have life forevermore with him. Today you can begin a relationship with Jesus. To believe in him is to simply to respond with faith in our hearts and confess with our mouths that he is Lord. And we do that through a simple prayer. Follow along with me. Dear Jesus, I believe that you are the son of God. I thank you that you love me and came to forgive me of my sin. I repent from my old way of life and I turn to follow you. I receive the free gift of eternal life and I ask that you fill me with the Holy Spirit so that I can live a life of following after you. I thank you that I am born again as a child of God and that I am a new creation in Christ Jesus. Amen. If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would love to connect with you and connect you to your next step and the local church in your area. You can contact us on our website at Numa Church. Thanks for listening.