Pastor Gail – Main Message
1. We need confidence in our God. I don’t know about you, but I sense for me personally, and I believe the world in all of you. I believe we’re in a sense of great transition, I know I am. A season of change. So how do we find hope, when everything is changing and we’re not sure of the next season? Sometimes I think God pulls all the props, all the things that support us. He pulls them out from underneath us. We think sometimes it’s a bad thing. But it’s often, very often a good thing.
2. Because He wants to remind us, what is rock under our feet, and what is sand under our feet, Amen. And when the props, when those things we stand on are pulled out from underneath us, we begin to look more closely. We try to examine what’s happening, and that gives God the opportunity for us to see things through His eyes more clearly. I think we basically have three choices to live by.
3. In a difficult time, we can either begin to give up, we can begin to give into the situation, or number three, we can give it to God. I want us to vote for option three. I want to give it to God; I want us to learn to give it all to God like we never have before.
4. I wish we could write the story of our lives. I would be a millionaire, not a billionaire. I don’t want to be greedy. I would never have to diet again. I would own my own apartment or home. And everybody in my life would always love me. And they would never find anything wrong with me. But we can’t write the story of our lives.
5. Tomorrow, everything could change. We don’t even know what’s going to happen next year. I have a calendar and I fill things in. But I don’t really know. And so, do we give up or give in or give it to God? Let’s give it to God.
6. Just think about this way. If we all knew the answer, there would be no need to hope and trust God. And I love this about God. He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to know Him as this intimate Father that is working in every situation for His good in our life. And part of the process of this is growing up and becoming spiritually mature.
7. And the Lord is going to pull more and more of the props out from under us because He wants us to grow up. He wants us to get mature in Him. When you’re in a difficult process and you come to the edge and you don’t know what to do, what we need to do is put our hand in the hand of the one that can even walk on the water.
8. I like that. I want to walk on water. I want to be a water walker. I want to walk through storms and get calm. God wants this for us. God is wanting us to decide, I’m going to give it all for you God, even when I’m afraid or worried or concerned or depressed. I’m going to give it to you.
9. Have you ever been in one of those moments, when there just seemed to be no hope? You had no idea what you were going to do. And you just kind of stand there. I remember a very clear moment like that once. My son was lost in a department store. He was just three and he accidentally lost his hand and he got lost in the department store. And it was Christmas there were thousands of people. And all I could do was stand there and bow my head and just, God please help me, God help me.
10. And as I stood there, I heard a voice in my heart that said, ‘Listen to me’. I did not know where to go except to the office information, the information place, but they couldn’t have helped me. And it felt like the Lord said, go ask the clerk. Have you seen a little boy? I lost him and he has a little red jacket on. And the lady says to me, oh you mean him? And he was just sitting behind the cashier waiting for mom to find him.
11. I felt like I was in a situation, there’s no answer. In your mind I’m thinking he was kidnapped to all kinds of horrible things. He was down on traffic, in the road, dead. You just think crazy things. But in the middle of all that noise, the Christmas noise of the shoppers, there was a voice that was stronger. I found the voice of God.
12. This is the year of prayer. The Lord has been calling and calling us to pray. If you cannot come to church and pray, if you cannot, I challenge you, turn off your TV. Go sit and be quiet for a little while. Take time to wait to hear him. He is wanting to speak to us very clearly.
13. With everything that is happening in the world, now is the time to find his voice. And you know what? Maybe the things in your life will be very different after you find him. Maybe not outside of you, but inside. They will be different because you found the peace of God that surpasses everything. The Lord wants us to find hope in times of change and difficulties.
14. If God is who he says he is, and he is, then none of his promises will fail because he forgets us or our situation is beyond his power. Do you understand that? His promises don’t fail. He never fails us. And no situation is beyond his power.
15. Now I want to read from Psalm 56:3,4. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you, in God whose word I praise, in God I trust, and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
16. One of the translations of verse 4 says, “When I am afraid but I begin to trust God”, it says, “the roaring praises of God fill my heart”. What he is saying is, if I am afraid, but I trust God, I have hope in God, when I trust him, I will always triumph, so the praises should roar. Amen.
17. David is saying, ‘I am going to let roaring praises just flow out of my life, because my hope is in the Lord.’ Amen. So, I’ll say it in English and then you say it in Greek.
18. I will trust, I will triumph as I trust in his promises. I will triumph as I trust in his promises. If you can remember it, let’s say it all together.
19. I will triumph as I trust in his promises. Amen. God is saying in the change, I want to bring you more triumph in your life. Amen. I will give you more triumph in your life, but I will give you more triumph in your life. This is what we have to do.
20. Deuteronomy 32 & 33, I will say it in Greek. I will say it in English. These are Moses’ last words. This is what he wants to say at the end of his life, and I’m just going to summarize this. Basically, he’s saying, we are moving from here. There’s going to be a change in leadership. There’s going to be a lot of funerals. And there may even be job changes for many of you.
21. What he was saying to them, you’re going to be leaving the wilderness. And you’re going to go into Canaan. Into the Promised Land. What you are seeing with your eyes, the landscape is going to totally change. The leadership is going to change. Moses was getting ready to give the leadership baton to Joshua.
22. Then he said there’s going to be a lot of deaths in the camp. Because he said all of those people that didn’t believe what Joshua and Caleb said, the good report, all of those people, they’re going to die; they’re not going to the Promised Land. In fact, only Joshua and Caleb will go.
23. There’s going to be a job change. You were just nomads in the desert. Now you’re going to become farmers in the promised Land. You’re going to plant, and things are going to grow. What Moses was saying in his final words, you can have hope when change is coming. When it seems like everything around you, is changing. Hope in the Lord. And in the middle of this, in the middle of the change, God gave a Word to the people through Moses. And he wants the people to know, ‘I have something wonderful for you’.
24. It seems like something strange. Remember the eagle. That seems strange right in the middle of this. All these things, you know. Think about an eagle. He says, ‘When we trust him, we will triumph in his promises’. But God says, I’ve got you. Whether you’re in a move, or a transition, on a new job. He says, remember the eagle.
25. Let’s remember this verse, Psalms 56. “With God on my side, I will not be afraid of what comes. The roaring praises of God will fill my heart as I trust his promises”.
26. Moses was speaking about what I’m going to call this morning a philosophy of disturbance. Sometimes we think disturbance is bad. But disturbance can be really good. Moses was thinking about all of this change, and God was saying, ‘It may look like a hurricane, but it’s good. And I will be with you in the change. Maybe all of your friends move away. Maybe you lose your house, everything’. But God is still there. There is only one rock, and his name is ‘Jesus’. And we have got to learn to stand on that rock that never changes.
27. An eagle’s nest is very important. It’s a revelation of change, but also of care during change. God cares for us. Do you believe that today? I mean, I’m going to be honest. I’m not sure. I always do. Sometimes it’s really hard. I get worried and worried and anxious. I eat too much chocolate instead of talking to the Lord.
28. You can see it there in Deuteronomy 32:11,12, he says, “As the eagle, so the Lord will do the same for you. He will care for you.” Remember this when change comes. God is helping you as a believer. When you are a child of God, he is there to help you.
29. I don’t do it ever out of disrespect. But there are times when I pray, I’ll just say to him, ‘You’re my Daddy’. Most of the time I honor him and call him ‘Father’. But there are times I feel like to speak to him from the most intimate level. My earthly father is no longer here. My Daddy, my Father in heaven is there. He’s still there for me to lead my way. Tell him, ‘I have a need. I have a need, Daddy’. And do you know why I could do this? Because I’m his kid. I’m his child. You’re his children. We honor him, but we can be so intimate with him. And God, doesn’t change? I love knowing he’s an unchanging God.
30. Whatever is happening in your life, whatever season you’re getting ready to enter, the character of God does not change in the middle of change. He’s going to remove some of the props in our lives. Maybe you’ve been comfortable in your life so far, he might be getting ready to make you uncomfortable.
31. God says, I will bear you up on eagle’s wings when it just seems like you can’t stand more. I will bear you up. I will lift you up. God allows change many times to bring change to us. The eagle’s interesting. There’s a day that comes when mama eagle decides and she knows it’s time; they can’t stay here much longer. They’ve been very comfortable in that little nest. Mom has fed them and done everything for them.
32. Then suddenly with her huge talons, she starts ripping that nest apart, tearing everything out of it. She’d been very comfortable in the feathers and all the soft lining as she had built that nest. Now those sticks that are in there, they’re beginning to poke those little eaglets.
33. It’s not comfortable anymore. Who wants to be where it’s not comfortable? Mom, what are you doing? God says he is getting ready for some of us and at some point, in your life, he will break up your nest. Don’t get stuck in a comfortable way of life that never changes.
34. He doesn’t want you to be sitting in the nest when you should be flying. He doesn’t want you just coming to church on Sunday morning, having a nice smile, having coffee afterwards, going home and doing nothing else with your life for God. We should be doing something for God with all of our lives.
35. God is beginning to call individuals and families to come nearer to him. He’s pulling us out of the comfortable things that we have held on to. What do we do? God says, ‘I am calculating the moment when I can move in your life. I am calling you to do something you have never done before’. The Lord is doing that for each one of us, I believe. And it could be as important today as you sit here in this room by saying, ‘I no longer want to live a lukewarm life for Jesus’.
36. Maybe today, God’s trying to make you uncomfortable for you to say, ‘I’ve tried so many other ways, I wanted my own way. But I need to live for God. I need to have a relationship with him that I’ve never had before’.
37. I remember one time, because I used to cry a lot when I preached. So, I asked several people, you know, would you quit crying if it bothers you? So, I prayed and quit crying. And actually, God heard my prayer. The longest time I couldn’t cry. And I realized God made us to use this change, to walk with others. In many ways, the way we’re made, he wants us to help others know the differences of who we are in him and for us to open the box. And God has those calculated moments. When he wants us to realize that there’s a lot in us that he wants us to give to him, to use to help others.
38. I asked him to repent and ask for help. And for those who aren’t comfortable with it, maybe they’re just not as open as I am. I kind of decided that. And I love him so much. Sometimes I just cry over love. Do you ever just cry for love? I cry sometimes when I’m joyful. He changes us. He uses strange situation sometimes. To make us realize. We always want to be, who we want to be to be him in a world that’s always changing. And has no hope.
39. But I have hope, That mother eagle, she begins to push those little baby eaglets out of the house. One by one, she goes over and begins to push them out of the nest. She watches them one by one roll out of the nest that is always really high up. There’s potential for flying, but they’re not done yet. So, she pushes and watches. And then in midair. Well, there’s nothing underneath that little eagle. No nest, there’s nothing