Don't Put God In A Box | Ephesians 3:20-21 | April 21 | Derek Neider

Speaker [00:00:06] We are in two of my favorite verses in the Bible today. So once you're in Ephesians chapter three, verse 20. Go ahead and stand up. If you can. If you're able, stand up. All right, y'all ready? The Bible says. The Bible says, now to him. Now to him who is what, not to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power already right at work within us. To him be what? To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Can we can we read them one more time? And I really want to encourage you, man. Let the let this seep in deep, right? Let the Spirit of God saturate your heart with us, not to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us. To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. All God's people said, father, we love you, God. We. We just want to anchor ourselves. God, we want to anchor ourselves to these verses. We want to stand on these verses. We want to live and to experience the fullness of these verses. Every word, God, every word just fitted perfectly. Every word matters. God today. Would you demonstrate? That you are the God who was able to do far abundantly above God right now, right in this room, right in our hearts. Father, we pray that there would be a real rich experience. That we have with you today. That would change us forever. In Jesus name, Amen. You can have a seat. Well, I know, I know some of you are curious.

Speaker [00:02:51] Some of you are curious and and, so probably while we were worshiping or while we were having our connect time, you saw the box up here. And because some of you just got to know why, right? Some of you just you got to know why. You're like, what's in the box? What's in the box, foster? And when are you going to pull it out? So we can see what is in the box. And, you know, boxes are very useful boxes. Do obviously lots of things for us. For instance, boxes can store things. So if you have something that you don't want to get rid of, but but you don't want the mess all over the place, you can get a whole bunch of boxes and put your stuff in boxes and store it away. Sometimes we use boxes to protect things, and so keepsakes or valuables, that mean a lot to us and that we want to hang on to. Well, we'll protect them by putting them in a box. Sometimes you, if you're moving, you know, maybe moving to a new house or new apartment or you're moving out of state or maybe even out of country, you put all your stuff in a box. So that is easy to to handle. It's easy to carry. Sometimes we hide stuff in boxes, you know, there are things that, you know, maybe we want to keep private. And so they're concealed away. Sometimes that thing is a gift that someday we're going to bring out, to show someone or to give somebody. There are a lot of things that belong in boxes. Your shoes belong in boxes. Some of you have more shoes than all the boxes on the face of the planet. So? So not even all the boxes could contain your your shoes.

Speaker [00:04:33] If you're moving, it's good to put your kitchen, wares in boxes. If you're bringing a puppy home, sometimes you've got a little box with a lid cut out. So you can you can put that puppy in a box. There are things that that are meant to go in boxes. One thing that is not meant to go in a box is God. God is not. God is not meant to go in a box. I wonder today, I wonder today if you have been putting God in a box. You know, it seems to me, as you read the scriptures, that God is always seemingly reminding his people that he is bigger than the box that they put him in from from Genesis to Revelation. Story after a story seems to have this very consistent thread in it, God conveying to his people, convincing his people, trying to help his people understand that he's bigger than the box that they so regularly put him in. Because, you know, that's oftentimes what we do. I, I'm sure that your brain is populated right now with all sorts of stories where God was breaking the box or blowing the lid off the limitations that his people had put on him. I, I think of the children of Israel at Pihahirah. And you remember this story? They were boxed in. There was, a Red sea in front of them. There was, marauding army behind them, the army of Pharaoh. And so they were between a rock and a hard place. And not only did they feel like they were boxed in, they accused God of boxing them in. And then their absence and lack of faith, actually, for a moment, was limiting what God was able to do until God blew that box up until God blew the lid off that box and parted the Red sea and and drove an east wind across the bed of that Red sea to dry it out so that he and we'll sing this later.

Speaker [00:06:34] Could make a highway in the midst of a sea. That's what our God does. Don't put him in a box. I think I think about I think about the children of Israel at the Valley of Elah. And you remember the story of Saul, and the armies of Israel had gathered in the Philistines had gathered as well. And the Philistines outnumbered the Israelites. And not only did the Philistines outnumber the Israelites, they had a giant. They had a giant that stood nine feet, six inches tall and and, you know, was was blasphemous, talking about the God of Israel. And Saul was shaking in his tent, and the armies of Israel were shaking in their tent, and they put God in a box, and they forgot what God was able to do and all that God had promised, until God broke that box, until God brought forth a little shepherd boy with his five stones that had been carefully tucked away in his pouch. Who wasn't gonna stand for this? Uncertain his words, uncircumcised, Philistine speaking blasphemous about his God. Look, there was such a contrast between David, who lived without putting limitations on God, and Saul, and the Israelites, who only saw what they could see with their eyes, only what they could see with their eyes. And God blew that box apart. God lifted the lid. God showed the children of Israel that day all that he could do when what was little was offered to him. I think about I think about the disciples, the women that had gathered together on that early, early Sunday morning just after the Sabbath. And they trudged their way to the tomb and and, of course, in their mind, the cold, decaying body of Jesus was the final word.

Speaker [00:08:32] It was the final word on their hopes. It was the final word on their aspirations. It was the final word on on their belief that he was, in fact, the Messiah. The stone. The stone had been rolled across the tomb and sealed by the Roman soldiers. The story was over. God himself was boxed in. The cold body of Jesus, like I said, was seemingly the final word until they got to the tomb, right? You know how that story goes. Until they until they until they walked up to the tomb where the stone had been rolled away. And the angel said, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen, he is risen, he is risen! God blew. God blew that. God blew that box away. God showed them that there was no stone that could hold the power and the might of his Son, who is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords. Back, I think, I think, I think all of this happens regularly and consistently in the Scripture because, you know, it is it is our nature. It is our nature to put God in a box, to put limitations on God, to restrict him, to mitigate his might in our life for all sorts of various reasons. And, you know, be careful here as we as we read these verses, you know what Paul has been doing? Paul has been making a very forceful case that of all of the people living on the face of the planet, no one is richer and wealthier than the Christian. No one is richer and wealthier than the Christian. We have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Amen. We've been redeemed, we've been forgiven, and we've been sealed by the spirit.

Speaker [00:10:21] The middle wall of separation has been torn down, and he's caused Jew and Gentile to become one through the person of Christ. And so, as he gets to the end of this section, there is seemingly this sweet little doxology that's like a punctuation mark. And if you're not careful, you read these words almost like a sweet little punctuation mark. Oh, Paul, that was so nice. That was so nice. After all the deep theology, after unpacking all the wealth of the believer. You've got this nice little thing to say. This nice little sweet thing to say about God. That's not what these verses are. These verses are used by the Apostle Paul to push the people of God to press the people of God. This is not just a doxology. This is a challenge. Did you hear? Did you hear me today? This is not just a doxology. This is a challenge. This isn't just a challenge that Paul gave 2000 years ago to the church. This is a challenge that God is bringing to you today. God is challenging you today. You know, in light of what we talked about last week, the five prayers that are prayed in sequence that ultimately lead us to a place where we are filled with the fullness of God. Paul gets to this point, which really is the whole point of those prayers, and this is his point. When you are filled with the fullness of God and you let God be God, he promises say the word promise. He promises to work powerfully through your life when you are filled with all the fullness of God. And you let this is a big one and you let God be God. He promises to work powerfully through your life.

Speaker [00:12:09] Understand today that that's what these words are. This isn't just. This isn't just some more information about God or some little song that we sing to God. Paul is laying out truth concerning God. And not only does he lay out truth concerning God. He lays out a promise that God has given to us that when we choose not to put God in a box, are you putting God in a box today? When? When you choose to take them away and hide them away, and when you choose to come, compartmentalize him, and when you choose to give him some space in your life, but not all of the space of your life. When you choose not to do that, there is a powerful work that that God does in your life. You might be thinking today, well, is it possible, pastor, can you actually put God? Can you actually put God in a box? And the answer is yes. The answer is yes. And when I say that, the answer is yes, what I'm saying is you can actually limit what it is that God does in your life. Fear. You say, well, how does that happen? Fear is a way to limit what God can do in your life. Unbelief is a way to limit what God can do in your life. Disobedience, right? Disobedience on it. Okay. Can we be honest with each other today? Yes, because we in church. Church. Right. Disobedience. Disobedience in our lives can mitigate, can hinder. Can can limit. Can can set up a box around what God desires to do, hindering him. Sometimes. Sometimes, you know, it's control, sometimes it's control. We have any control freaks in the house of God today. All right. Look. Anyone living in denial today? I mean, there's there's a couple honest people.

Speaker [00:14:06] There's a couple honest people that are willing to to raise their hand. You know, it's a great it's a great perspective. I have a, as as a teacher because oftentimes, you know, when God is saying something to his people, you can tell who he hits, you can tell who he had. So let me say that again. Do we have any control freaks in the house of God today? Okay. Should have been honest the first time. Okay. And and so, you know, you know how it goes. You don't want to release control. You don't want to give away control for whatever reason might be. Sometimes it's not control. Sometimes. Sometimes we're comfortable with the arrangement that we've made with God. And so we've we've carved out, a compartment, a space for God to work. And, and essentially we've got this agreement, this lifestyle that we're living that is comfortable to us. We've got God. Think about how how confused this is. We've got God in his spot. We've got God in his spot. We've given God the room that he's allowed to move in our life. I'll just tell you right now, there are a lot of Christians today who have created a comfortable relationship, a comfortable relationship with God that is not allowed him to assume control of their life. Whole control. I'm talking about all control. And so in that spot it's like, yeah, God, you can work in this area that I've given you, but the rest of this is under my control. I want to I want to strongly encourage you today to stop fitting God into the plan that you have for your life. Stop. Can I say it again? Should I say it again? Do you want to hear it again? Stop fighting! God! Part number one.

Speaker [00:15:54] Stop fitting God into the plan that you have for your life. And start fitting your life into the God who has a plan for your life. Who? Stop fitting God into the plan that you have for your life, and start fitting your life into the God who has a plan. You could take the word "A" out and you could put the definite article in there. Who has the plan? Who has the plan for your life? To what extent? To what extent have you been limiting God? Jesus. You know, he he punctuates, emphasizes this particular point in speaking to his disciples. And and there was an issue because he was ministering up in the area of Nazareth, and as he was, as he was in the area of Nazareth, the Bible says this. He could not do mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled, and he marveled because of their unbelief. So I just want that's sobering. That's strong. That should shake you to the roots today. It should make you think, God, I don't want that for my life. God, I don't want that for my life. I don't want to be in a place where I live my life in such a way that down the road I look back and I think, man, he could have done so much more. Do you know what I'm talking about? He could have done so much more. And so here Jesus is. And the Bible says he could not do mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. In other words, man, it could have been so much more. It could have been so much more prolific.

Speaker [00:17:39] It could have been so much more profound. It could have been so much more powerful. The extent could have been so much greater. But there were there were limiting factors. There were limiting factors. There were mitigating factors that were restricting the might of God for for being from being experienced in an explosive way. In that case, it was their unbelief. I'm not sure what it is with you today, but what I do know is this you need to let God be God. You need to let. And this is what Paul is saying. Let God be God now to him, not to him who is able. Do you believe that God is able today? Yeah. I think the first service. Not net net net net net. I honestly think the first service believe more than you guys do. Okay, boo. All right, well, I'll give you another shot here. Do you believe that God is able. I mean, this is this is one of Paul's points. He's like, now to him who is able now to him who is like, we're defining God where we're we're saying this is a truth about God. It is immutable, is unchangeable, is unwavering. This is God. He is Abel. The word Abel is the Greek word from which we get our English word power or dynamic or dynamite. The Bible is saying that God is all powerful. There is nothing that God can't do. Brothers and sisters, do you know that today? He's the same God. He's the same God, same same God. He is the same God is the same God that parted the rivers. He's the same God that poured out manna from heaven. He's the same God that made the bitter waters of Marah sweet. Hey, maybe some of you have a bitter heart today that needs to be sweetened.

Speaker [00:19:41] He's the God that's able. He can do that. He's the God who shows himself time and time again. Remember, with me today, your life isn't about what you can do. Your life is not about what you can do. Your life is about what God can do through you. I don't want to live a life where the world looks and sees all that I'm able to do. I want to live a life that demonstrates all that God is able to do. And God has unlimited power. He has unlimited power. Like this is the witness of Scripture. You look at the the story of creation in Genesis chapter one and chapter two, and what you discover is our God, like our God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the creator. He flung the worlds into existence. Simply by speaking the word. Simply by speaking the word. He is the God who created all things. He's a God who called Abraham and Sarah out of earth. They were polytheistic, pagan, other God worshiping people. And God spoke to them and and drew them out of earth to the promised land. And God did powerful works through their lives. You see the children of Israel and how God birthed the nation through Abraham and Sarah. And time and time again over the course of their history. He showed them and he showed the nations around them who he was, that he is the omnipotent God with whom nothing is impossible. We have the the demonstration. Okay, I'll pause for that. You can. We have the demonstration of the power of God over the course of creation. And what does he do? He does. He does what we are unable to do.

Speaker [00:21:34] He saves us. He rescues us. He delivers us. And he does so by sending his only begotten son from heaven to earth, to live a perfect life, to die a perfect death, to take nails through his wrists that we deserve for ourselves. The righteous suffering for the unrighteous. The innocent suffering for the guilty. The one who knew no sin. Suffering as if he was the one who had committed it, receiving the just punishment that we deserve. And on the cross he said those words. It is finished. It is finished. And he was wrapped up and hurriedly prepared, and he was tucked in the tomb and the stone was rolled over that tomb. And like I said, the power of God was demonstrated as Christ. His son was raised from the dead. He is the same God. He is the same God that blew the blew the breath of His Spirit on the church on the day of Pentecost like a rushing mighty wind, and anointed them with flames of fire, tongues of fire, as it were, empowering them to do his mighty work. This is why when Jesus says, with man this is impossible, but with God Jesus. But with God all things are possible. This is why when he says that we say, we say yes, Amen. We say yes. Amen. We say we believe it because the Bible says it. Not only is he the God who is able, but he is the God. I love the Apostle Paul is like he is amped up. He is the. He is a man of amplification. He just amplifies points like, hey, if it's not enough that he's the God that's able, he is the one also who can do far more abundantly, far, far more abundantly, far more abundantly above all that you can ask or think.

Speaker [00:23:29] All that you can ask or think like Paul is. This is what Paul's doing. He's like, hey, hey, what we're going to do is we're going to right size God, and we're going to right size you. We're going to right size God, and we're going to right size you, because it's not about you. It's not about your abilities. It's not about your talents. It's not what you bring to the table. It's not at the end of the day, what you can accomplish. It is all about God. And what he does do is he takes the little that you bring to him, and he does exceedingly. New King James Version exceedingly above, above, and beyond all that you could imagine or think. That's what he does. He is a God who is able to do that in all your praying, in all your planning. Brothers and sisters, it is good for you to pray. It is good for you to pray like we're not lazy Christians. We don't just look at this verse and say, okay, God, you know, get after it. What we do is we lean in and we pray, we pray, we ask, we're diligent. We're leaning in to God with our supplications and petitions. We're bringing them to him. And then we're we're planning, we're thinking, we're imagining. We're aligning ourselves to the will of God in the way that he does things. And then what we do is we put it into his hands. We put it into his hands. All your planning and your your praying is good, but ultimately it's the power of God that brings it to pass. And by the way, when you pray and plan, when you pray and plan, your praying and planning aren't supposed to give God the guidelines that he can work in, right? In other words, when you pray and plan is like, okay, God, hey, these are your marching orders.

Speaker [00:25:04] Hey God, this is the way you can do it. Hey, God, this is the space that I'm allotting to you. Hey, got chop chop. Chop, chop. You know, I've given you your your executables. I've given you your action items. And here's this narrow way that I've permitted you to answer the prayer. That, brothers and sisters, is not the way that it works. What we do is we come with a little prayer offering. We come with our thinking, our imagining, our planning. We offer it to him. And you know what he does? He takes that. He takes that with joy. The little listen to me. Are you listening? The little that you have to offer. God matters. It matters. The little prayer that you have to offer God. The little faith that you have to offer God. The little action that you have to offer God. The point is that you take that and you place it like a mustard seed in his hands. Jesus said this. He said, for truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you. Why? Because it's not your power. It's his power. Why? Because it's not your strength is God's strength. Why? Because he is the one who does far more abundantly. Listen to me. God takes pleasure in exceeding your expectations. You believe that today? Do you really believe that today God takes pleasure? God takes pleasure in exceeding and exceeding your expectations. God takes pleasure. He looks over your life with joy. He loves you. You're his treasure. You're his treasure. And when you come in faith and you bring your mustard seed of prayer and faith and place it in the hands of God, he's like, I love you, I got this, I've got this.

Speaker [00:27:16] Now that you placed it in my hands, watch and see what I will do because that's what we do. We place it in his hands and we remember it's not our will, it's his will, and it's not our plan. It's his plan. And it's not our way. It's his way. And it's not our timing. It's his timing. Right? This is what we do. We. We bring it to him. We place it in his hands, and we let him have his will according to his plan, his way in his timing. Because God is more interested in the process than the destination. Right. God is more sometimes answered. Prayer for us is all about the destination, and God is not just interested in getting you there. God is interested in all the work he's doing in your life, in process along the way. That's why. That's why we take it and place it in his hands. And that's why we recognize the value of God's timing, which rarely is the same as our timing. And that's why we recognize that there's value in God's way. Right? We don't pray a prayer and write it in stone on concrete. We, as it were, write it in pencil with the eraser out. We say God is on paper. You can change this however you want to, because I know God is not just about arriving to the destination of answered prayer. God is all that you're doing in my life and all that you're doing in the lives of those around me that I love. This, for sure, was Abraham and Sarah's process. You know, God had given them a promise, and the promise was that Sarah was going to have a baby. And five years go by and ten years goes by, and 15 years goes by, and 20 years go by, 24 years go by.

Speaker [00:29:15] And, you know, Sarah at this point is totally disillusioned. The angel of the Lord shows up and and reiterates the promise. And she's looking with her eyes and she's examining the terrain and she's like, really? I'm 99. He's 100 years old. Like, there's no there's no way. There's no way this is going to happen. Like the ship has sailed. Angel of the Lord. The ship has sailed. I mean, she says it in these terms. She's like, shall shall my Lord's maidservant find pleasure in him like that? That's just not going to happen. And she laughs like the promise. Listen to me. The time. So much time had passed. There was so much water under the bridge that when the promise is reiterated, she responds. She responds with incredulity. She's like, she's like, that's incredulous. She laughs. She's she laughs. Her framework was what she could see and touch and feel. And she lost sight of the God who was always working behind the scenes. And so the angel of the Lord calls her out and he says, he says, is anything too hard for the Lord? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Hey, is anything too hard? Can I ask you that question today? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Is it some of you? Some of us, some of us are incredulous. Some of us have waited so long and there's so much water under the under the bridge. We're like, hey, I prayed for this marriage. I've prayed for this marriage. I prayed for that opportunity. I've asked I've asked for my wayward kids to come home. And there's an incredulity now that has that has crept in because the devil is always there, lying to you about the character of God and what God is able to do.

Speaker [00:31:09] And you need to shut those lies off, and you need to remember who God is, and you need to remember God is saying to you today, don't put me in a box. I don't need you to protect me. I don't need you to hide me and conceal me. I don't need you. The best thing for your life isn't that you talk that thing away that you're struggling with and and hide it. I don't need you to carry me. I'm in your life so I can carry you. Listen today. Let God be God. Let him out of the box. Paul presses this church. And you know what the church does? The church responds. This church becomes a powerhouse that lived this out and impacted all of modern day Turkey, because they began to believe that this was true about God. I want to be part of a church. I want to be part of a church that doesn't put God in a box. I want to be part of a church that believes for the impossible. I want to be part of a church that isn't an old wineskin, that can't, that can't retain and handle the new wine that God wants to pour out with, with being blown up or blown away. I don't want to put a lid on God. I don't want to mitigate the might of God. I don't want to be in a place where just 50% of us are using our spiritual gifts. We want to be in a place where God is moving through all of our lives. Part two and closing of the message. Number one. Pastors, by the way, are afforded at least three closings to every message. Number one, let God be God. Number two, remember it's bigger, right? It it is.

Speaker [00:32:50] It is bigger. It's bigger than you can imagine, is bigger than you can think when you let God. Out of the box that you have made for him. What he does is bigger, is bigger in the sense of there is an opportunity for you to experience the power of God, which brings joy to your life. I'll tell you right now when God's moving in your life, when God is moving in your life and you've torn down the walls that have held him back, when when you've given him free reign over all of your life and he is just doing stuff, man, there is a joy that is, as the Bible says, inexpressible and full of glory, that the bigger reason, the bigger thing that God is doing, is he's bringing glory to himself right now. Okay, now to him who is able right now, to him who is able. And then verse 21, to him be glory, to him be glory. Glory can be defined like this. It is the revelation of God's perfect character with every facet on display. Bringing people to awe. So. It is the revelation of God's perfect character with every facet on display. Bringing people to awe. So when God is working through your life. And by the way, that's how this how this verse goes right to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. To him be glory in the church. So when God's moving through your life, what happens is you become a display for the character of God to be revealed. All of the facets of God's character, God's mercy and God's grace and God's love and God's power and God's righteousness, God's kindness, God's steadfast love for you and for me. And what happens is it brings people to a place, an experience of awe right there in awe.

Speaker [00:34:58] They're stunned. They're speechless. They're shocked. They know it can't be you. By the way, when someone says, hey, hey, hey, sis, I know there's a you don't take that offensively, okay? Like that. That's a compliment. When someone comes along and says, hey, there's something going on in your life and I know I it's bigger than what you can do. I don't have the framework. I don't have the words to describe this. What is going on in your life? I see something, you know, the word awesome is where, the word or is where we get the word awesome from. And so of course, we use that for everything, right? Oh, man. I saw an awesome sunset. I had an awesome, time at Osaka's for sushi. I had an awesome, you know, iced flat white with an extra shot in extra eyes from beyond. Right? And oh, man, wasn't God awesome today. And it's like, wait a minute, you know what I'm saying? Like, we missed the point when we use the word awesome. So we dilute it so much. I mean, really and I'm not saying you can't use the word awesome. I'm not dropping some legalistic trip on you. I am just saying when you're talking about God, remember he's the only one that really brings us to a place of awe. He just is. He is, he is. And when and when you, like, chop the box up and you pulled everything out and he's moving through your life. People are going to see him. They're going to see aspects and facets of him. They're going to be they're going to be awakened. They're going to be awakened. This is one reason why we chose our name. They're going to be awakened to God.

Speaker [00:36:37] The light bulb is going to go on. They're going to start connecting the dots. The spirit is going to be speaking to their lives. By the way, that won't happen if your God is in a box. That won't happen if your God is in a box. But if you let him loose, if you are filled with faith, if you commit your asking and your planning, your thinking and your dreaming to God, what he does is he moves through his people and everything in your life becomes listen. Everything. Say the word, everything. Everything in your life becomes a display for God's glory. Everything in your life becomes a display for God's glory. I was going to propose a question to you today, and the question was going to go something like this. How is the glory of God being displayed through your life? But I thought, man, maybe we should pray that. Maybe we should pray that maybe instead of allowing our selves to be the final word in that maybe we need to let the Holy Spirit have the final word, and that maybe we need to pray and we need to ask God. You know God. Sincerely, honestly. Because you guys know we lie to ourselves, right? You guys know we can pull the wool over our own eyes. You guys know that the the longer you're a Christian, the more sophisticated your justifications become. You can justify anything y'all like. And with Bible verses, with Bible verses. And then you can have your prayer group praying for things that you've justified in your flesh. Like that's how messed up we are and can be. That's why we've got to get real with God. And like, you know, let him speak the raw words that we need to hear.

Speaker [00:38:23] Hey, when was the last time someone made a comment about what God was doing in your life? When's the last time someone came to you and said, hey, listen, bro, like that's crazy. Like, God's got a hold of you. God's got a hold of you. What's what's what are what is going on with you? Because I see something happening with the last time someone said that to you. Because the truth is this. If we pull everything out of the box and. And we are out of the box, and God's not in a box, every single thing in our life becomes an opportunity, not just for the pastor or the worship leader or the vocational minister. And that's how we frame it. Some time. I'm saying this that your finances become an opportunity for God to demonstrate his glory. Your relationships become an opportunity for God to demonstrate his glory. Your marriage becomes an opportunity for God to demonstrate his glory. Your work in the marketplace becomes an opportunity for God to demonstrate his glory. The use of your spiritual gifts, your ability through the power of the spirit to overcome sin, the discouragement, the chronic discouragement that you've been wrestling with. And you've wrestled through that so that the light of the glory of God has risen in your heart again, and you've been lifted up and filled with strength and anointed with oil, even above your companions. As the Scripture says, all of that becomes an opportunity for God to demonstrate his glory. You're you're fighting with the adversary becomes an opportunity for God to demonstrate his glory. God lifting you up out of your failures. Your God lifting you up? Well, maybe you guys don't. No one. No one here fails, right? So maybe.

Speaker [00:40:12] Maybe you guys don't need this. Maybe this was just for the first service. Look, we all fail. And you know what happens when we fail? We get so guilty and so ashamed. We tuck it away, we hide it in a box, we close the lid on it, and you know what? It doesn't stay in that spot. It festers in there like a cancer. It festers like a cancer until you pull it out and expose it to the light of God. It festers like a cancer until you bring it to God in humility and say, God, can you make something marvelous out of my mess? God, can you make something beautiful out of my ashes? Can you can you take this catastrophe and turn it into something that's life changing? I'm just telling you, because I've experienced God do this time and time again. He can do it. He can do it. Your failure becomes an opportunity for God to show how good, how loving, how great he is. That's. That's what our God does. And so listen, I'm not I'm not I'm not teaching you today so that you can have just more data in your brain. I'm saying do it. I'm saying do it. I'm saying pray, pray, seek knock bring your petition. Maybe the petition has. God, my. The framework for our relationship is all messed up. God, I've been in control. You've been in the passenger seat. Maybe. Probably in the back seat. And I don't want to be in a place where I'm driving anymore. God. And so I need you to jump into the driver's seat. Maybe that's the prayer. Maybe the prayer is, hey, God, I got a whole bunch of stuff I've been trying to fix myself, are trying to control.

Speaker [00:41:51] I need to bring it out. I need to ask, I'm asking, I'm seeking, I'm knocking. You need to. You need to. There are four P's here. You need to pray. You also need to plan. By that I mean you need to take your thinking and bring it into alignment with the will of God. You need to take your thinking. You're imagining, you're dreaming your planning and line it up with the will of God. You know, what you don't do is pray your will and then end your prayer with in Jesus name, Amen. Right? Because some some of us do that, we're like, okay, God. Like I said, chop chop, here's the list. This is how I want it done. You get after it. In Jesus name, Amen. Now that brothers and sisters, like in Jesus name, Amen is not like 10-4 good buddy. Over and out. That's not God's, not your employee I. You don't. You don't just give God a list of action items. When when you pray and you plan, you're like, all right, God, you know, I know, I know in Jesus name means according to your will. And so I'm bringing my praying and my planning. I know what your word says. I'm aligning it up with what your word says, and I'm going to place it. I'm going to place it in your hands. I'm going to let you do it the way you want to do it. I'm going to let you have your way. I'm going to give space for it to be fulfilled in your timing. I'm going to release. Listen to me. Are you listening? I'm going to release my expectations. I'm going to release my expectations. And I'm going to believe that as high as my expectations could possibly go, you're the one that exceeds them.

Speaker [00:43:43] You exceed them. And then I'm going to commit to pressing through until I see the work done in my life and your work done through my life. Live that out, live that out. This is the way that God does it from generation to generation. And if you don't like it, get over it. Okay? This is this is the way he does it. I'm just telling you, this is the way he does it from generation to generation. And so what we need to do is align ourselves to the way that God works for the sake of this generation. I thank God for what he did in the hippie generation, but I want God to do a work in this generation. And by the way, by the way, if you're alive right now, this is your generation. If you're alive right now, this is your generation. Whether you are Alpha gen, Gen Z, whether you're a millennial, whether you're part of the Greatest generation Gen X. Or whether you're a baby boomer. Whether you're a baby. Okay, I see some of you clap for that. And I'm like, you don't even know what you're talking about. So that's that's okay. But hey, don't think, well, hey, I'm a I'm a baby boomer. This isn't my generation. That's nonsense. If you're alive right now, this is your generation to experience God, that we can see him make an impact. The fact is this. We need you. We need you engage. We need you involved. We need you discipling. We need you to take all the wisdom, experience over the course of time that God has given to you to bear. Right now. It is our moment to experience the God who is able. What is holding you back? What is holding you back? Has it been control of your life? Has it been that you've got this comfortable arrangement where you've given God a spot and everything is great? And now pastor preaches a message and and I've just totally blown it up.

Speaker [00:45:47] And you're a little afraid. You're a little afraid right now. You're afraid to release control to God. You're afraid that God's going to mess up the plan that you have. I was thinking about this and I am wrapping up, but I was thinking about this particular point, and I was reminded of something that C.S. Lewis wrote in The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. And, you know, it is, it's a story with a character whose name is Aslan, and Aslan's a lion, but his character is a metaphor for Jesus. And so the Pevensie children, they find this world, this other world, and as they go into this world, they meet all these wild creatures. And they're in the house of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. They're they're talking beavers. I know, I know, that sermon today just got really weird, but but they're in the house, and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver are talking to them about this Aslan, this king and and this king who is a lion. And Lucy says she's concerned that he's a lion and she says, is he safe? I mean, which is a reasonable question to ask, because what lion is safe? And Mr. Beaver says, who said anything about safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he is good. Of course he isn't safe, but he is good. And then he he finishes that statement by saying, he is the king. He's the king. I want to tell you, brothers and sisters, that that he isn't safe. You need to put your life in his hands and who knows? Who knows what he might do. But he's good and he's good. The safest place for your life to be is in the hands of God.

Speaker [00:47:35] His disposition towards you in every single thing is good. You are safer. You know where I'm going, Daniel goes. You are safer in God's hands than you are in your own. Some of us were such control freaks. It's like, man, I don't know. I don't know if I can. I don't know if I can give up control. I don't know if I can lose control. Your control is just. It's just a mirage. Yeah. It's just a mirage. It's an illusion. What are you in control over? You don't even know if this is the last day that you'll be breathing on the face of this planet. Your control is an illusion. Look, you lose control so that the one who is really in control can assume control over your life. That that's what he's calling you to. That's what. That's what the Christian life is. And if your Christian life isn't meeting your expectations and you're miserable, it's probably because you're still in control of your life. No, you lose control so that the one who is really in control can assume control, and you do it as you anchor yourself to the promises of God. And that's that's just the final word today. Anchor yourself to the promise of God. These verses I have anchored myself. I've anchored myself to them as a Christian for 30 years. I have trusted God. You're able to do exceedingly, abundantly memorizing the new King James Version exceedingly, abundantly. Above all I could ever ask or think. God, I believe that when my faith is weak, God, I believe that when I don't see it coming to pass before my eyes. God, I believe it when the critics are lined up. And I'll tell you, I've got plenty of critics lined up.