Following God's Presence into a New Season of Growth

Aug 23, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Following the Pillar, Not the Campsite

The Israelites didn’t cling to Sukkoth or Etham—they followed the cloud and fire. Their identity wasn’t rooted in temporary stops but in God’s presence leading them forward. Like them, the church isn’t defined by buildings, programs, or past seasons. Growth demands releasing nostalgia for yesterday’s methods while holding tightly to the God who moves. Seasons change, but faithfulness means watching for where the fire shifts next. Camp too long, and manna stops. [46:04]

They set out from Sukkoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert. By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light. (Exodus 13:20-21, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you grown comfortable with “camping” in routines or traditions? What practical step can you take this week to refocus on following God’s presence rather than preserving familiar ground?

Day 2: From Museum to Zoo: Embracing Holy Mess

Museums preserve dead things perfectly. Zoos teem with messy, hungry life. The church thrives not in polished programs but in the chaos of new believers, untested ideas, and Spirit-led risks. Stains on carpets and overflowing trash cans can be holy signs—proof that real people are being fed, healed, and transformed. Protecting comfort kills mission. [50:05]

No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins. (Mark 2:22, NIV)

Reflection: What “messy” ministry moment have you criticized or avoided lately? How might that chaos actually signal God’s work with new people or fresh calling?

Day 3: Missing the Sign, Keeping the Speed

State lines don’t announce themselves with fanfare—just a small sign. Churches often miss new seasons because growth feels gradual. But persisting in yesterday’s pace (70mph in a 40mph zone) risks disaster. Adapting to new realities—more guests, shifting needs—isn’t betrayal. It’s survival. [01:04:40]

Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV)

Reflection: What subtle “speed limit change” has God placed in your church life recently? Where might your habits conflict with the new season’s demands?

Day 4: New Wineskins for New Harvest

Beds for children matter today. Plague care mattered yesterday. Ministries expire when needs shift, but the mission remains. Clinging to old methods starves new harvests. Like the rock that moved with the Israelites, resources exist for the journey—not the campsite. [59:54]

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5, NIV)

Reflection: What ministry or tradition do you associate with “who we are” that God might be retiring? How can you celebrate its past while making space for new fruit?

Day 5: Your Seat or Their Sanctuary?

A claimed pew seat cost a guest their place. Territorial habits—over parking spots, leadership roles, or music styles—tell newcomers, “Become like us.” But the church isn’t a club. It’s a caravan where every arrival gets to help steer as we follow the pillar together. [01:06:48]

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7, NIV)

Reflection: What unconscious habit (seating, language, serving) might make guests feel like outsiders? How will you intentionally cede space this Sunday for someone new?

Sermon Summary

Numbers 33 begins with what feels like a boring and long list of camps, but the text is doing more than naming places. The Israelites set out from Ramses the day after Passover, in full view of Egypt, while the Lord was judging Egypt’s gods. God called Israel out of Egypt and toward the promised land, but the way there ran through a whole lot of campsites.

The list of “they left” and “they camped” reminds God’s people that the point was never Succoth, Etham, Elim, or any other stop along the way. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night mattered more than the location. The presence of God moved, and Israel moved. The people did not need to know the whole route. The people needed to follow.

The same pattern names what happens in the life of a church. The history of the church in Lake City has included different buildings, different seasons, different ways things looked and behaved. The danger comes when a church starts wanting to go back to old campsites instead of watching where God is moving next. The question is not how to get back to where things used to be, but how to follow God faithfully into the next place.

The Alamo image warns that a church can start as a mission, become a battlefield, and end up as a museum. The museum may be clean, pretty, and in order, but everything is dead. The zoo image tells the truth about life. A living church is sometimes wild, sometimes messy, and always needing tending. The goal is not to eliminate the mess, because the only way to have no mess is for everything to be dead.

The state line image names the shift. This church has moved from decline to stability to growth. God has been blessing, and the sign has to be named so people do not keep acting like the old rules still fit the new place. The church is not defined by where it came from, but by where God is leading it.

The new people are not just extra hands to keep old ministries going. Their passions, gifts, ideas, and callings must be made room for. Wanting new people is not the same thing as loving new people. The mission remains following Christ, but the expressions of that mission may change. The question becomes sharp: will this new season be praised and supported, or quietly killed by old attitudes, old habits, and “that’s my seat” behavior?

Key Takeaways

1. Follow the presence, not the campsite The wilderness list teaches that Israel’s safety was never tied to a location. The cloud and the fire were the real center, because God’s presence decided when to stay and when to move. A church loses its way when yesterday’s camp becomes more precious than today’s obedience. [46:04]
2. A living church makes a mess The museum image exposes the temptation to prefer clean order over living movement. The zoo image tells a harder truth: life brings noise, smells, disruption, and constant tending. A congregation that wants no mess may be asking, without realizing it, for everything to be dead. [50:05]
3. Name the shift before drifting The state line image shows how a person can cross into a new place and still act by the old rules. Growth requires more than numbers; growth requires awareness that the season has changed. Naming the shift protects a church from managing new life with old assumptions. [54:34]
4. Love new people, not usefulness The desire for new people can hide a selfish hope that someone else will do the work. Love makes room for gifts, passions, and callings that may not serve the old agenda. A church receives new people rightly when their presence reshapes the body instead of simply filling empty slots. [57:47]
5. Praise God, or quietly kill it The choice is not always made consciously or loudly. Old habits, guarded seats, and unexamined attitudes can work against what God is doing while everyone still agrees that growth is good. Gratitude must become repentance where hidden resistance starts choking new life.

## [65:13]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[43:39] - Numbers 33 and the Long List
[45:39] - Called Out and Called Toward
[46:04] - Following the Presence of God
[47:31] - A Church with Many Camps
[49:18] - From Mission to Museum
[50:05] - A Living Church Looks Like a Zoo
[52:55] - Naming a New Season
[55:25] - No Longer Declining
[56:29] - Making Room for New People
[58:44] - Same Mission, New Expressions
[60:34] - Moving Forward with God
[63:30] - The Danger of Staying Behind
[65:13] - Kill It or Praise God
[70:54] - Prayer for Changed Hearts

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Numbers 33:3-49
“The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had brought judgment on their gods. The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Sukkoth. They left Sukkoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert. They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol. They left Pi Hahiroth and passed through the sea into the desert, and when they had traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah. They left Marah and went to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea. They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin. [The passage continues listing many more campsites through verse 49]” [43:39]

Exodus 13:21-22
“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” [46:04]

Matthew 23:15
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.” [01:01:40]

Observation questions

In Numbers 33, what repeated pattern shows up again and again in the way Israel traveled through the wilderness?
According to Numbers 33:3-49, where were the Israelites called out from, and where were they headed toward? [45:39]
In Exodus 13:21-22, what visible signs of God’s presence guided Israel, and what did those signs help the people know when to do? [46:04]
What pictures are used to describe two very different kinds of churches: a museum and a zoo? What stands out about each image? [50:05]

Interpretation questions

If God included a long list of campsites in Numbers 33, what might that suggest about how God wants his people to remember the journey, not just the destination?
If the pillar of cloud and fire mattered more than any campsite, what does that reveal about the difference between trusting God’s presence and trusting familiar places or routines? [46:04]
Jesus warns in Matthew 23:15 about gaining people without truly leading them into life with God. How can a church welcome people in a way that forms disciples rather than just adding them to old patterns? [01:01:40]
A church can move from decline to stability to growth and still keep thinking like it is in the old season. Why is it important to name a shift clearly before old assumptions start shaping new life? [54:34]

Application questions

What is one “old campsite” in personal life or church life that is especially easy to romanticize? How might God be asking for open hands instead of a backward glance? [48:19]
A living church is sometimes noisy, inconvenient, and messy. What kinds of mess are hardest to welcome personally: changed routines, different preferences, unfamiliar people, or new ideas? Why? [50:05]
Growth is not just about having more people around; it means entering a new season with new needs and new opportunities. What helps someone recognize that God may be doing something new instead of simply disrupting what feels comfortable? [55:28]
Wanting new people is not the same as loving new people. When new people arrive, is there a tendency to hope they will support existing plans, or is there real curiosity about their gifts, passions, and callings? [57:47]
The mission stays the same, but the expressions of that mission may change. Where does resistance tend to show up when familiar ministries or habits no longer fit the moment? [58:44]
Hidden resistance can look small on the surface but still do real harm. What are some ordinary behaviors—guarding preferences, controlling space, dismissing new ideas, “that’s my seat” thinking—that could quietly choke new life? [01:06:39]
Following God’s presence requires more than agreeing with the right ideas; it requires changed behavior. Where is there a gap right now between what is believed God is doing and how one is actually responding to it? [01:05:13]

Sermon Clips

44s

#FollowGodsPresence

“There was a cloud of smoke by night and a pillar of a cloud of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. And that was the presence of God. And so they just moved when God moved. It wasn't about where they were camped out. It wasn't about High Howard Tower or Elm or Succoth or all of these places. It was about following the presence of God. Going where God goes and following God's lead. As a church, shouldn't we be the same? Shouldn't we be willing to go wherever God is moving? And however God is moving, continuing to move and go wherever he sends us?”

44s

#NewIdentityForward

“We're in a new place. We're no longer a declining church. We're a growing church. Our identity is not in where we're coming from either. When we read about the Israelites there, how come we don't read about the Egyptians? They lived in Egypt for four hundred years, and they were coming out of Egypt, and it never calls them Egyptians. Where are they headed to? To the land of Israel. What is it called? We're not defined by where we were. We're not defined by who we were. We're not defined by the things that we've done. Our identity is in where we're going. We are a new people.”

51s

#WelcomeNewMembers

“Our new youth pastor was talking to someone a couple weeks ago and invited them to church, and he said, oh, I'm gonna go there because I went there. And I was sitting there and somebody came up and told me I had to move because that was their seat. So I moved and went to my seat in my car and drove on to a different church. We can run people off really easily if we want to. We got 15 new people that said they love it here. If we want to, we can make it miserable for them to run them off too. Or we can thank god for them. We can praise god for more. And we can ask god, would you show me in my heart any of those attitudes that I have that I might be harming what you're doing without even knowing? Because I know you wouldn't harm a god to it if you knew it.”

57s

#ProtectNewLife

“I would ask, are you gonna kill it? Are you gonna praise god for it after this morning? If so, I believe everybody here would think that to be an easy choice. We would never choose differently consciously. But subconsciously, we do. Subconsciously, we make the choice to continue to do things that might kill it. Ask Stacy if I slowed down when she told me that. Or if I kept behaving in a way that could have made me late to church today and could have gotten me in a lot of trouble. Even though I agreed that the speed limit was 40, I still kept acting in a way as though I hadn't entered that shift. As though I hadn't hadn't shifted.”

42s

#MakeRoomForThem

“Just like I mentioned, we have new people here, and there's something that we need to do. We need to make sure that we're not just trying to make them like us. That's not our job. Our job is not to tell them, will you come in and you fit in with the way that we do things, and you'll be good. No. We are now a new creation now that they have become a part of us because they come with their own passions and their own ideas. And we've gotta learn not to to make sure that we learn how to support their passions, not just try to get them to support ours. We've gotta make room for them.”

48s

#EmbraceNewExpressions

“And we thought, okay. Well, this is our church. This is our home. And so as we allow these people to come and join and be a part of us, how will we make room for? What if they don't support our ministry that we had going on? What if instead they have a new passion that they want to do? Will we be open to that? Will we understand that? Will we bless them in that and say go and do that? That may mean that some of the ministries that we have enjoyed as part of this church that that we think are a part of our identity, we're gonna have to remember our norm. Because here's the truth about who we are. We're not changing who we're following.”

47s

#MissionBeyondPrograms

“We have things that we do as a part of that as a church. I think of the the bed deliveries and sleeping heavenly peace. The reason why you're still doing that is because as Bob has said, we've given out over 400 beds, closing in on 500 before long, and the applications haven't stopped. What if the applications slow down? What if people stop needing beds because we've met that need? Well, we'll do something else because that's not our identity. Our identity is in Christ, and we're following Christ, and we're following his presence. And so we're going to do that in whatever way he sees fit. For this season, and and in my estimation, for at least another twenty years, part of that's gonna be through beds.”

65s

#MissionAdaptsToSeasons

“We're still following after the pillar of fire, after the cloud of smoke. We're still following the presence of God. But in following God, new folks have been added to our group. And we need to recognize that we don't change the mission, but some of the expressions of the mission might need to change. It was at one point that the most important thing that the church could do was help with this illness that was going around. And the church would send out missionaries to go and help families that were suffering from an illness. And when folks would die from that illness, they would help carry out the bodies and take care of them. And in doing so, a lot of them contracted the illness and then died themselves. And so they were giving their lives to share the gospel with those around them in a very real and tangible way. But we don't do that anymore as a church. You know why? Because that was the plague. We don't have the plague anymore.”

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