[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so Bible's open Exodus chapter 35.
[SPEAKER_00]: Today's message title is making room, making room, and that phrase, I think, is rather fitting for us in this Christmas season.
[SPEAKER_00]: I Christmas, as you guys know, or if you don't, I'll tell you, it's all about Jesus, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The world might have a different picture of Christmas.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the Christmas season's all about Jesus, the birth of Jesus, and we say that we're like we understand that for the most part and we're like, it's all about Jesus, but if we look out in the world or if we're honest with ourselves, Christmas can often feel like times when Jesus is kind of crowded out.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think if you're honest with your life and you look at this last week and the busyness and the things you've done, if we're honest and we took an assessment that how many of those things involve Jesus and did you pray and invite them into your life or that situation or what were you doing and...
[SPEAKER_00]: trying to achieve.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think oftentimes Jesus gets crowded out of his own birthday if you will, which is rather sad.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's definitely in the Christmas season.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's giving, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's gifts and there's gatherings, parties, get together.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's meals and food.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's decorations and all kinds of things happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, feels lively at times, but Christmas oftentimes again has this feel or this
[SPEAKER_00]: downside to it is that we miss the whole point of it right if we have gifts but we don't have Jesus well then what's the what are we doing?
[SPEAKER_00]: I remember one time at a restaurant I worked at there was a co-worker she was the atheist and she said she celebrated Christmas and now maybe for some of you this doesn't you're like oh everyone celebrates Christmas and
[SPEAKER_00]: This is true, but for me, it was weird.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, wait, you're atheists.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't believe in God.
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't believe in Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I would even say she kind of hated Jesus, hated someone she didn't believe in, which was interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a whole other discussion.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm like, how do you celebrate Christmas?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was like, well, everyone celebrates Christmas.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's the...
[SPEAKER_00]: The danger that we find ourselves in is like, oh, well, everyone celebrates Christmas.
[SPEAKER_00]: The world celebrates Christmas, but most of the time out in the world, they don't celebrate the meaning of Christmas that is Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, there's plenty of presence gifts, but there's no presence in the sense that, like, the Lord isn't in it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You understand what I'm saying?
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of gifts and all kinds of that, but there's no presence of God there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you remember last week, we looked at a text and Moses said that if your presence doesn't go with us, I don't want to go up from here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you guys remember that?
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you weren't here, I didn't go listen to it or read it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Moses was at this moment where God's like, I'll get you to the Promised Land, but God said, I'm not going to go with you because you guys have gone astray.
[SPEAKER_00]: You worshiped false gods.
[SPEAKER_00]: You built an idol after I told you not to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And God's like, I can't go with you because I'm going to destroy you, essentially, is what he says.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Moses says, if you don't go with us, I don't want to go anywhere at all.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Promised Land without the presence of God, well, it doesn't matter to Moses, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And so as we've looked through,
[SPEAKER_00]: Exodus, though, to kind of give us a recap, very brief recap.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've seen God do the incredible, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The Israelites are kind of the target audience, and God is the main character of the story there.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's brought us people out of slavery.
[SPEAKER_00]: Exodus opens up and the people are enslaved in Egypt.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's brought them out of slavery.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's done them miraculous.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was the Passover with all the plagues, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The Passover was the...
[SPEAKER_00]: climax of the ten plagues there.
[SPEAKER_00]: He split the red sea, provided mana from heaven, water from Iraq.
[SPEAKER_00]: He brought victory at times through when Moses had his arms raised up right, a very unconventional, at least it seemed unconventional.
[SPEAKER_00]: Method, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, well, what's raising your hands going to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: We're in battle.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to get a sword, need to go into the action, into the battlefield.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the whole point of that was like, well, if we just give glory to God and we're praising God, this posture of praise and worship,
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, then God's going to be the one who will deliver the victory, which he did.
[SPEAKER_00]: But at the same time, we've seen a lot of good things in the Israelites' lives and what God has done.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've definitely seen the other side of the Israelites, haven't we?
[SPEAKER_00]: We've seen grumbling hearts complaining, spirit, doubt, where it was God in this, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Moses did you bring us out here just to kill us?
[SPEAKER_00]: We should have just stayed in Egypt after all,
[SPEAKER_00]: and there's even moments as we've seen a few weeks ago where they turn away from God all together.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've seen the miraculous.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've lived it.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is their life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet they came to that point where they built and worshiped a false God.
[SPEAKER_00]: One where they threw all the gold in the fire and Aaron said it just came out that way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Came out to be a beautifully crafted cow or bull.
[SPEAKER_00]: But
[SPEAKER_00]: I think about Exodus isn't we've named this the series, the story of our lives, it really is the story of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, I think if we're honest, right, we were slaves to our sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: We weren't slaves in Egypt or to Pharaoh, but we're slaves to our sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're set free by God, by the blood of the Lamb, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The Passover Lamb, Jesus, God has let us out of our sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's provided for us time and time again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you might be in this Christmas season and you just get down on yourself.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you're like that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you get down on yourself and you think we don't have enough or if I just had this and Christmas would be great or my life would be great.
[SPEAKER_00]: The man got his provided abundantly more than what we need and oftentimes we just forget about it like the Israelites.
[SPEAKER_00]: They forget what God's done and so they make some rash decisions
[SPEAKER_00]: But God has provided for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's done miraculous things in our life, yet at times we're like the Israelites we fail.
[SPEAKER_00]: We drift into things we shouldn't.
[SPEAKER_00]: We turn back to old habits, old lifestyles.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe not golden cuffs like the Israelites did.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the things we turn to, they're just as real as that.
[SPEAKER_00]: We turn to money, comfort, approval, relationships,
[SPEAKER_00]: sinful patterns that we just we justify well everyone else is doing it so I could do it to right or if you've ever thought to yourself Well like you've gotten away with it and I will God still keep in me alive.
[SPEAKER_00]: He hasn't struck me dead or he seems to be blessing me even though I'm doing things that go against him You just justify to yourself well then God must be cool with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, that's not cool with your sin But he is a gracious God He is merciful slow to anger right
[SPEAKER_00]: But God's desire through all of Exodus and his desire for you and I is simply this to dwell with his people.
[SPEAKER_00]: To dwell with his people, but here's the thing, is to dwell with his people.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to be, um, I guess the best way to say is obedient.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to make room for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, the message title today, making room or make room.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to make room for Jesus in our life.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a John Piper sermon I listened to years ago, and you guys listen to John Piper.
[SPEAKER_00]: I love that guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's just crazy old guy.
[SPEAKER_00]: One day I hope to be like him.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just you watching.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's crazy, but he loves Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And anyways.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he talked about this whole thing about Jesus abiding in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like to abide in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, you have to make room for him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, we have so many things.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, our heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it's John Calvin who says that our heart is an idol factory.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just makes idols and John Piper saying, like, we got so much clutter in our heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're like, well, Jesus, come in.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's like, well, there's no room for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got to clear some of these things out and get rid of the things that don't belong to make room for Jesus to dwell with His people.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, that's what Jesus wants here with the Israelites and Exodus.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what He wants with you and I here today.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so Exodus chapter 35 through 40 as we'll look at and kind of fly through this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll be honest, shows us what happens though when people, God's people repent.
[SPEAKER_00]: When they return to God and when they respond to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: They obey God's voice and what we'll see today is that they obey, they give generously, they share their talents, their skills, and they all come together as one body, God's people, to build the tabernacle, so God's presence can dwell among them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to go to Exodus chapter 35.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to read through the entire chapter, just the one chapter right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you have your Bibles open up there, if you don't, we'll have some of the verses on the screen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Exodus 35 verse 1 says, Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, these are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.
[SPEAKER_00]: You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, this is the thing that the Lord has commanded.
[SPEAKER_00]: Take from you among or take from among you a contribution to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's contribution, gold, silver and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine-tone linen, goats hair, tan ram skins and goat skins, a casher wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense and anonic stones.
[SPEAKER_00]: and stones for setting for the e-fod and for the breast piece.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let every skillful craftsmen among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded.
[SPEAKER_00]: The tabernacle, it's tent, and it's coverings, it's hooks, and it's frames, it's bars, it's pillars, and it's bases.
[SPEAKER_00]: The arc with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen, the table with its poles and odds, utensils, and the bread of the presence.
[SPEAKER_00]: The lampstand also, for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light, and the altar of incense with its poles, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle, the altar,
[SPEAKER_00]: of the burnt offering with its grating of bronze, its poles and all its utensils, the basin, and its stand.
[SPEAKER_00]: The hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases and the screen for the gates of the court.
[SPEAKER_00]: The pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their courts, the finally worked garments for ministering in the holy place.
[SPEAKER_00]: The holy garments for air in the priest and the garments of his sons for their service as priests.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they came, everyone who's heart stirred him and everyone who's spirit moved him.
[SPEAKER_00]: and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for all its service and for the holy garments, so they came both men and women all who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicated and offering of gold to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: And everyone who possess blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats hair,
[SPEAKER_00]: or goat skins brought them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone who can make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord's contribution.
[SPEAKER_00]: And everyone who possess the case of wood of any use in the work brought it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And every skillful woman spun with her hands and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twine linen.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the women whose hearts stirred them,
[SPEAKER_00]: to use their skill spun the goats here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the leaders brought onic stones and stones to be set for the e-fodden for the breast piece and spices and oil for the light and for the noiting oil and for the fragrant incense.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the men and women, the people of Israel whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done, brought it as a free will offering to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then Moses said to the people of Israel, see the Lord has called by name, bazel, the son of Yuri, son of her, the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship.
[SPEAKER_00]: to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and in silver and bronze, and cutting stones for setting and carving wood for work in every skilled craft, and he has inspired him to teach both him and Ohio the son of that guy of the tribe of Dan.
[SPEAKER_00]: His filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twine linen or by a weaver by any sort of workmen or skilled designer.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the word of the lore is a lot going on obviously, but I hope that what we see is that Moses gathers the people if you remember the context of again,
[SPEAKER_00]: right there freed from Egypt right Egypt was they're enslaved there just imagine there if that's all you knew that's where you grew up that was the culture you were in everything that Egypt did the false God's the false worship the whatever they were into that's what the Israelites grew up around it's all that they really knew and so then God had freed them because he heard their cry he saw their affliction and he freed them he rose up a man named Moses to lead the way to lead the charge
[SPEAKER_00]: And then they've been out in the wilderness now and again, they were out in the wilderness all the miraculous, but then when Moses was on the mountain, getting instructions for God about the Tabernacle, which we're seeing, start to happen now, Moses gets all the blueprint essentially, everything that he needs from God, all the instruction.
[SPEAKER_00]: He comes down from the mountain and he finds that the people have turned away from God.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've gone back to their old ways.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moses was so angry and upset, what did he do?
[SPEAKER_00]: He smashed the tablets, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The tablets of stone that God made, he drew on it, and it wrote on it with his own finger.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moses was so upset, he threw him down and broke him right because the people, they've gone astray.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, what have you done, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Aaron was in charge there, and it's like, what have you done Aaron, kind of moments, but then the people have repented, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They heard that, I mean, God told Moses and Moses probably told the people, but they're probably like,
[SPEAKER_00]: Moses probably, God said he's going to remove his presence from us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He will still get us to the Promised Land because he is a promise keeping God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's made us that promise, but he said he will not go with us.
[SPEAKER_00]: The people more, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're grieving because they realize the extent of their sin that your sin separates you from God.
[SPEAKER_00]: quite literally for them that's like you have the presence of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've seen the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud up into this point, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It was leading them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like that's happening still.
[SPEAKER_00]: Man of from heaven every single day is happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: The miraculous is going on and then all of a sudden God's like, I'm not going to go with you anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'll still go there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll bless you, but I can't go with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: The people are broken over their sin.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Exodus 35, as we just read, it's like all of a sudden, it's like, who are these people?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, just a couple chapters ago, you were worshiping false gods.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now all of a sudden, you're like, hey, let's get it together, let's do these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: But this is the same group of people who complain in the wilderness, the ones who grumbled at Moses, and it God,
[SPEAKER_00]: And yet now they're response here in 35, they're just willing to give anything and everything necessary.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think this is a beautiful picture of the people of God when we realize the grace of God on our lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: The mercy of God, it should lead to our response in our lives a response to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, grace should lead to obedience.
[SPEAKER_00]: Obedience shouldn't lead to grace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Does that make sense?
[SPEAKER_00]: I think we, in this day and age, depending on what got you to, if you could watch all kinds of stuff, they'll say all the different things.
[SPEAKER_00]: But some people out there believe, like, well, I gotta be obedient to earn God's grace.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, and if I'm good enough, then he'll bless me and he'll forgive me and I'll have everlasting life and things will go all right.
[SPEAKER_00]: But that's not the gospel.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not biblical.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, no, God is gracious.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when we realize His grace and His mercy in our life, it should lead us to repentance, should lead us to action, obedience, and whatever it is that He has for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're Greek.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Romans is says that it's the kindness of God
[SPEAKER_00]: If I'd say when we realize God's grace in our life it changes us and it apparently has changed the Israelites.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've come back from their idol worship and they've come back to God now they're fully in, if you will, and they're giving willfully, joyfully, and freely.
[SPEAKER_00]: Over and over throughout that text of 35 we just see that it's like they were stirred, said whoever's heart stirred them.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, it's like they're excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I wanna be a part of God's work.
[SPEAKER_00]: They realize man, we've gone astray, but God's calling us back.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's giving us another chance.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gracious.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's merciful, slow to anger.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they're like, let's do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: What does he want?
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, gold.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got some gold.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you think about it and look at the text too, it's like whatever people could bring that they had.
[SPEAKER_00]: God didn't ask anything of them that they didn't have.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, hey, we need some gold.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, well, we don't have any gold.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, God's not gonna ask something from you or me.
[SPEAKER_00]: that he hasn't already supplied, that he won't supply, understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, like the Israelites, they're out there in Egypt and remember, they before they came out, they plundered the Egyptians because God gave them favor.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, when they left, the Egyptians were so scared and worried, like, I don't want any more of what your God has here.
[SPEAKER_00]: Plenty people have died, our livestock's died.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's bad, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Just get out of here, take whatever you want and go, and so they take gold, silver, can I have that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, you can't, can I have that?
[SPEAKER_00]: What about your pots and pans?
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what I mean?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're just taking whatever, and they're like sure, take it all, we don't care, just get out of here.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they have gold, they have silver, they have all of these things, but surely not everyone has all of these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: I probably not, everyone has gold, I'm sure there's some people like, I don't need any gold or I don't want any of that gold, but maybe they took the purple scarlet threads, right, maybe they took the goats, right, like, well, I'll take some of the livestock with me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever it is, but they have things there and in this chapter we see that they're willing and even it seems excited to participate in the work of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're so stirred in their hearts.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they didn't give because Moses pressured them into it so that we have to do this or else.
[SPEAKER_00]: Or they didn't give out a guilt and didn't give because they were afraid.
[SPEAKER_00]: They gave because they wanted to.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, that's what grace does in our lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: Grace does in our hearts.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you realize again, how much God has done for you?
[SPEAKER_00]: What he's rescued you out of.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I've shared my testimony many times, but I know each and every one of you have your own story, your own testimony of what you've came from, what happened in the past, things maybe you're even trying to forget, but I just want you to consider for a moment that things God's brought you out of, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: The sin that maybe you were enslaved to, the things that you thought, man, I'm never gonna get out of this or there's no way anyone could love me or God could use me.
[SPEAKER_00]: These are thoughts I've had before.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then when I realized what God has done in my life, what He's brought me out of, it stirs my heart up to where I'm like, God, I wanna, I just wanna do anything.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have much Lord, but what I do have, I'll give to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Grace stirs us up.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we realize what He's done for us, how much He's forgiven us of how patient even He's been with us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And when we realize that giving, I believe, becomes a joy, I want to participate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to give what I can, and it's not a burden.
[SPEAKER_00]: The New Testament tells us in 2 Corinthians 9 verse 7, says, each one of you must give as he is decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's important to know.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've heard many pastors say this before, but it's true is like, if you're giving me because you're just like, oh fine, whatever, like, just don't give.
[SPEAKER_00]: God doesn't want you just to give, because you feel like you have to or a bitter, grumbling giver, whatever that is, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like giving your ties and your offerings, maybe you're giving of resources to help our church out, maybe you're giving to people that are poor and need.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you're just giving me because out of a grumbling heart, God's just like, just don't do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wants a cheerful giver, someone who's excited, someone who realizes the grace in their life that God has been so good to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just want to share anything I can with other people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in this instance here, what they're doing again is they're building this tabernacle for God to dwell among them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's beautiful to me because I think it's an old testament picture of the church.
[SPEAKER_00]: where they come together as one body, many gifts, many resources, right, that they have, they come together as one, not all of them have the same skill set or the same resources to bring, but they bring what they can and they're willfully, willful and excited about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They come together to work together as God's people to build a place where God could dwell.
[SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that, I think that's pretty amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's a picture of us today.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like the church here, you and I, every single one of us God's gifted you with something talent skills, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Resources, he's blessed more.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people like, we're like, oh, he'd blessed you more than other people, and that's fine, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because God gives to who he wants to give.
[SPEAKER_00]: And God gives, he takes away.
[SPEAKER_00]: God has God, but God has blessed each and every one of us uniquely.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what he calls the church to do is we come together as one body and the New Testament has much to say about that, where we're gifted with different things, where many members of one body and Scripture talks about how, giving the picture of a body, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where it's like, well, one person's the mouth, one person's the ear, the hand, the feet, the toes, whatever it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like we all have different functions, but we're all one body pursuing one mission, trying to follow and glorify one God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so the people of Israel, they're coming together, responding to God's grace, responding to His mercy, and they're being generous about this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they want to give to this work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, if you know it's just kind of everyone as they felt led, they give what they can.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's men, there's women, some people giving gold, some people giving,
[SPEAKER_00]: Scarlet yarn we could say some people bringing their skill set to where they're like I can work with the gold.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have any gold, but if you bring the gold here, we can start to make these things that we need to make for the tabernacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the next chapter we're going to look at a few verses chapter 36
[SPEAKER_00]: First, once as Bezel and O'Hileab, and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, pause there for a second and just highlight.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like they got his gifted these men.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you remember, he's poured out his spirit upon him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bezel, bezel, I don't know how to say his name, but he's the first mention of someone being filled with the spirit and scripture.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I find it interesting because like he's not gifted as a priest or a prophet.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not with the Word of God, not going to do some crazy thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Something that you and I might think, well, if the Spirit of God's come, then I must have to go preach to someone.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we think of it like Jonah.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got to go preach to Nineveh, but it's not always the case.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the first case in Scripture, someone's spirit filled as they were skilled with intelligence, with how to craft something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe your Old Testament example of a construction worker or handyman or whatever we might want to relate it to today.
[SPEAKER_00]: So God had gifted them with that gift.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just check it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says that to know how to do any work in the construction of this sanctuary, they shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's like, I gifted you, but I gifted you to do something
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not to go do whatever you want to do, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, and that's something we need to understand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone says, you might be like, man, I'm so gifted and talented and God bless me with this, and I'm amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know if you think that, but you know, you got some kind of gift, and you use it for whatever you want, or you use it to build up your life, and your kingdom, and your bank account, and your resume, and your whatever it is, but God's gifted you with that thing, whatever it may be to do very specific tasks that he has for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think that's something we should probably take to heart.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of us may, that's the word you need to hear today.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gifted you, yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a blessing, yes.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he has work for you that's very specific to what he wants to do, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And Ephesians Paul writes the same thing, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gifted us with these things, or he's made us.
[SPEAKER_00]: to do things that he set out before the foundations of the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like he has good works that he wants you and I to walk and he has a plan.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I know how hard it is at times, they're like, well, God, what's your plan?
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone ever thought that, prayed that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like we just want to know.
[SPEAKER_00]: And unfortunately, if we knew then it wouldn't be faith.
[SPEAKER_00]: God calls us to live by faith, not by sight.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just to trust him, and sometimes that's very hard is very difficult, but when we're just like, okay, God, I'm gonna walk by faith, not by sight.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't understand it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know what's ahead, but I know that you do, and I know that you gifted me with this, or you've given me this resource.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanna steward it well, and I wanna build your kingdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: I wanna do whatever it is that you have planned for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so these guys, they're going according to God's plan for them.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's gifted them for this task, I believe, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not for building their own beautiful house.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's for building the tabernacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: versus Moses called Bezel and O'Hileyab and every craftsman and whose mind the Lord had put skill.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone who's heart stirred him up to come to do the work.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just love that, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like everyone who's heart was stirred up to come do the work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like anyone who has a desire to be a part of this, come join us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, and I just love the invitation there, verse three says, and they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary.
[SPEAKER_00]: So here we see, again, the body of Christ coming together, some people gave the gave gold silver bronze, all the things necessary, and then you have the craftsmen and they might not have had all these things, but because everyone gave these contributions, they're like, okay Moses.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hear what you're saying, I got the blue prints, I know what you want us to build, where's the materials, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: If any of you have built anything or worked in construction, like that's materials is like the...
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, the foundation of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're like, okay, you can build a bit out, but you gotta include the materials.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you don't include the materials, not a good thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've been in that boat where I was like, oh, I forgot to put in the line, you don't wanna ever wanna call a potential customer.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I forgot to put a line item in there and that's the $2,000 of materials that I need to buy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyway, it's no, never been there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope you aren't, ever there.
[SPEAKER_00]: doesn't go well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But they say, we need the materials and, again, it's the body of Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: They got the skill, the other people have brought the things necessary.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they come here to Moses.
[SPEAKER_00]: They receive the contributions the people have gave.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says they still kept bringing him free will offerings every morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: These people are like, hey, I got a little bit more.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got some this or maybe I found this in the desert because we use this, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: versus forces so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came each from the task that he was doing and said to Moses, the people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: The craftsmen are like, we got too much a drywall over here.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, they're not using drywall, but gold, you know what I'm saying?
[SPEAKER_00]: We got too much materials, Moses.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't need this.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, how are we going to transport this?
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, there's thoughts in their mind, but they're bringing too much stuff to do what the Lord's command it is to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, verse six, so Moses gave a command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.
[SPEAKER_00]: So the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work and more.
[SPEAKER_00]: What an incredible thing, like the people have responded in such generosity.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, we have too much stop giving, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't need any more, any of that stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just need to work and put this whole thing together.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says in the inverse A and all the craftsmen along the workmen made the tabernacle with 10 curtains.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were made of fine twine linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns with cherubim, skillfully worked.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so after the people have gave, they've received the materials they need, the people, the skilled craftsmen, people who are willing to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: They get to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is where this whole picture just again becomes beautiful, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's not doing the same thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not robots, we're not mere images of one another, but everyone's doing something.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone has a place,
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, God's got the skilled craftsmen, it's got the people giving.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as you move through, we won't go through this part by verse, but chapter 36, if you kind of just look through it, and even just look at like, if you have your bibles open, you kind of see the paragraphs where they're broken up.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, okay, and he coupled five curtains to one another, that's verse 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 14, he also made curtains of goats hair.
[SPEAKER_00]: verse 20 then he made the upright frames and it goes on and on like that for a little while where he's doing the work and the primary guy is Bezel however we say his name he's kind of the the general contractor we could say of the job but he's definitely not the only one doing the work in this but just says that they get to work and they start to do all the things remember chapter 35 or 25
[SPEAKER_00]: But I got gave them all this, gave Moses all these details of how to build the tabernacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, here we are, 10 chapters later, and they're finally starting to do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're starting to get to work, they got the resources, they got the plan, and these guys are starting to get to work.
[SPEAKER_00]: and says that he made this, he made that over and over again.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just one person, it's not just one gift.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's but the people coming together, working together, doing what God has called them to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, I think it's a beautiful picture, an old testament picture of what the church is to be today.
[SPEAKER_00]: We look out on the world and again, take Christmas as our example, because we're in the middle of this Christmas season.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, if we just look and we're honest, like, well, where's Jesus in it all?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's God in it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's the presence of God?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's the Holy Spirit moving?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control, fruits of the spirit?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's that in this season?
[SPEAKER_00]: We look at the world and we kind of, I think we just see, there's a void, like there's a lack of God's presence.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a, and I think this is my, I can probably try to find versus to convince you, right, basically.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I really think like the reason we see a lot of the stuff happening in the world today is because the church isn't who we should be, in America specifically.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think because that's our context.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's all I can really speak to, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: But I've heard in other parts of the world where Christians are persecuting their heads or chopped off and stuff, it's like Christianity is exploding in the sense that it's like it's people are coming into Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here in America, it seems like more and more people are turning away from Christ, turning away from God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it has a lot to do with the church.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think people would give up on the church because they're hurt by the church, not realizing that, hey, we're all people.
[SPEAKER_00]: They all have problems, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Sam said it a few weeks ago, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you're looking to any one of us, me, include it, it's like we will let each other down at times, because we're a human.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have a limited capacity, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if we wanted to do all the things in the world and help everyone and cure hunger across the world, or just in our little tiny city of Hado, it's like, it's just not possible.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't do all these things, but we give people give up on the church.
[SPEAKER_00]: I give up on God.
[SPEAKER_00]: They walk away from God.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a guy I work with now.
[SPEAKER_00]: He used to believe in God, said He served in the church, grew up in church, all these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now He's like, He's an agnostic, atheist, and tried to describe to me that the difference between it and it was a good conversation.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it was sad, though.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, why did you walk away from church?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, He was hurt by the church and what He'd seen or experienced.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's sad, and I understand we get hurt, but it's like, man, we should never give up on God.
[SPEAKER_00]: We shouldn't give up on the church, because the church is where the ones who are to carry God's spirit here into this dark world, where the ones who are the light bears.
[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus says, you're the light of the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we got to bring the light into the darkness, but man, if more churches and if you don't read about churches statistically, like there's a lot of churches that are closing their doors, because they can't make it anymore, because they can't afford their building, you know, they can't afford it, or their pastors are burnt out, and they just give up and say, I don't want to do it anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever the case is, they've just, they've closed down.
[SPEAKER_00]: And just think of it, man, if we're looking at this, like you ever seen those outer space views of like a city with all the lights on at night, you know, have you seen these?
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, where there's bright.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, just imagine it's like, if we had that view of the United States and we see the churches start to close their doors, the church gave up or hand full of members left this church.
[SPEAKER_00]: And like we lose the strength.
[SPEAKER_00]: of what God's trying to do, and there's more and more lights are put out.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like the darkness is starting to take over, but we know from Scripture, like when we come together as the body of Christ, nothing can stand against us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if God is for us, it's not just me individually, if God is for me, Nick, he's going to do all these things and no one can come and come and get, no, if God is for us, the church, what can stand against us?
[SPEAKER_00]: When we come together,
[SPEAKER_00]: Mission, we want to know God, and we want to make him known.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, man, we can do a lot of things, and a lot of good, and then we can start to spread the light.
[SPEAKER_00]: People can start to see the darkness can't overcome the light.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we, if we're going a dark space, you can't hide a light, and the darkness is very obvious where it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if we give up, it's like we're just returning off the light.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then again, we look at the state of the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: We wonder, well, why are things the way they are?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, where's the church?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's the people who are standing for God?
[SPEAKER_00]: The ones who want to stand in the gap and be like a Moses, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Or someone or a Joshua who are gonna say, here I am God, you know, send me, I'll go, I'll stand in the gap, I'll speak for you, I'll give, I'll work whatever you want me to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, I'll do it so that people may know you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are these people?
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, today, church, we gotta understand God has called us as the fervent church.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, we might be small, but man, God's doing some pretty amazing things here.
[SPEAKER_00]: next week on our online service, I'm going to share some of the things God's done just in the last year, things that I hope would encourage you as I know that I'm encouraged to look back on a mic wonder like, I mean the last few weeks I'll be honest right there is a half at best of attendance and it's kind of like God what's going on.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, and you know, I don't know that's just me being honest, maybe vulnerable, maybe too much information.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm encouraged when I look back, I God you are working.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I've seen people get their lives to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen people be baptized.
[SPEAKER_00]: My two oldest kids have got baptized because they want to get baptized because they believe in you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right?
[SPEAKER_00]: To me, I'm just, I look at these things and I God you are working.
[SPEAKER_00]: You are here, but I just think also, if I'm honest with you with the fervent church here, it's
[SPEAKER_00]: We're capable of so much more.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like if we were all invested, and we're like, God, whatever you want.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you guys have gifts, talents, that I don't know anything of.
[SPEAKER_00]: No one here knows except for you and maybe someone next to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: But like if we were to all be all in and say, God, here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: Use me.
[SPEAKER_00]: I what could God do through our tiny but mighty church?
[SPEAKER_00]: And he could do some amazing things.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what we see in Exodus 35, 36, they're building the Tabernacle, they're going to work, they're coming together as one body with one mission, one direction, they have this united vision.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not just a construction project, but this is like a community project.
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought it was interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is just a side note, maybe some of you will like it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But when you think about the word community, I don't think I tried to look it out.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where's the word community come from and it took me down a rabbit hole of all comes from the not Greek, but Latin, something or other.
[SPEAKER_00]: But anyway, we just think of it English terms.
[SPEAKER_00]: community, got calm, unity, and I just thought of it's we have a common unity, something we're united on commonly and when we come together as Christ, as Jesus Christ is our common denominator, when you unite on that one thing again, it's like man, what can come against us?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the beautiful thing here, they come together to do all these things,
[SPEAKER_00]: as the body of Christ, and I just think, again, it's motivated by grace, not by guilt, not by obligation, but just like, God, you've done so much for me.
[SPEAKER_00]: What can I do for you?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're not trying to earn his love or his affection.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a response to his love and their life is what we're seeing here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when God's people are united, when we're full of the spirit, we're on one mission again, and nothing can stand in our way.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you look through kind of some of the chapter or the paragraph breaks, chapter 37, it's much of the same.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, we see in verse 1, Bazael made the arc of a Keshawood.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 10, he made the table of a Keshawood.
[SPEAKER_00]: He made the lampstand of pure gold, which is verse 17.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 25, he made the altar of incense.
[SPEAKER_00]: things that are necessary for the tabernacle, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just common sense.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, okay, if we're going to have a tabernacle, God told us what to have.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to make these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to give to make these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they're doing it all, making all the things that they need.
[SPEAKER_00]: Chapter 38, more of the same verse one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He made the altar of burnt offering of vacation
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse nine, he made the court, basketball court, I assume.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm just kidding.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they need something to do out in the wilderness.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, I'm just kidding.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sorry.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we go to chapter 39, verse two, he made the E-FOD that the priest would wear right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They made the onix stones and clothes, the settings of gold, which is verse six, verse eight.
[SPEAKER_00]: He made the breast piece.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 22, he made the robe of the fat woven of all blue.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 27, they also made the coats woven of fine linen for Aaron and his sons.
[SPEAKER_00]: verse 32, says, thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished.
[SPEAKER_00]: So now they've created all the pieces that they need, but now what's left is they got to put it together.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like getting the IKEA set.
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys that were gotten IKEA, that's the worst.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyone hate IKEA?
[SPEAKER_00]: you know, and then they give you this thing that's like, what am I going to do with this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Don't tell you what to do, and it feels like it's in Japanese or something, and anyways, you follow it along, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like, that's kind of what they have.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the pieces now, they've created things, the altar, they got the lampstands and everything, but it's not put together.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've got the kit, they've done the hard work, but they've got to still do a little bit more.
[SPEAKER_00]: All the work of the pieces of the tavernacle, it's finished.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, in the people of Israel, this is verse 32 of chapter 39, it says, in the people of Israel, did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so they did.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were obedient, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They were obedient to what God had called them to do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now the verse 33 says, then they brought the Tabernacle to Moses, the 10, all its utensils, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They bring all of the things over there.
[SPEAKER_00]: And now let's go to chapter 40, verse one, and now we're speeding through, but you can go read all these things on your own time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just look, it's just a lot of, but we've seen in chapter 25, 26, 27.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's all the pieces, the dimensions of things as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: But verse 1 of chapter 4 he says, the Lord spoke to Moses saying, on the first day of the month, you shall erect the tabernacle of the tent of me, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You should put this thing together, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to take all the things that they've made, all they've created, and you're going to to make this tabernacle of the tent of me.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says, and you shall put in in it the arc of the testimony.
[SPEAKER_00]: He shows screen the arc with the veil, and you should bring in the table and arrange it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You should bring in the lamp stand and set up the lamps, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: So now what God gives Moses is kind of this final instructions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now that you've got all the pieces, this is the day that you're going to put it all together, and this is how you're going to put it all together in case you forgot Moses.
[SPEAKER_00]: which I think is gracious of God and so what Moses does and I assume he probably had some help with it maybe he didn't maybe did it all himself but he puts this thing together and it's verse 33 at the end of it it says, so Moses finished the work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, Moses finished the work.
[SPEAKER_00]: So again, everyone has pitched in.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone's had a part to play in this story and this building of the Tabernacle, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: God saved them all so they could be a part of this moment where God would come to dwell with his people where he would, his presence would dwell.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so...
[SPEAKER_00]: Moses finishes the work, makes the tabernacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what they've done, they've made a room, they've made a church, if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess Old Testament church wasn't that they'd all go in there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I only the high priest could go in there once a year to the Holy of Holies, and that's a whole another thing or to the Holy Place.
[SPEAKER_00]: But once everything's done here, people have given the works completed,
[SPEAKER_00]: It's verse 34, says, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and I want to, we'll probably end there, but want you to think about that.
[SPEAKER_00]: They've done what God's asked them, they've been obedient.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what is their obedience bring?
[SPEAKER_00]: Bring God's presence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like as they've done what God's asked, they've followed Him, they've drawn closer to God, God draws closer to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for them, it's God's presence dwelling in the Tabernacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, which would be amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's not sell it short.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just picture yourself there at God's glory.
[SPEAKER_00]: This cloud covering the tabernacle, the tentative meeting, the glory of the Lord filling this place.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it'd be glorious, amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, you think of your own descriptive words.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just picture it right.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it'd be pretty incredible.
[SPEAKER_00]: When just probably days ago, months ago they thought when God's totally giving up on us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We failed so bad, man, God's going to kill us out here.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Moses, again, he's been a good shepherd.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's a picture of Jesus, and he goes to God, the Father, and says, man, if your presence doesn't go with us, we don't want to go, and then God says, okay, I'll go.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then the people repent, all the things happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's amazing what happens when people repent.
[SPEAKER_00]: They return to God, and they follow God and His instructions for their life.
[SPEAKER_00]: We see some of this incredible things.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for them, it's they see the glory comes back.
[SPEAKER_00]: dwells in the tabernacle.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it'd be a beacon of hope.
[SPEAKER_00]: God hasn't given up on us.
[SPEAKER_00]: God is still with us.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think it'd be rather exciting.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is where Exodus ends, but it's the for us today.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to understand that God's
[SPEAKER_00]: plan, his will, is the same today as to dwell with his people.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's you and I.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, going back to my message title, making room, like we have to make room for him to dwell.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we're not making a tabernacle like they did back then, but it's like making room in our lives.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a book if you have time to read it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's called the Ruthless Elimination of Hurray.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's by John Mark Comer.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's one of my favorite books I've read in the last couple of years where it's like, it's just, I don't know, it's a really good book if you like books or it's probably on audio too.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's about slowing down.
[SPEAKER_00]: So our lives are so busy, and we feel like I don't have time, right, I don't have time for these things of math.
[SPEAKER_00]: We could just slow down and make some space for God.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, especially like this week, and this week you probably like, oh man, Nick can need to wrap it up.
[SPEAKER_00]: I gotta go to Target and I gotta go to the mall and I gotta wrap presents, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know, maybe you're thinking these things already, but if we just slow down, those things will get done.
[SPEAKER_00]: And honestly, even if they don't, this is one of the things that I don't amber like everything to be perfect, wraps them all night.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, just throw the Amazon box out of the tree.
[SPEAKER_00]: They don't know what it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you know, anyone?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, come on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just, you know, nowadays it's like, it's, that's?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, you guys, come on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anybody with me, like, saying, I got Sam, okay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, couple.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got it, the guys are hating.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, we got to be wrapped with bow on top.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, if I wrap it, you're going to be like, you should have just left it in the Amazon box.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm sorry, mine doesn't look, I'm just tap it up.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's good, there it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: But like those things will get done, and even if they don't, it's not a big deal, but what is a big deal is us making room space for God in our life, time, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where we can just sit back and we don't worry.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't rush into situations to say, God, what do you want me to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: What do you want me to be a part of?
[SPEAKER_00]: How can I be,
[SPEAKER_00]: of service, essentially, for you.
[SPEAKER_00]: What have you gifted me with?
[SPEAKER_00]: What have you given me to be a good steward of that I can participate in the work you're doing in the church?
[SPEAKER_00]: And where we draw near to God, maybe there's next week I'll share more of these things, but I'm going to present.
[SPEAKER_00]: some challenges to you and me and our church and they're going to be ones that will hopefully help us grow in the new year.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think some of you, you're going to probably do it and you're going to be like, this is incredible.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's amazing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some of you are going to want to do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to start strong and after a day.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's just going to be like,
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean the busyness will set back in and you're going to forget about it, but I hope for each and every one of us wherever we're at on that spectrum, I'm not here to judge or make feel bad just presenting something to say, hey, I want us as a church to draw closer to the Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's some intentional ways we can do that, but it's going to take us and require us to make space in our life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Make space in your calendar, your timeline, whatever it looks like, you're like, I'm so busy, I don't have time.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guarantee you have some time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Guarantee there's things that we could look at if you showed me your the things you did last week right well we could cut cut this two hours of Netflix binging out
[SPEAKER_00]: Right, you know, the last night for me, like I spent outside of my own studies for this, I spent like five minutes reading through a devotional, and it was just one of those moments for me, was like, man, I needed that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you God, and I just felt like, it was preparing me even for today, where it's like, I made room for God, and it was only five minutes at the end of my day there.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it wasn't only five minutes, but like, five minutes out of sermon prep,
[SPEAKER_00]: Where I was like, God, I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt led to look through this.
[SPEAKER_00]: I found a devotional, like this looks interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to read it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I read it, and I'm like, man, and I just led me into more deeper worship of God, a gratefulness for what God's doing in my life, through my life.
[SPEAKER_00]: And these are some of the things that could happen when we make room for God, that will experience His presence.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our His presence will be with us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He gives us strength to overcome the trials, the tribulations.
[SPEAKER_00]: He gives us the willingness to go forward through the times that bring anxiety and things.
[SPEAKER_00]: And understand this, God's desire is not so much to get us out of this world.
[SPEAKER_00]: You understand that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe that's a wake-up call, and I'm even discouraging for something like wait a second.
[SPEAKER_00]: What I thought we were getting out of here.
[SPEAKER_00]: One day, one day, Jesus is coming back.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus prays in John 17, he prays to the Father, he says, that his prayer is not to get us out of the world, but that we'd be here and that we'd be united, that we'd be this light essentially hope for the world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Understand that God's not trying to get us out, but what he does want to do is he wants to dwell with his people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the New Testament says that we are the temple of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: God dwells in us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't need to build a tabernacle anymore.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like God spirit dwells within us, and we are the dwelling place of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, we have to have those willing hearts.
[SPEAKER_00]: Generous lies, faithful service.
[SPEAKER_00]: You'd be united together.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when God's presence shows up and dwells with us, I think, uh,
[SPEAKER_00]: When we do face trials and tribulations in the world, that's when that peace of God kicks in.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I mean, you've heard about it, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And I just need peace, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Peace that surpasses understanding.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says that Christ Jesus, that He would be the one that guard your hearts.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if Jesus isn't in your heart, and you're by dwelling in you, how you can have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
[SPEAKER_00]: How you're gonna have the ability to push through that tribulation, that trial,
[SPEAKER_00]: When God is with us, again, what can be against us?
[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't mean life's going to be easy.
[SPEAKER_00]: Doesn't mean it's going to be smooth sailing, but it does mean he will be with us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And whatever he is doing, if his will, his work is being done through our lives, man, then it's worth it.
[SPEAKER_00]: The hard things we go through, whatever it may be, and the good things, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: All for the glory of God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, if we come together as the church man, God has great things in store for us, for the church, not just us, but the church worldwide, the capital sea church, if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: But again, it starts with us, personally making room for him, drawing near to him, that he'd drawn near to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this week,
[SPEAKER_00]: As you guys enter deeper into this Christmas season, I just encourage you guys to remember, reflect, and pause, make room for Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe some of you don't celebrate Christmas because it's a pagan holiday and stuff, and maybe that's the case, but I can still message the same, make room for Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're celebrating on Christmas, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the birth of Jesus, where he came to dwell among us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, we got to make room, make space in your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Clear your calendar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Francis Chan said once he's like, if you've got to call in to work tomorrow, because you're not on fire for God, like, you don't have the Holy Spirit, like, call in to work tomorrow, like, it's that big of a deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: I just think it is, like, you gotta do what you gotta do to make time, make room for God.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, I want you near.
[SPEAKER_00]: So many of us are like, man, I just feel like God hasn't spoken to me or he's not, whatever it is, you know, but how have you been making space for him in your life?
[SPEAKER_00]: I can almost guarantee that if you have, if God feels so far away, it's probably because your priorities are messed up and you have no room in your schedule and you've made no room for him in the last week, month, year.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, make room for God in your life to work in you, to lead you to stir you up, pride.
[SPEAKER_00]: His grace is one of those things again that leads us to obedience, leads us to cheerful giving, leads us to acts of service and His grace is what changes us.
[SPEAKER_00]: So just take a moment today, maybe even right now as a closing worship and just consider His grace in your life what He has done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not what, oh God, if you did this or that, it'd be great.
[SPEAKER_00]: For you, what has he given you?
[SPEAKER_00]: You have breath in your lungs, you have a life, you have a savior who died in your place on the cross, who took your sins like we have much to be thankful for.
[SPEAKER_00]: So with that said, we're going to pray and we'll end in worship and communion.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Father, we thank you for this time that we can read your word and
[SPEAKER_00]: Nearly finished Exodus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for all that we've learned through our study over the last, I don't know, seven months or so.
[SPEAKER_00]: And gotta pray that we wouldn't forget the things that you've spoken to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Pray that even now Lord, that we, you would bring to remembrance things you taught us when we were studying Exodus chapter one and two and three and all the things in between God and that we wouldn't forget the word you've spoken to us and that pray that we would act upon.
[SPEAKER_00]: the Word that you've spoken to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: God, your Word says in James that faith without works is dead and I just pray that we wouldn't just be hereers of the Word but we'd be doers of the Word and that our action would be fueled by your grace, by your love and our realization of your love for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: and grace for us, your mercy Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: So pray the Lord as we close and worship today and communion that we would even now make room for you in our mind, in our heart, in our lives, Lord, I pray that you do a work in us.
[SPEAKER_00]: That you'd encourage us, or review us, or bring us back to you, whatever it is that needs to be done, God, but as we make the room and time right now,
[SPEAKER_00]: that you pour your spirit out.
[SPEAKER_00]: As the glory of view, dwelt in the tabernacle, I pray now you pour your spirit out and then you dwelt, not only among us, but in us, it should be redirecting our minds towards the things that you have for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: be a part of your work, to be a part of your church, so that others can know you as well and that your glory would be known all throughout the world and so God just meet with us now, have your work your way, as we take communion that we'd remember and that we'd be grateful and we just recognize
[SPEAKER_00]: the costs that you've paid for our freedom, our forgiveness, and our salvation.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, God, just go before us in Jesus' name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.