Latest / Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast / #10239 - God Has Gifted You To Serve Him - Exodus 31

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#10239 - God Has Gifted You To Serve Him - Exodus 31 · Calvary Church with Ed Taylor Podcast

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Welcome to the study of God's Word with pastor and author Ed
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Taylor, recorded live at Calvary Church in Aurora, Co.
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To learn more about the many resources available through
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Abounding Grace Media or to tune into our live stream services,
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visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church or download our free
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Calvary Church app. Now.
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Here's Pastor Ed to take us into our study.
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Amen. Open your Bibles to Exodus
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chapter 31. Exodus chapter 31.
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I've entitled our Bible study. God has gifted you to serve him.
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God has gifted you to. Let's try that again.
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God has gifted you to serve him. Now we're learning about the
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Tabernacle and how it points to Jesus Christ.
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The Tabernacle, this temporary tent, would be the place where
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God would meet His people. God wanted them to know that
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He's not far from them, but among them.
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We learned later in John chapter one that Jesus Christ, he came
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and dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us.
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The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
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The Tabernacle would give a picture and a type of Messiah to
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come. God is not far, He's not
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distant, but close and holy. And when you would approach,
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remember just by way of review, when you would approach, the
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Tabernacle is this long, narrow, 150 feet courtyard with one
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entrance, the gate, and it reminds us of Jesus in John
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chapter 10 verse 7. Jesus said to them again, most
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assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
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All whoever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
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sheep did not hear them. I am the door.
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If anyone enters by me, he'll be saved and go in and out and find
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pasture. As we get into the courtyard, we
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see the first article of furniture.
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It would have been a brass or a bronze altar of sacrifice,
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because you would always approach God through sacrifice.
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Again, we're reminded of John chapter 14, verse 6.
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I am the way, the truth, and the life.
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No one comes to the Father except through me.
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When you come to the Father through Christ, you come to the
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Father through his sacrifice. And the bronze labor would point
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all of the children of Israel to that future reality.
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Moving a little closer in the courtyard, there's a big base in
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there, the bronze labor where the priest would be cleansed.
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You go from the altar of sacrifice to the Laver to the
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tub there, this basin, the priest here would be cleansed in
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preparation of entering. In John chapter 13 verse 8, it
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says Peter said you shall never wash my feet.
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And Jesus answered, If I don't wash you, you have no part with
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me. Simon Peter said to him, Lord,
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not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
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And what did Jesus say? Jesus said he who is bathed
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needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.
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And you are clean, but not all of you.
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Speaking of Judas, you're clean by the work and the finished
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work of Christ, you're clean. If we were a priest, a high
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priest, we'd go on in beyond the first curtain on the right side
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there be the table of showbread. It reminds us of John chapter 6
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verse 35. Jesus said to them, I am the
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bread of life. He who comes to me shall never
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hunger. He who believes in me shall
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never thirst. To the left would be the
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lampstand, the Candelabra reminding us of two truths of
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Jesus. John chapter 8 verse 12.
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Jesus spoke to them again saying I am the light of the world.
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He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light
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of life. John 15 Five.
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I am the vine, but you're the branches.
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As the Candelabra will come out, and the branches would come out.
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I'm the vine, you're the branches.
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He who abides in me, and I in him bears much fruit, for
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without me you can do nothing. Directly in front was the veil
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that separated the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat from
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the outer room. Atonement was made there once a
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year. First John chapter 2, verse 2
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speaks of Jesus Himself as our propitiation.
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Remember, we learned that big word propitiation could be
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translated atoning sacrifice. He was our substitute, our
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propitiation for our sins. First, John says, and not for
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ours only, but also for the whole world in the temple.
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When the temple was built later on, the veil was torn in two
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from top to bottom, inviting anyone into the mercy seat.
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Now by the finished work of Christ, Luke 23 verse 44.
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Now it was about the 6th hour and there was darkness all over
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the earth until the 9th hour sun was darkened.
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The veil of the temple was torn in two, and when Jesus had cried
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out with a loud voice, he said, Father, into your hands I commit
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my spirit. And having said this, he
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breathed his last. Jesus fulfills the fullness of
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the meaning of the Tabernacle. He is the completion.
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He fulfills all of the sacrifices therein, which again,
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as I think back to the Tabernacle and all the studies
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we've done already, and we think of the fulfillment of everything
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related to the Tabernacle by Jesus.
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There was that time where Jesus met those two men on the road to
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Emmaus. Remember that it was after the
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resurrection. These guys were bummed out.
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They're heading home. And then the Bible says in in
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Luke 24, verse 27 and beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
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he expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
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himself. And you might read through that
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in your DeVos. You might see it in Luke and you
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go, wait a minute, how did he do that?
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And in the last few weeks you learned a place he would have
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done just that. He would have gone to the
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Tabernacle and pointed out a piece and he said that's me.
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And he points out another piece and that's me.
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The cleansing, that cleansing pointed to my cleansing.
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That veil, it's going to be torn in two.
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You remember it was torn in two. And he went through what don't
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you, don't you think that that Bible study, don't you wish they
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would have recorded it somehow? Somebody taking notes of where
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Jesus took these men and said this is me, this is me, this is
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me, this is me, and this is how you and I can read the
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Scriptures today. As we open up the Scriptures,
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part of our prayers, the Bible's before us, part of reading the
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Bible is like, where are you in this Lord?
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I want to see you. I want to see the Old Testament
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reality, the Old Testament teaching, but the New Testament
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reality. Now without in mind, I want to
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pick up in verse 31 as we come down to the end of this section
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on on the Tabernacle and move into a new section of Exodus
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beginning in verse one Exodus 31.
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Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, See, I have called by
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name Bazal Bazaliel, the son of Yurai, the son of her of the
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tribe of Judah, And I filled him with the Spirit of God in
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wisdom, in understanding and knowledge and all manner of
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workmanship to design artistic works, to work in gold and
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silver and bronze, in the cutting of jewels, for setting
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the carving of wood, to work in all manner of workmanship.
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I love how this starts. Here's the key, if you're taking
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notes, notice this. The key for this particular man
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was in verse 2, I have called, and then later in verse three, I
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have filled him with the Spirit, a spirit of wisdom and
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understanding. This is where maturity comes.
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Maturity follows gifting, growing in what God has called
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us to do, who He's called us to be.
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I love this, I love this personal touch.
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This man was personally called by God with his gifting of all
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manner of workmanship, all these this special, wonderful artistic
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gifting in his life. Some of you are very gifted
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artistically and it is a talent, but more so for the Lord, a
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gifting for you to use that for the Kingdom, for you to find
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your place of what God has called you to, what He's filled
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you with wisdom and understanding, and then to step
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into it. He called this man and gifted
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him personally. It's the same for you and me
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today. God has brought us together for
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you and I to be reminded that God knows you personally.
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You're not just some robot. You're not as an expendable
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person. You're, you're not one of many.
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You are one of one. Can you imagine that?
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And by the way, we're very happy there aren't 2 of you or three
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of you. You are one of one.
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God has made you uniquely, gifted you uniquely.
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Everything about you is special. He knows you personally.
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He knows your family. He knows how He wants to shape
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you and equip you for the work He wants to accomplish through
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you. You're going to have to change
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your mind somewhere along the way.
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You're going to have to come to terms with this, that no matter
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how God has gifted you, no matter where He's placed you in
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the world, you're going to have to shift your thinking.
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It's very simple. You're going to need to begin to
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see your gifting, your calling, your career.
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Everything about you belongs to the Lord.
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He, He has placed you where you are gifted, where you are given
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you talents and and abilities and education.
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I mean, some of you have the highest level of education.
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I mean, there are some that have multiple doctorates.
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Why? Because God wants to place you
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somewhere in the world for His glory.
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It's not for your glory. It's not for your bank account,
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it's not for your career, it's not for your retirement.
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Although all of that may come with it.
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It's first and foremost to glorify God.
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And you read back and you go, OK, in the building of the
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Tabernacle, there's a guy I want you to call this guy.
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This is this is the man I've called him and I filled him.
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I see this, it says in verse three, I've given him all this
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wisdom and understanding and knowledge in what workmanship?
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This wasn't by Bible knowledge. You know how you can be in a
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church and you can be in a small group or you're going to be in a
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prayer. Some of you are still very
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uncomfortable in praying because you feel like you may not pray
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correctly, but you're praying just fine.
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You're doing just fine. Well, but Ed, I don't know my
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pastor. I don't know what kind of words
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I'm supposed to use. Well, just talk.
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You already know what words to use because you already talk.
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You already communicate with others.
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Now just communicate with God. And when you pray, as you gather
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together in these smaller groups, you're not, don't worry
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about everybody in the group. You're not praying to them.
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They're not there. They're not the audience of your
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prayer. I mean, there are times when you
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can be in a group and you're just so you're so in tune with
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the Spirit. You don't even remember you're
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praying with people. You could have been in a group
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like that today where you somebody took 9 1/2 minutes.
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You're just in the zone. You're just in the zone praying
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and just all, you know, it's like, oh, oh, oh, yes, yes.
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You don't have to worry about what people think or be overly
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concerned. You, you are who you are and
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where you are by the will of God.
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And not only do you have purpose, but you're not
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forgotten either. You're not forgotten that God
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has given you a place and He's also given you at the same time
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contentment to be satisfied with where God has you.
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Jeremiah chapter 2911 is such a beautiful passage where God
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says, I know the thoughts I think toward you.
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I don't even know the thoughts I think toward myself sometimes.
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I don't even know where I'm at emotionally or mentally
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sometimes. But God does.
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He knows what He's called me to. He's given me a special gifting
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of wisdom to do what He's called me to do.
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He's given me knowledge. It's not in workmanship.
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Unfortunately, I'm not good with that.
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I just shared with the men. I had to be clean with the men
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in Florida. These hands were not built to
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build. I every toy in our our excuse
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me, every tool. Maybe toys are mine.
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But every tool in our house belongs to my Marie.
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They're all hers. Hey, what do you want for
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Christmas? Oh, I think a bandsaw.
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What a bandsaw. What were you going to do with
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that? Like, I can't fix anything.
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I can barely take things apart. I know what I'm called to do,
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and I know what I'm to avoid. But I also know what I'm to pour
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my life into. So that's where the wisdom and
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the knowledge comes. And on top of that, what you are
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called to, God has given you an abundance of wisdom and
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knowledge in that, so that you might be as fruitful as He
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desires for you. His fruitfulness is to what be
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matched with your faithfulness. It always works that way.
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It's not passive. For Bizarre Leal, this brother
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had to participate. God gave him all this and the
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response was here, It's all back.
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It's to your glory, Lord, it's to your glory.
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I mean, you're some listening, whether you're here or listening
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live on the radio online. I know it.
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I know this is happening in the room right now.
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I prayed as I was typing all this up that there are, there
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are many listening to me right now with this singular question,
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What is God's will for my life? It's a big one.
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It's not, you know, it's hardly ever asked what's God's will for
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me right now or what's God's will for me in the next month.
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It's usually what is God's will for my life?
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That's a big one. Like that's your whole life like
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from here until who knows when, what's God's will for my life?
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It's a great question to ask. You might even reduce that down
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to what is my calling? Where do I belong?
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So let me help you with that. What's my calling?
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Where do I belong? Let me let me ask you a
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question. What do you like to do?
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What do you like to do? Like what's your natural desire
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for Bazaar Bazaar Leal? He was good with his hands.
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He made stuff, I mean really nice stuff.
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Cutting jewels, carving wood, all manner of a workmanship.
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What do you like to do? What are you good at?
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And you begin to see and it starts to narrow down.
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It's not what you want. It's not what you want to do.
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Like like, well, you know, I'm good with cutting stones, but
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really what I want to do is be a stockbroker.
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All right? I mean, I, I, I, you could step
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into that area, but when's the last time you cut a stone?
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You're really good at that. When's the last time you began
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to look at that intricate that I, that you have?
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That's very intricate. You know, you could go in a
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direction because you think that's the direction you want to
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go. But what is God made you good
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at? What do you want to do?
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What do you like to do? Begin there.
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You like music? Do something with music.
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You like art? Then Draw Something, paint
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something, do something in the realm of art.
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Are you an engineering mind? Then engineer something.
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Step in that direction. Do you like programming?
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Then program something. Do you like driving?
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Then drive safely Drive something.
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I was thinking today. It's a big day.
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We didn't mention much in the staff meeting or anything today,
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but I carry it heavy. Today's the two year mark since
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Pastor Avant died. 2 years today.
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For many, many years, you know what Avant did faithfully every
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day, morning to night? You know what he did?
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Drove a U PS: truck all around town, delivering packages
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throughout his knees. I think one of his hips, and you
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know how he drove that UPS truck exactly as they trained him,
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exactly as he was told, following his little clipboard
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and everything he did, delivering, going upstairs, all
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the DTC area. He would do that.
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But you know how you would do it?
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He would do it under the Lord. We were here for the memorial.
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The memorial was filled with people that not only did he
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worked with, but also that he delivered to.
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Why? Because he knew this is where
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God wanted him and he went all the way to the end until the
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retirement. He went all the way to the end.
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He served here faithfully because he had a pastoral
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gifting in his life too. But what fueled his pastoral
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gifting? UPS.
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So everyone that ships with UPS, thank you because you helped pay
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the salary of Pastor Amen. That's what he was made to do.
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He's made to drive and out of driving, he was made to meet
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people and out of meeting people, he was made to love them
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and speak to them and pray with them, not in this building, but
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on their doorstep, in their office, walking the hallways, in
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the parking lot. What do you like to do?
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Embrace it, pour yourself into it and give it to the Lord.
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Give it to the Lord in Psalm 37 verse 4, you can jot it down.
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It says delight yourself also in the Lord and he shall give you
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the desires of your heart. Now I really don't believe,
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although I can see an application here to some degree,
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but I really don't believe that means that God is grant going to
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grant you every little desire you ever have, like he's a genie
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and you can just say, well, you know, this is I have this
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desire. So God give it to me because I'm
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delighting my I really don't think that, but rather as you
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are a community in abiding in Jesus and communion with God,
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what happens but that you're selfish, self-centered thoughts
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of your life and your future are replaced with what his desires.
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So now you have new desires. It's a radical thing.
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You come to him and you're praying and you're going well,
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Lord, this and this and this. And as you're open, the Bible is
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open. As you're open, what happens?
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He changes your mind and He gives you a new desire and you
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think differently. I just love this section.
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It could be its own Bible study in and of itself.
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We could develop this to see in all kinds of different areas.
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This Craftsman, gifted, talented, but God came upon him
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and that's what sanctified his gift.
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That's what sanctified his talent.
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Not only the desires, but but what do I have to offer the Lord
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that I now want to use for Him? You know, what do you have to
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offer God? You have yourself, you have your
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talents, you have your likes. And when you take that offering
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to Him, He empowers you and uses you greatly collectively.
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And God will choose different people to do different things
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according to the calling that's on His life.
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God will use different people, different men, different women
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to do different things according to where He wants us in the
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body. Remember that description in
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First Corinthians where we the body of Christ is described like
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a human body. There's hands, there's feet,
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there's ears, there's like you want to be in the right place if
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you're the toe and you go, I just don't like being a toe.
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I don't want to be in this shoe all the time.
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It stinks so much. I don't want to be the mouth.
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Everybody can see me. I want to be on the face, but
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without the toe, we have no balance.
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Some of you just be content being a toe, OK?
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Just be content where God has it.
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You bring balance to the body of Christ.
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That's not even a negative thing.
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You bring balance. Some of you are encouragers, and
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Barnabas like be used of the Lord.
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Sometimes God will use people to create beautiful works of art or
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to compose beautiful songs. And here's the underlying fear.
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The underlying fear with the gifts and talents that you have
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is that if you give yourself completely to God with what he's
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given to you, somehow you fear that God would call you and lead
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you into something that you would just hate.
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And that if you did surrender somehow, you would be miserable.
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Like, well, you know, I kind of feel like I want to be a
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missionary. And your thought is he's just
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going to send me to the middle of a jungle all by myself.
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I'm going to get bit with mosquitoes and I'm going to hate
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it. You just have a you have a
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different you. You have the wrong view of God.
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You have the completely wrong view of God because he would
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take you. He would lead you, call you,
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send you according to your gifting, and you will like it.
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It won't be without spiritual warfare and it won't be without
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challenges, but you will love being used so much where you
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belong. And the converse is equally
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true. You will be so miserable trying
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to do something you weren't gifted to do.
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You may look at a Bible study like this.
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You know, I think you know, Ed, what do you do all week?
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I mean, basically just what you just talk.
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I could. I can talk.
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You read the Bible. I got a Bible.
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I think I'll be a pastor. Hey, listen, you don't want to
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be a pastor that's got called. You be a pastor.
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I met a lot of men that love to take that title on themselves
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and gather a little group around them.
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But the Lord's hands are not upon them.
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That's a we learn what it's like to offer strange fire to the
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Lord. You don't mess around.
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God wants you to do things his way and he wants you to follow
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his call. You don't want to just place a
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calling and say, well, you know, God called me.
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Well, why did God call you? Well, because I can teach.
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Well, for goodness sake. I mean, a lot of people could
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teach. Where's the fruit?
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Oh, well, people are coming. Well, a lot of people are going
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to come. Where's the fruit?
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Where's the affirmation of the elders of the church?
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Where's the affirmation of the people?
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Not not just the people that are calling you pastor, but where is
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the hand of God like his? Where God says I've called you,
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I've filled you with the spirit and wisdom and understanding and
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you just know. You just know, I, I was at a
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men's conference years ago. It was the very first year I got
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saved. I wish I had more time to tell
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you a little story, but I'll tell you a portion of it.
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So it was a men's, actually a men's retreat up in the
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mountains. Never been to 1 before.
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And, and it was just different. I'd been together with a bunch
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of guys. We got a shower outside.
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It was cold. It was like, like it was, it was
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like nothing I'd ever been a part of before in my whole life.
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Brand new believer and I don't know and I don't remember
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exactly, but I believe I had this sense in my life that maybe
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God wanted to use me in life. And I'm like a new believer in
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the first year of walking with the Lord.
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And I must have called together the guys and just told a bunch
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of, hey, we're going to be gathering together at 6:00 AM in
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the morning. Nothing official or anything.
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We're just going to go, I'm going to do a little devo and
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we'll I'll share a little bit if you're there and I, you know,
23:21
there's probably 300 men at that retreat and maybe 5 or 6 woke up
23:26
at 6:00 AM and there we are in the semi dark sharing the word,
23:30
just talking about it. And it was great.
23:32
It was wonderful for everyone was there.
23:33
But I knew that I had bombed. I knew it.
23:37
I knew I hadn't learned yet what I'm supposed to be doing or any
23:40
of that, but I did my best. What I had, I just sure was all
23:42
my heart. And a brother came up, put his
23:45
arm around me. His name is Gene, Gene Garcia.
23:50
He put his arm around me and said, well, you know, that was a
23:52
nice little divo, but I think I could help you.
24:00
I think I could help you do better.
24:01
I'm going to do better. So, yeah, I can see in you.
24:05
I could see God's hand in your life, but I also can see you
24:09
need help. I just thought I was pretty bold
24:11
for the brother. I already knew him.
24:13
I already trusted him. And he put his arm and he's put
24:16
a book in my hand and some cassette tapes on a book that
24:23
it's a part of our school ministry right now called the
24:25
Seven Laws of the Learner. He says, I think this will help
24:28
you. If you want to go through it
24:30
with me. You want to.
24:30
It's like, oh, you know, I'm working everything.
24:32
I really can't. But I'll listen to the tapes and
24:34
I'll read the book. And that little moment from a
24:37
brother at a men's conference, men's retreat, changed the whole
24:41
direction of my life, a complete direction.
24:46
OK, let me give you the other side.
24:47
We'll be here. Let me give you the other side.
24:49
OK, so. So I'm with Pastor Josh and I'm
24:54
also with Enrique. We went to the conference in
24:56
Philly. I haven't been in that
24:57
conference in a long time, Wasn't teaching.
24:59
I just felt like I needed to be there.
25:01
I reconnect with a lot of people because it's been years since
25:03
I've been over there. Pastor Josh is from Philly, so
25:06
he's going to show us the town and and it's first time Enrique,
25:09
he's traveling with me. It's great.
25:10
We had a great time. There's a friend of mine there
25:12
that I saw from California, Downey.
25:16
I mean, we go way, way back. He's serving faithfully now at
25:19
the Calvary Chapel in Miami, and he's there and we.
25:22
Oh, it's good to see you. Oh, it's good to see you.
25:24
And he goes, I got to tell you a story.
25:26
I got to tell you a story. We've been friends since 1992.
25:29
And I'm like, I know we've been together for a long time.
25:32
Yeah, but let me tell you how. And I'm like, well, tell me.
25:35
Well, there was this men's retreat, 1992.
25:38
I'm a brand new believer. I haven't been saved just but
25:41
for weeks. And somebody invited me to this
25:43
men's retreat. And there I was.
25:45
That's where I met you. I said, oh, that's awesome.
25:47
So no, no, no, there's more. He's a very vibrant Cuban man
25:51
and he's given me a story. I love it.
25:53
I love this family. I love all the connections.
25:55
So he's saying, you did this little devo, you did this little
25:59
devo that. And I went, I didn't know.
26:01
I went, I heard you said you're going to be there.
26:03
And I was in this little group and I could see brother God's
26:08
hand upon your life even as a new believer.
26:13
And I'm like, oh, let me tell you the rest of the story and
26:16
began because Gene is a mutual friend of ours.
26:19
He's a friend with him. I'm a friend of him.
26:21
And you see, all that to say is this.
26:25
Let's ask a second question as we wind down.
26:28
What is the best ministry? What is the best calling?
26:36
What? What is the best?
26:38
And here's the answer. You ready?
26:39
It might surprise you. The best ministry, the best
26:43
calling is the one that God created you for.
26:48
That's the best. It's the pastor.
26:51
It's not the best position, the worship leader, not the best
26:56
calling a missionary, not the best calling.
27:00
If that's not what God has for you, the best calling for your
27:04
life and mine is the one that God created us for.
27:07
Anything else would not be fulfilling.
27:10
It would not be fulfilling for you and it would not be honoring
27:13
to God. Again, on a rudimentary
27:16
illustration that consider this, you go into a shoe store and you
27:20
tell the person selling shoes I want the best shoe.
27:25
What are they going to say? Oh, I know exactly what No, they
27:28
they go well, what the best shoe for what?
27:31
What are you going to do? You going to work, you're going
27:33
to run, you're going to ride a bike.
27:35
They need to find out first what it is that you want to do, and
27:40
then they'll fit the right shoe for that purpose.
27:43
And I see the same thing in our lives.
27:46
The reality of the calling of God is what's best for you.
27:49
There's no second class believers here.
27:52
There's only men and women that have been called to a place, to
27:55
a position. I mean, I bet you that UPS
27:59
illustration today is just really ministered to someone
28:01
because you look at your job and you just don't see anything in
28:03
it. And yet God sees everything in
28:05
it, sees everything because God will place us in the world for
28:12
our proximity to people, the world.
28:15
God has it all wrong. And we grew up in this world.
28:17
So this is how we're thinking. We just think money, money,
28:19
money, money, money, money, money, money, money.
28:22
And God doesn't think like that. God already says I own the
28:25
cattle on 1000 hills. I don't think you need to be too
28:28
concerned about money. I'll take care of that piece.
28:30
If you just take care of looking to me and following me.
28:34
Just follow me, just follow me and I'll put you where you are
28:39
and I will supply God would say to us all your needs according
28:42
to riches in Christ Jesus as you embrace what God has for you.
28:47
The best place for Bezalel was to be the Craftsman that God
28:52
made him so good. Notice verse 6 now.
28:55
And indeed I have appointed with him a holy up, the son of a
29:00
Hassamak of the tribe of Dan. I put wisdom in the hearts of
29:03
all who are gifted artisans, that they make all that they may
29:07
make all that I've commanded you.
29:09
The Tabernacle of meaning, the arc of the testimony, the mercy
29:11
seat that's on it. All the furniture of the
29:14
Tabernacle, the table, its utensils, pure lampstand with
29:19
all its utensils. The altar of incense, the altar
29:21
of burnt offering with all its utensils.
29:23
The labor, the base, the garments of ministry, the holy
29:26
garments for Aaron the priest, the garments of his sons to
29:29
ministers priest, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, all the
29:33
holy place. According to all that I have
29:35
commanded you, they shall do this again.
29:41
Each one of these segments is a Bible study in and of itself.
29:45
But don't miss this Bezaliel was not to do this all by himself as
29:53
Moses was surrounded by capable men as or white.
29:57
The language we may use today is as God gave Moses A-Team, so is
30:03
with these artisans. They're going to do it together.
30:06
The phraseology we like to use around here is this we is the
30:10
language of ministry. It's not I and it's not you.
30:14
It's we, we're in this together. No one person in this room can
30:20
do everything that needs to be done for goodness sake, in the
30:23
ministry like this. No 100 people, no 1000 people
30:26
can do everything that needs to be done.
30:28
No 2000 people can do everything that needs to be done.
30:33
But as we yield ourselves to him, we get to be a part of all
30:38
that God is doing. I think of just pastors,
30:40
assistant pastors, worship leaders, servants, admin, you
30:44
know, the, the folks that take care of computers and all, all
30:48
and on and on and on. Listen, Exodus isn't just about
30:54
Moses. It's about Moses and all the
30:58
people that God surrounded him with.
31:02
I mean, you could step back one more point from that and say
31:05
Exodus isn't about Moses at all. It's about the God of Moses and
31:10
all that he's doing. But to be a part of a team, to
31:14
be a part of what God is doing together, to serve together to
31:20
fill the needs and the gaps, to go the extra mile.
31:24
It's not just for singularly one person, for the life of this
31:29
particular ministry. There are hundreds upon hundreds
31:31
upon hundreds upon hundreds of people that serve this community
31:35
under the banner of this church. And because I may get more
31:40
attention, I may get more FaceTime with you.
31:45
The the assumption may be that the fruit of this church has
31:51
something to do with my leadership, has something to do
31:55
with me, but I'm just part of the team.
31:59
And what I hope you see is faithfulness.
32:01
That's all I want. I want to be faithful to what
32:03
God has called me to. I want to progressively move
32:06
forward and what God's called me to, I want to be able to serve
32:10
Him in the capacity where He has filled me with wisdom and
32:13
knowledge. He's given me certain gifts.
32:16
He's given me an ability to think and to think a certain
32:19
way. Not everybody's happy though,
32:21
when I think certain way, but that's how God made me.
32:24
I just see things that are broken or I see that I just see
32:28
them. I see people that are broken.
32:30
I, I see. And then God has allowed me to
32:33
be surrounded with many, many, many men and women.
32:36
He already had that before we got here.
32:38
First of all, I was surrounded with my wife and three kids.
32:41
There was already a team moving to Colorado already.
32:44
I know Marie and I, or at least probably more me, we're looking
32:47
to see other couples come with us.
32:49
And we wanted them to and it was so excited.
32:52
But God already had the team, Marie, me and our kids.
32:55
He already had the team set together.
32:58
And then when we land and we come and we start selling down
33:01
call, there was already a group meeting.
33:03
So there was another 30 people waiting for us when we landed.
33:06
We didn't know about them, hadn't even met them yet, but
33:09
God knew how he was going to arrange it.
33:11
Now we wanted to meet them right away and start right away.
33:13
And God said, no, there's some things I need to do in your
33:17
life, some things I need to do first.
33:18
So he tested us to see if we wait on him.
33:22
We would trust him and we would follow him.
33:26
But remember, we is always the language of ministry, not
33:29
singularly. I'm not singularly responsible
33:32
for this church. It's a collective and throughout
33:36
the 25 years, not just this season, we've been surrounded
33:41
with wonderful men and women throughout the years.
33:45
They come through for a season, maybe move on, come through for
33:48
a season, maybe disqualify themselves.
33:51
It's so sad. Maybe that's just a word like
33:55
don't, don't disqualify yourself.
33:57
God wants to use you. Stay usable, stay moldable, stay
34:06
in a place where you say here I am, Lord, send me, use me, pour
34:12
your spirit of wisdom in me, the knowledge in me.
34:17
Don't seek great things for yourself.
34:18
You seek great things for the glory of God.
34:21
God will share the Bible says his glory with no one, it's
34:27
exclusively his. Let's close up verse 13.
34:30
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak also to the
34:33
children of Israel, saying, surely my Sabbaths you shall
34:35
keep. It's a sign between me and you
34:38
throughout your generations. Quick note, we've studied this
34:41
already. The Sabbath was given to Israel,
34:43
not to the church, that you may know that I'm the Lord who
34:45
sanctifies you. Verse 14.
34:47
You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to
34:50
you. Everyone who profanes it shall
34:52
surely be put to death. And whoever does any work on it,
34:55
the person shall be cut off from among his people.
34:59
It's interesting because those that would that advocate a
35:02
Sabbath today, as in the Old Testament Sabbath, that New
35:05
covenant believers should keep, they keep that part literal, but
35:08
don't keep the death part literal.
35:11
So you should keep the Sabbath literally.
35:12
But what if I miss? Are you going to kill me?
35:15
No, no, no, that's not actually we, we believe the first part's
35:17
literal, but not the second part.
35:19
And it's just a bad hermeneutic. It is a hermeneutic is the art
35:23
and science of Bible interpretation.
35:25
It's just a bad Bible interpretation.
35:28
Sabbath was given in the old covenant because Jesus now is
35:33
our Sabbath rest, and by faith in Him you have rest.
35:38
You have fulfilled the law. Verse 15.
35:40
Now work shall be done six days, but the 7th is a Sabbath day of
35:44
rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the
35:47
Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
35:49
Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to
35:52
observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual
35:55
covenant. It's a sign between me and the
35:58
children of Israel forever. 6 days the Lord made the heavens
36:02
and the earth, and on the 7th day he rested and was refreshed.
36:06
And when he had made an end of speaking with Him on the mount,
36:09
he gave Moses 2 tablets of testimony, tablets of stone,
36:12
written with the finger of God. Now it seems odd again at the
36:17
end now, that God would mention the Sabbath and repeat it again.
36:21
But I believe He's trying to make a point here that's
36:23
important for us all. He's, he's reminding the
36:27
children of Israel the significance of obedience, this
36:31
covenant he's making with them. But here it's repeated again
36:36
that not only is it important #1 to obey God, but it's also
36:40
important #2 to rest. And that's the principle that we
36:44
pick up as new covenant believers.
36:47
You cannot go 7 days, 24 hours a day or 8 days or 10 days or 15
36:53
days. You can't go without rest.
36:57
And the pattern of God is God worked 6 days and rested.
37:00
And even more than that, the minister, the spiritual servant,
37:03
those who are serving in the church need to worship the Lord.
37:07
And as a pastor, I've seen this too much.
37:09
Now you know, in our culture, you don't get one day off, you
37:11
get 2 days off. And here's the thing, I've seen
37:14
this at countless times, especially within ministry.
37:18
The day off may be given, but rest is not taken.
37:24
You've got to learn how to rest. You've got to learn how to rest.
37:32
Should I say it again, you've got to learn how to rest.
37:36
It's one thing to have the day off, it's another to rest.
37:41
Those serving in the Lord, they need to worship the Lord to set
37:45
set apart time to worship the Lord.
37:47
Another principle here, not just on the day, but you'll see
37:51
people as they're raised up in ministry.
37:53
They're raised up in ministry because somebody saw something
37:55
in them, faithfulness of faithfulness in ministry, of
37:59
faithfulness in the word of faithfulness in service
38:02
somewhere. And you watch them, you go, oh,
38:03
I can see that God's doing something in their life.
38:05
They're the ones that you see taking notes.
38:07
They're the ones that are the spiritual servants.
38:10
They're the ones that are obviously used of God being
38:12
raised up and entrusted with more.
38:14
But overtime, over time, you find that they're not taking
38:19
notes anymore. They're not in service anymore.
38:22
They don't really seem like they're in the word.
38:24
They might be goofing off in services.
38:26
They might be making little jokes of the person next to him,
38:28
drawing little pictures instead of seeking the Lord.
38:31
Bible study becomes, well, you know, I've heard that study
38:34
before. If you're in a church for a long
38:35
period of time, which is God's will for your life, right?
38:38
It's not God's will for you to hop around all these churches.
38:40
It's God's will for you to be in a local church and just write it
38:43
out, you know, good, bad, just it's referred for your
38:46
discipleship, for your growth, unless there's some gross abuse
38:50
or something like you're just to ride it out, you know, good, the
38:53
good seasons and the bad seasons, the the high points and
38:56
the low points. So it's God's will as you go
38:58
through things. And if you're in a church for a
39:00
while ago, you know, I heard that Bible study already.
39:02
Actually, you didn't. Well, yeah, I did.
39:04
I heard it back in 2002. Well, last time I looked, it's
39:08
like 2025. So I'm not sure what you heard,
39:11
but I'm teaching something right now where you add, I know all
39:13
your jokes, you know, you know more than I do because I don't
39:16
even know all my jokes. So like, well, you know, I heard
39:19
that illustration. I heard that.
39:20
Well, what else do I have? I don't have AI.
39:22
Don't live 1000 lives. I have the same illustrations.
39:25
Well, you know, sometimes you're teaching like there's new
39:27
believers there. Well, there are new believers
39:29
here and they need to learn how to study the Bible.
39:33
And so you see how this awe and wonder and you know, I heard
39:37
that study a million times. Maybe God has something new for
39:40
me. It's lost.
39:41
I'll tell you why. Because you haven't learned how
39:44
to rest. You haven't learned how to honor
39:49
the war. Now, I'm not saying you haven't
39:52
learned it to you can't go back to it.
39:54
But when you let your guard down and you treat holy things as
40:00
profane, simple things, then you're going to miss out.
40:05
It's important, no matter what you're doing in the body, to
40:08
cultivate your personal relationship with the Lord,
40:11
especially in the church that you're in.
40:14
Stay obedient, honor the Lord. Learn how to rest so you're your
40:20
best. Learn how to rest so that you
40:24
provide your best to the person that's in front of you.
40:28
Learn how when you're on vacation, to enjoy your
40:31
vacation. Train yourself.
40:35
One of the things just by way of advice that I've done over the
40:38
years is that when I'm on vacation, I'm completely
40:41
unplugged. Completely.
40:47
I don't. I just want to rest.
40:49
I want to open my e-mail and there's a problem, but I thought
40:52
I was on vacation. When there's a problem, like
40:54
they should call the office. People are here, they can serve
40:57
them. Or you pop up on Instagram.
40:59
It's something like if I'm in the middle of nowhere, I'm in
41:02
the middle of nowhere for a reason.
41:06
I'll get back soon enough. But over the years I've trained
41:11
and I've had to learn this to take my rest along the way, to
41:17
take my rest along the way as the Lord will lead you.
41:19
So church at the end of verse 30, chapter 31.
41:23
We'll get into a little bit more than that later, but we're out
41:25
of time. But this concludes the 40 days
41:28
that Moses was up on Mount Sinai.
41:30
He received the law. The 10 commandments is going to
41:33
come down the mountain to chapter 32.
41:37
You should read ahead because it's not good.
41:41
Chapter 32 is not good. It's just like I'm seeking the
41:45
Lord. Oh, this is fear and trembling.
41:47
I'm getting the law, I'm getting the Tabernacle.
41:49
I'm just in the presence of God. Then he's got to come back.
41:52
You know, we want life to always be the mountaintops, but from
41:56
you can't live on the mountaintops.
41:57
He's got most of the life has lived in the valleys where you
42:01
got to deal with stuff. And just those of you that are
42:03
sending high schoolers to the camp, just know it's going to be
42:06
a very high experience for them. But they're coming back to
42:08
reality. So you got to prepare for that.
42:12
You got to prepare to encourage them like the last thing your
42:15
kids need when they get back. Why don't you clean your room?
42:18
All right, mom, All right, dad. Like I just, I was going to tell
42:22
you what the Lord spoke to me, but now I'll just go clean my
42:25
room and be mad at you and be separate from you just the same
42:31
thing. I was going to tell you what the
42:32
Lord gave me. I got just totally like, you
42:34
didn't even know I was going to come and clean my room.
42:36
I was going to repent and I was going to ask you forgiveness
42:38
because I just the Lord showed me what.
42:40
But you got it first. You got to prepare.
42:44
And I know a lot of parents for the high schoolers aren't here
42:46
right now, but for those that are, you got to prepare.
42:48
They're coming back into the reality you're living in and
42:50
they need your encouragement. Amen.
42:52
Amen. So Lord, thank you for your word
42:54
and the the insight that you would give us tonight, that you
42:57
would be glorified among us that truly we recognize you created
43:02
us for a purpose. You gifted us talent, wisdom,
43:05
knowledge. Some are driving, some are, you
43:08
know, with you know, stones and wood and building and fixing and
43:14
all of it. It's all equal.
43:17
It's all used by your Kingdom if it's dedicated to you.
43:20
So help us or be the men and women you want us to be, in
43:23
Jesus name, Amen. We pray that you've been
43:26
encouraged by this Bible study delivered live from the
43:29
sanctuary of Calvary Church for prayer.
43:32
Call us at 87730 grace that's 877-304-7223.
43:41
To listen to this message in its integrity or to join us for our
43:44
live stream services, visit us online at Calvary Co dot Church
43:49
or download our free Calvary Church app.
43:52
Be blessed as you worship Jesus this week.