Desiring God's Presence Over His Gifts

Sermon Summary

In Exodus 34, God reveals Himself to Moses in a moment of profound glory, declaring His name and character: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin, yet not leaving the guilty unpunished. But this revelation comes on the heels of Israel’s greatest failure—idolatry at the foot of Sinai. While Moses is on the mountain receiving instructions for the tabernacle, the people grow impatient, fashion a golden calf, and attribute to it the very acts of deliverance God performed for them. This is not just an ancient story; it’s a mirror for our own hearts and the church today.

The question that must be asked is: How deeply do we desire to know God? Not just to know about Him, or to receive His blessings, but to truly know Him—His heart, His ways, His presence. There is a temptation in every generation, and especially in our own, to settle for a version of faith that is comfortable, controllable, and affirming of our own desires. We can build systems, traditions, and even ministries that look impressive but are empty of God’s presence. The promised land is not the promised land without the One who promised it. Christianity is not Christianity without Christ at the center.

As a church, we are in a season of crossing over—moving from building community to impacting eternity. But we cannot cross over without God Himself. The challenge is to examine whether we want God, or merely His gifts. Are we content with the trappings of religion, or are we desperate for His presence? The difference is everything. When God threatened to send Israel forward without His presence, the people mourned. Would we mourn if God’s presence was absent from our lives, our church, our plans?

To know God is to encounter His compassion, His grace, His patience, His truth, His lovingkindness, and His forgiveness. He is not a distant, angry deity, but a Father who sees our suffering and is moved to act. He is the God who became flesh, who forgives the deepest sin, and who desires to dwell with us. The invitation is to pursue Him with honesty, to make time for His Word, for prayer, for fasting, and to lay our lives down at the altar. Revival, transformation, and eternal impact begin with a people desperate for God Himself, not just what He can do for us.

Key Takeaways

1. The Depth of Our Desire for God Shapes Everything The question “How deeply do you desire to know God?” is not a surface-level inquiry but a call to examine the true hunger of our hearts. It’s easy to settle for a faith that is about comfort, tradition, or personal affirmation, but God invites us to a relationship marked by longing for His presence above all else. The depth of our desire will determine whether we settle for substitutes or press in for the real, living God. [08:23]
2. Idolatry is Subtle and Often Looks Like Religion The story of the golden calf is not just about ancient Israel; it’s a warning for us. Idolatry happens whenever we shape God into our own image or use faith to serve our own ends. Even in the church, we can build impressive ministries, pursue influence, or chase after blessings, all while missing the heart of God. True worship is about surrendering control and seeking God for who He is, not what He can give. [15:14]
3. God’s Presence is Non-Negotiable for True Impact Crossing over into new seasons, whether as individuals or as a church, is meaningless without God’s presence. The promised land loses its value if God is not with us. We must be willing to mourn the absence of His presence and refuse to move forward without Him, recognizing that all our efforts are empty apart from Him. [22:25]
4. Knowing God Means Encountering His Character God reveals Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth, and forgiving. These are not abstract attributes but realities to be experienced. When we know God, we encounter His mercy in our suffering, His patience in our failures, and His truth that sets us free. This knowledge transforms us from the inside out and empowers us to extend His love to others. [34:05]
5. Pursuing God Requires Intentionality and Vulnerability To truly know God, we must make time for Him—through His Word, honest prayer, fasting, and surrender. It’s not about perfection but about authenticity and commitment. The altar is not a place of shame but of encounter, where we lay down our pride, our plans, and our pain to receive more of Him. Revival and eternal impact begin with a people willing to abandon themselves to God’s presence. [43:16]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:41] - Honoring Leaders and Bethesda Youth
[04:58] - Reading Exodus 34:6-7
[06:57] - The First Question: How Deeply Do You Want to Know God?
[09:42] - The Promise to Preach the Word
[10:22] - Israel’s Idolatry and Impatience
[12:08] - Aaron’s Compromise and the Golden Calf
[14:26] - Attributing God’s Glory to Idols
[15:14] - Modern Idolatry in the Church
[20:31] - Building Community and Crossing Over
[22:25] - The Necessity of God’s Presence
[24:33] - Do We Want God or Just His Blessings?
[29:15] - Desperation for God’s Presence
[32:51] - Who is the God We Seek?
[34:05] - God’s Compassion, Grace, and Truth
[38:06] - God’s Forgiveness and the Call to Respond
[43:16] - Practical Steps to Pursue God
[46:07] - The Altar Call and Invitation to Prayer
[47:20] - Laying It All Down for God
[48:22] - Closing and Final Prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Exodus 34:6-7 — And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

Observation Questions

In Exodus 34:6-7, what specific qualities does God use to describe Himself? Why do you think He repeats His name twice at the start? [32:51]
According to the sermon, what was happening among the Israelites while Moses was on the mountain with God? What did Aaron do, and why was it significant? [12:08]
When God told Israel He would not go with them into the promised land, how did the people respond? What does this reveal about their understanding of God’s presence? [23:49]
The sermon mentions that the golden calf was given the very attributes and name of God. What does this say about how idolatry can sometimes look religious or spiritual? [14:26]

Interpretation Questions

The pastor said, “The promised land is not the promised land without God.” What does this mean for us today? How can we sometimes focus on God’s gifts instead of God Himself? [22:25]
Why do you think God chose to reveal His character (compassion, grace, patience, lovingkindness, truth, forgiveness) right after Israel’s greatest failure? What does this say about God’s heart toward us when we fail? [34:05]
The sermon warns that idolatry is subtle and can look like religion. In what ways might modern Christians or churches fall into this trap without realizing it? [15:14]
The people mourned when they heard God’s presence would not go with them. What does true mourning for God’s absence look like in a believer’s life or in a church? [23:49]

Application Questions

The pastor asked, “How deeply do you desire to know God?” Take a moment to honestly assess your own hunger for God’s presence. Are there areas where you’ve settled for comfort, tradition, or just “knowing about” God instead of truly knowing Him? What would it look like to press in deeper? [08:23]
Think about the story of the golden calf. Are there “golden calves” in your life—things you’ve made more important than God, even if they seem good or spiritual? How can you identify and surrender these idols? [14:26]
The sermon challenged us to ask: Would we mourn if God’s presence was missing from our lives, our church, or our plans? How can you become more sensitive to God’s presence (or absence) in your daily life? [23:49]
God describes Himself as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and truth, and forgiving. Which of these aspects of God’s character do you most need to experience right now? How can you open yourself up to encounter Him in that way? [34:05]
The pastor gave practical steps: making time for God’s Word, honest prayer, fasting, and surrender. Which of these do you find most challenging? What is one specific step you can take this week to pursue God more intentionally? [43:16]
The altar was described as a place of encounter, not shame. Is there something you need to lay down at God’s altar—pride, plans, pain, or something else? What would it look like for you to do that, either privately or with the support of others? [46:07]
As a church, we are called to move from building community to impacting eternity. What is one way you can help our church keep God at the center as we “cross over” into this new season? [20:31]

Sermon Clips

How deeply do you you want to know God? How deeply do you desire to know Him? As a collective body of believers known as Bethesda Community Church and as individual believers of the Lord Jesus Christ, how desperately do you desire to know Him? [00:07:17]

If you do know Him, are you still filled with the same passion for him today as you were the day you met him? [00:08:20]

I promise to give you the word and give you the word faithfully. I believe that the word is alive and active and sharper than any two -edged sword. And that when we read this, it reads us. I believe that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Faith does not come by hearing the words of Thomas Jones. I'm not that good. I promise you I'm not that good. [00:09:38]

We'd much rather have a God that we can control. We'd much rather have a God made in our image than being made in his. I'm not bashing anybody, I'm not pointing out, just hear me, there are churches today that are acting like this and this is where it gets on my nerves. Because instead of worshipping him, we have made a version of Christianity where he is not glorified, he is not praised. [00:15:56]

What breaks my heart is that there's churches today where the pastor who knows better is peddling a counterfeit to make the people feel good. I'm not saying this about us, hear me, before someone takes offense. [00:16:36]

We have built this faith up and then we have the audacity with this faith with this crooked belief system to call it Christianity and to call it our God and my question is this do we desire to know our bridegroom do we desire to know our good Shepherd are we seeking his Lordship and his companionship or instead of knowing our God growing in our faith and filling our pulpits have we developed and affirmed a faith system where we are the American Idol. [00:18:31]

You will have to drink the water you worship and let me be the first to tell you that molten gold and water creates a very bitter taste and if we are drinking a very bitter water from a false faith it will leave us very bitter people but if you knew who our God is he would give you living water and it's a water that will spring from the heart forth to eternal life. [00:19:42]

This is the part where your obedience to Jesus' Lordship will be tested. And the depth of your love for him will be revealed. This is where rubber meets the road. This is where people cross over from death into life. This is where people cross over from addiction to deliverance. [00:21:49]

If we are to cross over as a church, we cannot cross over without God. This might be conviction for some. This might be encouragement for some. This might just be a little check for some. We cannot cross over without God. [00:22:49]

Would the thought of not having him, would the thought of not knowing him, the thought of not experiencing him, the thought of not having his presence lead us on a daily basis, would it cause us to mourn? Or is the stuff that he gives us more important? There's a difference between wanting our God and wanting his stuff. [00:24:50]

We cannot cross over without God. And if you think the promised land is so good on the other side, let me be the first to break it to you. The promised land is not the promised land without God. [00:27:11]

What's the promised land without the one who promised the land? What's Christianity without Christ as your Lord? [00:28:10]

Do we want to know the Lord Jesus Christ and have him as our Lord, or do we just want the label Christian? Do we want genuine revival where people are springing into new life and souls are setting on fire for him, or do we just want a t -shirt that says we were there? [00:28:28]

We must be a church that is desperate enough to cry out to God, show me your ways so that I may know you, Lord, and find favor in your sight. Though favor is not so important to me as much as knowing you is. [00:29:25]

We must become a church that is so desperate to say, if your presence does not go with us, don't let us leave here at all. [00:29:39]

I'd much rather sit in those hard times with God than have everything be nice and pretty without Him. [00:29:54]

When we invite God into our lives, we get to know the truth. And Jesus says we will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. Hear me. There's someone today wrestling with addiction. There's someone here with some lies that have been told in their mind, and they've been begging for deliverance. Can I tell you that Jesus is the truth, and the truth will set you free? [00:36:37]

He has not changed nor will he ever, church. If some of you are looking for mercy today, you need kindness from God. He's willing to give it. That's who he is. He's been showing it since the beginning and that's what he'll be doing forever. That's who he is. [00:38:02]

It's not some golden calf. It's not a God that cannot see and cannot hear. It's a living God. He's a living God. And he became like one of us. And he chose to lay himself down and pick himself back up for you, for me, for us. [00:40:47]

When we invite him into our lives, he fills the temple of our hearts. He will empower us to fill our pulpits and impact eternity. This is the same God who will come again soon in his glory. And tattooed on his thigh will be king of kings and lord of lords. [00:41:21]

Will we make time for him? You know, you make time for the people you love. You make time for the things you love. Do you love him enough to spend time with him? [00:43:25]

You want revival in our church? You want people to be set free, people to be saved? You want to see miracles, signs, and wonders? It starts with abandoning ourselves on the altar. [00:47:11]

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Chatbot

1. How does knowing God's character influence our faith?

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3. Why is genuine relationship with God essential for revival?