God Sees Us: Embracing Our Journey with Him

1. "And anyone who's walked through seasons, um, hard like that, or even remotely like that, you know it's not just like a one day thing or a one month thing, or even a one year thing, but that it sticks with you and grieving still today. We grieve things that our daughter doesn't get to experience with us. Our kids don't get to know her and that's still hard. Um, but life is full of all sorts of experiences and it can be confusing. We walk through, all of us walk through confusing times. We all walk through lonely times. We all walk through, um, times of hurting and exciting, and it's all like tangled up together, right?" [46:52] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "I think often, as I observe myself and people around me, we think where we have come from disqualifies us from walking with God or what He wants to do. I think where we have come from, we think that we need to get cleaned up before we can come to God. I think sometimes we think that God can't use someone like me. Or on the other end of the spectrum, we might think maybe not even a different person, but the same person. Sometimes you feel like, oh my God, things are going wrong. I'm not going to be able to do this. I'm not going to be able to do this. I'm pretty good. I got it all together. God, you're kind of lucky that I'm on your side here, right? Which also, probably more unhealthy thinking." [01:03:49] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "God tends to take the broken, tends to, I don't think it's right to say He doesn't care about our background, but it's not a hindrance to Him. With Abraham, Abram and Sarai, when he, Sarai began to hate Hagar. And she went, it's just one of those stories that like, of course, this is what's going to happen. Why don't you sleep with Hagar? And then it happens, and then she's pregnant. And then big surprise, Sarah doesn't like that. And so she goes to Abram and is like, you know, I don't like her. I have some pretty bad feelings. And Abram's advice, this is like where it all began. Like New Testament points back to Abram as the man of faith. His advice to his wife, Sarai, was she's your servant. Treat her how you want to treat her. Like that's not good advice, right? And that's what Sarai did. And she mistreated her. And that's the kind of person that God takes and redeems and uses." [01:05:42] (68 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "There was a woman in Jesus' time. There was a woman who had, this is the story of the bleeding woman, but she had been bleeding for 12 years. That doesn't, that's 12 years. That's a long time to be considered by your society as unclean. It says that she had spent all she had trying to get better and the doctors couldn't do it. She felt hopeless. She had no money. And then there's rumblings of this man who can heal Jesus. And Jesus happens to be coming to her town. And so she thinks, if I could just, if I could just, if I could just, just touch his clothing, I think I might be healed. And so there's, he comes, there's a giant crowd around. She's one of the people in the crowd. She probably shouldn't be because she's unclean, but she sneaks in there and she touches his clothing, his cloak, or his robe. And immediately to her surprise, she could feel in her body that the bleeding had stopped, that she was cured." [01:07:42] (84 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "So where are you going? So I was thinking of this question or pondering this question. So I try to read the Bible and spend time with the Lord daily. And one of those days, I was reading John 14, which is on the slide. Next slide. So John 14, 1 through 7, I thought provided some insight, and it's kind of an awesome story. So it says, this is Jesus speaking. And Jesus often speaks in very confusing ways, and this is one of those times. So he says, don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If it were not so, would I have told you that I'm going to prepare a place for you?" [01:11:05] (48 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "So I think our job, our destination is really listening to him and following him. That's what our job is. So a couple of questions for myself, really, but for you is, as we go, as we walk out of these doors and as you go about your normal, Monday week, how are you doing at listening to his voice? How are you doing at following him? So that was question number one and question number two. And then the last part is a bold statement. So Hagar's response. So this I think is crazy too. So slave woman, foreigner, mistreated, an angel's talking to her. She felt the freedom to give a name, God almighty. That's pretty big. She says, you are El Roy, the God who sees me. That's a bold move for this woman, but it was truth." [01:12:44] (91 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "He took notice of me. He is El Roy. He is the God who sees, me. So Mary knew the same thing that Hagar knew. Another, one more story, and then I'm going to pass off to Kristen. Another, which I think is worth mentioning story is with Peter. And in Luke 22, 60 to 62, so at the end of Jesus' life, he says, right before, well, like the end of his time with the disciples, he tells Peter, hey, Simon, I'm going to be with you, and I'm going to be with you, you are going to deny me three times and Simon says never never will this happen I will not I will die with you and Jesus patiently knows that it is true and he just tells him and so then Jesus is betrayed and they get him they capture Jesus and then if you don't know the story Peter does follow along he denies him once he denies him twice and then this is what happens in the third one he's accused of knowing or being with Jesus but Peter said man I don't know what you're talking about and immediately while he was still speaking the rooster crowed at that moment the Lord turned and looked at Peter that's intense suddenly the Lord's words flashed" [01:17:09] (102 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "What an awesome Lord what an awesome Savior I think he sees not just Peter he sees you and me he sees us at our worst and he doesn't flinch isn't that awesome that he's the God who sees us and he doesn't turn away in disgust or turn away in man you really messed up this time he sees us in our best moments he sees us in our worst moments and all the while he invites us to come and listen to him and to follow him no matter which" [01:17:09] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)