Seeking God's Presence: The Key to True Fulfillment

### Summary

Good morning, everyone. Today, we delved into the profound themes found in Exodus 33 and 34, focusing on the glory and mercy of God. We began by acknowledging the prayer needs within our church family, lifting up those who have recently experienced loss. We then transitioned into the main message, exploring how God's holiness and human sinfulness cannot coexist. This is vividly illustrated in the story of the Israelites, who, despite witnessing God's miracles, turned to idol worship, provoking God's anger.

God's response to their rebellion was to offer them the promised land but without His presence, a scenario that deeply distressed the Israelites. This serves as a powerful reminder that true peace and fulfillment come not from material blessings but from God's presence. We drew parallels to our own society, noting how we often seek the benefits of God's promises—wealth, success, and comfort—without wanting to adhere to His teachings. This has led to a culture of spiritual depravity, manifesting in societal issues like crime and unrest.

We emphasized that the solution to these problems is not more laws or reforms but a return to God. The church has a crucial role in this, as we are called to bring people into the presence of God and share His love and mercy. Moses' desire to see God's glory and God's subsequent revelation of His goodness and mercy highlight the importance of seeking God's presence above all else.

In conclusion, we are reminded that we are far worse than we think, but God's love for us is far greater than we can imagine. This is the essence of the Gospel, the good news that through Jesus Christ, we can dwell in God's presence and experience His transformative power.

### Key Takeaways

1. **The Incompatibility of Sin and God's Glory**: Sin and rebellion cannot coexist with the glory of God. God's holiness demands separation from sin, and this is a crucial lesson from the Israelites' experience. They wanted the blessings of the promised land but without God's presence, which led to their deep mourning. This teaches us that true fulfillment comes from God's presence, not just His blessings. [31:50]

2. **The Illusion of Material Wealth**: Wealth and comfort without God's presence lead to spiritual emptiness. The Israelites were offered a land flowing with milk and honey but without God, which made them realize that material wealth without God's presence poisons the soul. This is a powerful reminder for us today, as we often seek material success while neglecting our spiritual well-being. [45:03]

3. **The Root of Societal Problems**: The issues we face in society, such as crime and unrest, stem from a lack of God's presence. The mayor of Birmingham noted that their city has a culture problem, not just a crime problem. This highlights the need for a spiritual revival, as societal reforms alone cannot address the root cause of our issues, which is spiritual depravity. [36:22]

4. **The Role of the Church**: The church has a vital role in bringing people into the presence of God. We must move beyond seeking comfort within our church walls and actively reach out to the lost. This involves sacrifices and stepping out of our comfort zones to share the love and teachings of Jesus Christ. [39:14]

5. **God's Mercy and Love**: Despite our sinfulness, God's love and mercy are far greater than we can imagine. Moses' encounter with God, where he was allowed to see God's goodness, foreshadows the ultimate revelation of God's love through Jesus Christ. This is the essence of the Gospel, that through Jesus, we can dwell in God's presence and experience His transformative power. [55:38]

### YouTube Chapters

[0:00] - Welcome
[24:56] - Opening Prayer
[26:18] - Introduction and Personal Story
[27:41] - God's Presence and Power in Exodus
[29:01] - The Golden Calf and Israel's Rebellion
[30:28] - God's Glory Revealed
[31:50] - Sin and God's Glory Cannot Coexist
[33:22] - The Illusion of Material Wealth
[34:26] - America's Spiritual Depravity
[36:22] - Societal Problems and Spiritual Solutions
[39:14] - The Role of the Church
[40:48] - The Tent of Meeting
[43:08] - The Value of God's Presence
[45:03] - Wealth Without God Poisons the Soul
[49:08] - The Consequences of Excluding God
[55:38] - God's Mercy and Love
[01:05:22] - Closing Prayer and Invitation
[01:08:26] - Testimony and Rededication
[01:13:38] - Announcements and Closing Remarks

### Bible Study Discussion Guide

#### Bible Reading
1. **Exodus 33:1-6** - God's command to leave Sinai and His warning about not going with the Israelites.
2. **Exodus 33:18-23** - Moses' request to see God's glory and God's response.
3. **Exodus 34:1-7** - God's revelation of His character to Moses.

#### Observation Questions
1. What was God's initial response to the Israelites' rebellion with the golden calf? (Exodus 33:1-6)
2. How did the Israelites react when they heard that God would not go with them to the promised land? (Exodus 33:4-6)
3. What did Moses request from God in Exodus 33:18, and how did God respond? (Exodus 33:18-23)
4. How does God describe Himself when He passes in front of Moses in Exodus 34:6-7?

#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think God offered the Israelites the promised land but without His presence? What does this reveal about the nature of God's holiness? [31:50]
2. How does the Israelites' mourning over God's absence reflect their understanding of true fulfillment? [33:22]
3. In what ways does the story of the golden calf illustrate the incompatibility of sin and God's glory? [29:01]
4. How does Moses' desire to see God's glory and God's subsequent revelation of His goodness and mercy foreshadow the coming of Jesus Christ? [55:38]

#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you sought material success or comfort without considering God's presence. How did that experience affect your spiritual well-being? [34:26]
2. The sermon mentioned that societal problems stem from a lack of God's presence. How can you contribute to bringing God's presence into your community? [36:22]
3. The church has a vital role in bringing people into the presence of God. What specific steps can you take to move beyond seeking comfort within the church walls and actively reach out to the lost? [39:14]
4. Moses' encounter with God highlights the importance of seeking God's presence above all else. How can you prioritize seeking God's presence in your daily life? [55:38]
5. The sermon emphasized that we are far worse than we think, but God's love for us is far greater than we can imagine. How does this truth impact your understanding of the Gospel and your relationship with God? [58:55]
6. Consider the societal issues mentioned in the sermon, such as crime and unrest. How can you, as part of the church, address these issues through spiritual revival rather than relying solely on laws and reforms? [37:19]
7. Reflect on the role of God's mercy and love in your life. How can you share this message of hope and transformation with others who may be struggling with sin and rebellion? [56:13]

Day 1: The Incompatibility of Sin and God's Glory
Description: Sin and rebellion cannot coexist with the glory of God. This is a crucial lesson from the Israelites' experience in Exodus 33 and 34. Despite witnessing God's miracles, the Israelites turned to idol worship, provoking God's anger. God's response was to offer them the promised land but without His presence, which deeply distressed them. This teaches us that true fulfillment comes from God's presence, not just His blessings. We often seek the benefits of God's promises—wealth, success, and comfort—without wanting to adhere to His teachings. This has led to a culture of spiritual depravity, manifesting in societal issues like crime and unrest. The solution to these problems is not more laws or reforms but a return to God. [31:50]

Exodus 33:3-4 (ESV): "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people. When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments."

Reflection: Think of a time when you sought material blessings over God's presence. How did it affect your spiritual well-being, and what steps can you take today to prioritize God's presence in your life?


Day 2: The Illusion of Material Wealth
Description: Wealth and comfort without God's presence lead to spiritual emptiness. The Israelites were offered a land flowing with milk and honey but without God, which made them realize that material wealth without God's presence poisons the soul. This is a powerful reminder for us today, as we often seek material success while neglecting our spiritual well-being. True peace and fulfillment come not from material blessings but from God's presence. We must be cautious not to fall into the trap of valuing wealth and comfort over our relationship with God. [45:03]

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV): "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity."

Reflection: Reflect on your current pursuits and ambitions. Are there areas where you are prioritizing material success over your relationship with God? What changes can you make to ensure that God remains at the center of your life?


Day 3: The Root of Societal Problems
Description: The issues we face in society, such as crime and unrest, stem from a lack of God's presence. The mayor of Birmingham noted that their city has a culture problem, not just a crime problem. This highlights the need for a spiritual revival, as societal reforms alone cannot address the root cause of our issues, which is spiritual depravity. The church has a crucial role in this, as we are called to bring people into the presence of God and share His love and mercy. [36:22]

Isaiah 59:2 (ESV): "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear."

Reflection: Consider the societal issues you see around you. How can you, as a member of the church, contribute to bringing God's presence into these situations? What specific actions can you take to address the spiritual needs of your community?


Day 4: The Role of the Church
Description: The church has a vital role in bringing people into the presence of God. We must move beyond seeking comfort within our church walls and actively reach out to the lost. This involves sacrifices and stepping out of our comfort zones to share the love and teachings of Jesus Christ. The church is called to be a beacon of hope and a place where people can experience God's transformative power. We must be intentional in our efforts to reach out to those who are spiritually lost and guide them towards God's love and mercy. [39:14]

Matthew 5:14-16 (ESV): "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

Reflection: Think about your role within the church. How can you actively participate in reaching out to the lost and sharing God's love? What specific steps can you take this week to step out of your comfort zone and be a light to those around you?


Day 5: God's Mercy and Love
Description: Despite our sinfulness, God's love and mercy are far greater than we can imagine. Moses' encounter with God, where he was allowed to see God's goodness, foreshadows the ultimate revelation of God's love through Jesus Christ. This is the essence of the Gospel, that through Jesus, we can dwell in God's presence and experience His transformative power. We are reminded that we are far worse than we think, but God's love for us is far greater than we can imagine. This profound truth should inspire us to seek God's presence and share His love with others. [55:38]

Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV): "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."

Reflection: Reflect on the depth of God's love and mercy in your life. How can you share this transformative love with others? What practical steps can you take to demonstrate God's love and mercy to those around you today?

Morning again, everyone. It's great to see everybody today. As we say here in Tennessee, happy fall, y'all. It doesn't feel like it weather-wise, but we're starting fall today.

Welcome, Smyrna Campus. We love you guys. Glad you're connected there. Everybody else is connecting with us online. We're so happy to have that connection with you. If you can't be here in person, we'd love that you could connect that way, but if you are in the area and can be here in person, we'd love for you to visit either one of our campuses, and we'd love to get to know you in person there at one of our services.

Before we begin the message today, I want to mention a couple of special prayer needs within the church family. I know there are many others as well, but two in particular we want to be praying for: Stacey Parman and the passing of her son, Caden. We want to be praying for Stacey and that family, and then also Bonnie Gwaltney and the passing of her brother. Let's be praying for them as well and their family.

Let's join in prayer together. Lift up any needs that you are aware of as well.

Father, we thank you so much that we have the privilege of entering directly into your presence, to your throne of grace, not because of anything we've done, but because Jesus has made it possible for us. As we are with Christ, we can come into your presence in prayer.

And Father, we thank you that we can lift up these families that have suffered loss this past week, all the other needs of our church family. We know we can come boldly to your throne of grace because we know how much you love us. We know you want only what's best for us. So we pray that as the God of comfort, you would comfort these families as only you are able. You would provide the care that they need through this time.

And Father, we pray that you would help us as a church family to continue to care for one another and to lift each other up, to act in love toward one another. May we be an example to the world of what it means to, even when we face these hard things, to have peace and joy in the midst of it because we have you. We have your son, Jesus. We have all of your promises through him. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

And acting up a lot. So she told her husband, John, about it. And every time John would drive it, it wouldn't do anything, right? I mean, that happens, doesn't it? Something's going wrong with your car. When you take it to get it checked, it doesn't do it at that time.

Well, the husband thought, well, maybe she's just exaggerating. It doesn't seem to be any problem. And then one day, John got a call from his wife. She said, "Hi, honey." And she said, "My brakes went out. Can you come get me?" He said, "Oh, no, I'm so sorry. You all right?" She said, "I'm okay." He said, "Well, where are you?" She said, "I'm at the drugstore. I'm inside if you want to come get me." He said, "Well, okay, I'll come get you right away. Where's the car?" She said, "It's in here with me."

Sometimes there's something wrong where something is somewhere where it doesn't belong, right? You know it doesn't belong there. You understand that those two things aren't supposed to be together.

And that's part of what we've been looking at in the book of Exodus in our series. If you want to be opening up your Bibles there in Exodus, we'll be in chapter 33 and 34 today. We're just going right on through this book. We've only got a few more weeks left here to be able to get this finished up. I've really loved this study. If you've missed any of the messages, they're archived on our YouTube channel. You can go back and catch them there.

But in Exodus 33 and 34, we see a continuation of a theme of how some things don't go together. And especially when you talk about our sin and the holiness of God. Those two things should never be together. They can't be together. They cannot coexist in the same place together.

And so what we need to remember is that God, in Exodus, as we've been looking at it here, if you remember, if you've been following along, God has gifted His people through no act of their own. He has gifted them with His presence and His power. And He's made it evident that His presence is with them. His power is with them.

So He's given them His presence and His power. He's demonstrated that power over and over again. Remember, everything in Exodus is a foreshadowing, right? It's looking ahead because God, even though we are sinners and we can't dwell in His presence, He makes it possible for us to have His presence and His power in our lives.

And so He's demonstrating that through the Israelites in the Exodus from Egypt and then taking them to the promised land that He's leading them into. And God's people, just like us, have turned their backs on that, and they have pursued a life according to their own rules and their own preferences and their own ways, and they have stirred the anger of God against them.

If you were here last week, you remember that last week is when Moses came down from the mountain with the tablets of the law. And when he found what he found when he got to the bottom of the mountain, he had heard the sound of revelry, and he got down there and he saw that they were partying. They had made this golden calf, and they were worshiping this idol and the god that this idol represented.

He'd been on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, and in that amount of time, they've already turned away from the one true God. They've already sought after idols. They've gone directly against God's clear teaching, God's clear law to have no other gods before him, to make no idols. And yet here they are with an idol and a god that is not the one true God.

And God's anger burned against them, and God wanted to, in His anger, He was intending to destroy these people, spare Moses and his family, to begin again with this generation that He was going to set apart for Himself. And Moses pleaded their case, asked God to relent, and God said, "Well, I will relent, but they are going to suffer the consequences of their rebellion and their sin."

And they suffered terrible consequences. You can go back and read that in the previous two chapters there. And today we pick up in Exodus 33, and I really only have two points, but don't get excited; you're not getting out early, okay? We're going to spend a lot of time on these two points right in the word. I want you to be in the word with me. I have it open. Pull it up on your smartphone or tablet. We'll put it up on the screen if you don't have your Bible with you today or a way to pull it up yourself. But if you have a way, go ahead and pull these up.

So I want you to be in the word with me. All right, in Exodus 33, beginning at verse 1, we see the first point that we're going to talk about today, and that's where God is revealing His glory. He is the God of glory.

Let's pick up in verse 1. Look at the first six verses:

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, "I will give it to your descendants. I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way."'

When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn, and no one put on any ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites, "You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do with you."'

So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb."

Now let me tell you what I think we're seeing here. I think we're seeing the glory of God here and how two things can never go together: how sin and rebellion cannot be present in the presence of the glory of God. God will not allow it.

So God is saying that His worth, His value, His glory is so great that He cannot compromise that. He will not compromise that by allowing sin and rebellion to dwell in the presence of His glory.

So He says, "I'm going to give you what you want." You see, they wanted the promise of the covenant. They wanted the land flowing with milk and honey. They wanted to be seen as a set-apart, prestigious people. They wanted to have the wealth that came with this land flowing with milk and honey. They wanted to have success. They wanted to have success against their enemies that they would face in the future.

You see, these people in the lands around them, as they were going to the land God was going to give them, they were opposed to them and their one true God. They wanted to wipe them off the face of the earth. And God says, "I'm going to give you victory over those people."

It sounded great on one hand that God was going to let them have what they seemed to really want. He said, "I'm going to give you all that. But here's the thing: I'm not going to go with you. You don't get me in the process. You get the success. You get the wealth. You get the prestige. But you don't get me."

Now, I remind you again, the book of Exodus is a foreshadowing of things that are coming. And friends, I think it should be obvious to all of us that what we're seeing here is not only a picture of the glory of God, but it's a picture of human nature in response to the glory of God.

More than I've ever seen it in my lifetime, we are a people who want all the promises of God. We want the blessings. We want the care. We want the provision. We want Him to grant us success. We like the wealth that we could have. And we live in a country that's been so blessed. We've got a wonderful land. We've got amazing wealth compared to so many other countries in the world.

Even though with inflation, it doesn't feel like it right now for a lot of us, we have so many blessings. And we want that, right? The people that settled this country who came from Europe, they came with the intention of building a great nation. They didn't always do it right, but that was their intention, was to build a great nation here. One unique in all the world. One that the rest of the world would look at in envy and want to be a part of.

And that's been happening here, right? We've enjoyed that here in America. And people are growing up in America today. They're wanting the wealth and wanting the prestige and wanting all the good things. But for many, we've decided we don't want God. We don't want His rules. We don't want His teaching. We don't want what we see as His restrictions and the boundaries that He wants to put around us. We just want all the good stuff without that.

And friends, we're seeing the consequences of it in our land. The pushing out of God and the teachings of God. It's been happening for quite a while now. It's been happening long enough now that we're reaping the harvest for what we've done. We're reaping the consequences for what we've done.

Just overnight last night, another mass shooting in Birmingham, Alabama. And the mayor of Birmingham says, "What we have is not a crime problem. What we have is a culture problem."

Now, I agree with him a little bit. But what he doesn't catch is that the reason we have a culture problem is not that all of a sudden there are more guns out there. In fact, if you look at the statistics, we have less access to guns today than we had 50 years ago. That's not the problem.

The problem is the hearts and the minds of the people and the culture that we've created. That's the problem. Don't let politicians on either side convince you that the real problem is anything less than spiritual depravity and the culture of our country. That's what's causing the problems.

So we need to understand this is not a political problem. This is not a societal problem that we can fix with some more laws and some more reforms that we do. If we don't call people to repentance before God and a surrendering to the will of God in their lives, the flesh rules those people. And the flesh is inclined towards sin. Always has been. Always will be.

So we think the way to settle an argument is with bullets instead of with love and forgiveness. You see, we've got a culture problem that they were experiencing in Israel when God spoke through Moses that day. Israel wanted all the good stuff without God.

So God says, "Okay, I'll let you have what you want." Now, I don't think it's just America. America is not just some nation unique to God. God's the God of all nations. But I do believe in America, we're seeing the same kind of thing play out where we want all the good things that America has to offer, but we've decided we don't want God.

Not everybody. There's still so many of us that love the Lord and want to honor God. But guess what? We suffer the consequences of that movement of society and that changing of culture around us.

And before I go any further, I want you to know the church bears some of the fault for that too. Because we've been so comfortable with our own church and our own faith and our own blessings we have from God that we have not been serious about bringing others to know and follow Jesus along with us.

The church is not winning the lost in America nearly the way it used to because we want the church to cater to us instead of us serving the church. And the church in America today, we want all the programs, right? All the good stuff for ourselves and for our family. But we're not broken in spirit by the lost out there that don't know Jesus. Not enough to sacrifice to reach them. Not enough to get out of our comfort zones to reach them.

We just want to cluster ourselves away from all of that to have the good parts of what it means to be a Christian. So we won't sacrifice financially. We won't sacrifice as far as our reputation with friends to say something and speak up for Jesus and help people find their way to Jesus.

We're not going to get out of our comfort zones, but we want all the good things still to be there for us in our walk with God. That's what the Israelites were wanting. We don't want to have to follow the rules. We don't want to have to make any sacrifices, but we want to be blessed anyway.

So what we're seeing here is a picture of the glory of God, and it's kind of a throwback to God's presence with them and how God demonstrated His presence with them, which is talked about here beginning in verse 7.

Listen. It's like He's thinking back to what it was like. Here's what used to happen.

Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the tent of meeting. Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, remembering they're traveling and camping on the way, watching Moses until he entered the tent.

As Moses went into the tent, here's what happened: the pillar of cloud would come. Moses would come down and stay at the entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to their tent.

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent.

Moses would go meet with God in this tent of meeting. And the people were reassured that God was with them when they saw what? That pillar of cloud there. That would be at the entrance to the tent that Moses would go into. Because Moses was going there to speak with God and have God speak with him.

And so they knew when that cloud was there that God's presence was with them. So it was a reassuring thing, and they would go to the entrance of their tents, and they would worship because they knew when they saw the cloud, "God's with us. God is with us. God is with us."

And they loved that. They cherished that. They thought that was so great that they had God with them. He's a God that sent the plagues. He's the God that parted the sea. He's the God that sent the manna. He's the God that has done all these great miracles. And He's with us right here.

And there was a time where they thought this is the greatest thing in the world: to have God with us, to be in the presence of that God and have God right there. You see, they wanted God to be with them. They understood God's power and presence was important.

But here's the problem: even though they recognized that and it made them feel safe and great that God would be with them, they didn't want to follow His teachings. We want the presence of God without the teachings of God.

Because God's presence is so valuable, isn't it? It's so amazing. His presence and His power are greater than anything. One of the ways we know God is glorious is that God is better than everything else. All of it put together.

I want to walk through some of His promises here that He's saying He's going to give them and He has been giving them. He's going to eradicate their enemies for them. And when God said, "I want you to go to that place and I'll eradicate your enemies for you, but I'm not going to go with you," they mourned, they broke down and wept and cried when God said, "I'm going to let you go there and I'm going to conquer your enemies for you, but you're not going to have me."

And the reason they mourned and they wept and they cried when God said, "You are going to be able to eliminate your enemies by my power, but I'm not going to be with you," is because they recognized that true peace does not just come with the elimination of the enemies. It comes in the presence of God.

See, we keep thinking if we fix the problems, if we get rid of everything that's against us, then we can have peace and a wonderful life, but we want to do it without God. That's not true peace.

What we have with God is far better than just the elimination of our enemies. He also offered them a stunning amount of wealth and provision. He says, "I'm going to give you a land flowing with milk and honey." That phrase, "flowing with milk and honey," was emblematic of having everything you need in this land I'm giving you. All of your needs are going to be met. You will be the envy of the nations. The nations around you.

But they wept and they mourned and they were broken because God said, "I'm going to give you that, but you're not going to get me." Because it hit them. They realized that wealth without the presence and the power of God to mold our hearts into generous people, wealth without that poisons the soul of the human being.

And we're seeing that so much in our culture, so much in our society. He said, "I'm going to give you a land flowing with milk and honey. You're going to have comfort because you're going to have wealth. You're not going to have any enemies. So you can live a comfortable life."

But here's the problem. It should resonate with us because we see it all around us. Despite our sleep number beds, despite our air conditioning, we can control wherever we are and keep it either as warm or as hot or as cold as we want it. Or in our case in the auditorium, as cold as Walter wants it, right?

In spite of the fact that we can have a vehicle to get us where we want to go, in spite of the fact that we can have a roof over our heads, and in spite of the fact that we can, in most cases, try to get our bills paid like we need to, in spite of all of that, here's the problem: we in America have not found rest for our souls in those things because they don't provide it.

You can get all of those things, and if you don't have Jesus, you don't have rest for your souls. But we've convinced ourselves if we can just get a good education for these kids, help them get good jobs where they can make good money, live in a good house in a good neighborhood, drive a nice car, that their lives are going to be great when we give them all of that.

But they have no rest for their souls. But they're so convinced that that's what their life is about, is getting those things, that they don't mind shooting somebody to get it if that's what it takes. Because that's when they think they'll have success. They'll have a good life when they get all the stuff, all of what looks like the blessings that we want our kids to have in life.

Yet here's what we find out. It seems that the more comfort made available to our generations coming behind us, here's the result we're getting: we're getting a more anxious and disturbed people than we've ever seen before. We've a far more dedicated people than we've ever been, with a lot more opportunities to entertain and walk in comfort.

Why isn't that making life better for people? It's because without the presence of God, those things are so empty. Those things in and of themselves are not evil. It's just if that's what we're relying on. If that's what we think our lives are about and we're building our lives on those things, it comes up empty time.

So they're mourning because the thing they need most is now being denied even though He's laying before them all that they thought they were desiring.

Jesus is going to teach that idea later in Mark chapter 8 and verse 36. He asks this question: "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his soul?" That's the question.

We're giving the soul of America to prosperity. We're exchanging our souls for the stuff. And we're wondering why are there mass shootings? Why is there so much crime? Why is this happening? Why are people feeling disenfranchised? Why do they feel like they don't have value or worth?

It's because when you take out the presence of God, everything else leaves you empty. That's why.

Now, if you have those things and the presence of God, you can do great good with those things. But without the presence of God, it is so wanting and empty. People with wealth and fame beyond most of our imaginations have an extremely difficult time staying in any... Just think about this.

We envy these entertainers and these people with all this wealth. People with wealth and fame beyond most of our imaginations have an extremely difficult time staying in any kind of stable relationship. They tend to consistently live in strife; they are consistently broken, yet there are people that we're like we want to be like them.

Right? Isn't that who we idolize in this country? And so many of them are so broken in their personal lives. Why are we idolizing these people? It's because we think the blessings are okay without the presence of God. We think the blessings are still going to do it for us.

That's the picture of creation without the creator. Creation without the creator is chaos. And we're raising up chaos in our nation because we're making it all about everything but the most important thing: bringing people into the presence of God, having them come under the power and the presence of that God.

So Jesus came to bring us the presence of God. The Israelites had Moses in the tent bringing in the presence of God. And yet God says, "Your actions have demonstrated to me that you don't really want my presence because my presence brings my glory, and my glory will not welcome your sin."

So what you're saying is with your lifestyle is that you want the blessings without the presence. What you're saying with your choices is you want the blessings without the presence. What we're saying in America is, "Well, that's a problem of culture."

Well, maybe it is, but what is the problem with the culture then? It's the blessings without the presence. That's the problem with the culture. You don't fix that by throwing more money at it. You don't fix that with another government program. We already have laws to keep people from shooting each other. They're already in place. They have been for years. It's already illegal.

So we don't fix this by making more cultural laws for people to follow. We fix this by bringing to them the power and the presence of their creator into their lives and calling them to come under Him. That's how we fix this.

You say, "Oh, if we just get people out of poverty, that'll fix it." No, it won't. Plenty of people have been brought out of poverty that are still corrupt and evil, doing awful things in their lives. That's not the fix.

Do I want people to be lifted out of poverty? Sure. That's a great thing, but it won't fix this. It won't. We've been trying that for a long time. It has not worked because we've left God out of it. We've just made it an economic opportunity thing instead of a spiritual growth and development kind of thing.

That has to be there with it. I'm not saying we shouldn't do things to help lift people out of poverty. It's a great thing to do. But do it in a way that lifts up the God who is the provider of those things. Do it in that way.

Do it in a way that lifts up everybody's struggle. That dream that we have for life that's better and good is actually satisfied only in the presence and the power of God Himself. That's the only way it will ever be satisfied.

And friends, that's not a government thing. That's a church thing. And that's something we need to be doing as the people of God, as the church of God. It's taking them the power and the presence of God.

Moses desires God and His presence and His mercy. Look at verse 18. Moses said, "Now show me your glory." The Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you. I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

But He said, "You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." Then the Lord said, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen."

Moses understands more than anything else he wants to see and be in the presence of the glory of God. And God says, "I'm going to allow you to get a glimpse of it." But here's the thing: it's a foreshadowing. It's a looking ahead. Moses could not actually see the face of God, but here's what's going to happen for us.

He was looking ahead to the provision he was going to make so that not only could we see the face of God, but we could remain there and dwell there through Jesus Christ, our Savior. We are so privileged under the covenant we have with God that not only did He honor His covenant with Israel, but He went as a fulfillment of that covenant beyond just the nation of Israel, but He brought Jesus to be the Savior and Redeemer of the whole world, including us in this promise that we can dwell in the presence of God.

So He is the God of glory, right? Just two points. Point two: He's also the God of mercy. Hallelujah. Thank God.

Look at chapter 34, beginning with verse 1. The Lord said to Moses, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets which you broke. And then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain. Not even the flocks and the herds may graze in front of the mountain."

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up on Mount Sinai early in the morning as the Lord had commanded him. And he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name, the Lord.

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 sins of the parents to the third and fourth generations."

God is saying, He's describing Himself this way. First, He says, His goodness passes by, the cleft of the rock. Then He says He's the God of mercy. He's abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

The Israelites were a people so much like us, so much wanting the blessings of God. And God is saying, "I want you to have those blessings, but they come with my presence. But here's what will make it possible because I am steadfast in love and faithfulness."

I've got two truths for you I want you to write down. Just get something to write with. Lipstick, eyeliner, I don't care. Get something.

Down these two truths. These are important. You have to be reminded of them.

Truth number one: You're far worse than you think you are. You didn't want to write that one, I know. But that's the truth. It's true for me too. I wrote it down in my notes. I am far worse than I think I am.

But here's truth number two: He loves you far more than you think He does. He loves you far more than you think He does.

Friends, this is the gospel. It's the stunning reality of the amazing love and grace of God in view of our sin and our rebellion.

In John chapter 1 in the New Testament, beginning with verse 14, remember Exodus was looking ahead. God's revealing Himself to be a God of mercy, a God of love, a God of grace, a God of faithfulness to keep His promises.

And so in keeping with that, in John chapter 1, verse 14, we find this happens: "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We've seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John testified concerning Him. He cried out, saying, "This is the one I spoke about when I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' Out of His fullness, we've all received grace in place of grace already given."

The grace already given was from the Old Covenant. It was for sparing the people. It was from the grace He offered in spite of their rebellion. It was the love that He was steadfast to give.

So He says, "Grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth came through who? Jesus Christ. Grace and what? Truth."

You see, grace tells the truth about things. He doesn't try to make you think things are true that are not true. He is the one who came bringing grace and truth.

Verse 18: "No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son who is Himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father has made Him known."

Guess what God graced us with? His presence and His power so that we actually got to see God in the flesh. The Bible says He is the exact representation of the Father. When you see Jesus, Jesus says, "When you've seen me, you've seen what? The Father."

God came to us to rescue us in His love and His grace and His mercy. So if you're not a Christian here today and you ever wonder what in the world are we always celebrating as Christians?

We're celebrating this: that God is glorious, but He's also merciful. If He was glorious and not merciful, that wouldn't be good news, would it? But here's the other side of it: if He was merciful but not glorious, then He wouldn't be God either.

But thank God He's both glorious and merciful. And that's why we celebrate. That's why we celebrate what we have in Christ. That's why we value the presence and the power of God more than we value the stuff that He created for us.

Romans 5, beginning with verse 6, he says this: "You see, at just the right time, God's timing, when we were still, what's that word? Powerless. Guess what? We couldn't fix this by our own power. But at just the right time, while we were still powerless, Christ died for what kind of people? Who does that include? All of us. Every one of us.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person; though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still, what? Christ died for us.

Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath? Think about that. In our sin, we would be objects of God's what? Wrath. But God demonstrates His love for us while we were still sinners. Christ died for us.

We've been justified by His blood. How much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him? For if while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life?

Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we've now received reconciliation.

Let's pray.

Father, we celebrate not because we're so good. Not because of anything we've done, but because You've offered us Your power and Your presence, and You came and made the sacrifice for us that absolutely had to happen in order for us to be reconciled to You and be able to be back in Your presence again.

Father, You want more than anything to have a people who love You, who understand the privilege and the honor of being welcomed into Your presence and having Your power at work in our lives. I pray if there's anyone hearing the message today that wants to enter into Your presence, they will understand, they will grasp the privilege that's being offered, that what Jesus did for them on the cross could make the way possible for them to enter in and dwell with You.

And may they come to Jesus even today. But may we who know Jesus understand that the ills of our nation, the ills of our culture, of our society, of our world are not ills that can be fixed through the work and the power and the efforts of human flesh. There must be a healing and a transformation of a power greater than ourselves.

We cannot leave You out and have Your presence and Your power to bring the healing that we so desperately need. Father, we pray not just for that healing, but we pray for that turning back to You that will help provide the healing that we're longing for.

May we be a people who lift up Jesus that He might draw all people to Him. It's in His name that we pray. Amen.

We're going to offer an invitation today as we do each service. We invite you to come if you have a decision you need to make to come to know and follow Jesus. We want you to come knowing that that's where you find the power and the presence of God Himself is through the person of Jesus and your relationship with Him.

As we stand and sing, we invite you to come.

Amen.

Everybody have a seat, please, just a moment.

Yeah, now stand up here with me if you would. Just step right up here. Tell everybody your name.

Sarah is someone who's battling and has been battling for a long time with depression and anxiety and things like that. And that battle is real, and nobody should ever make light of it. It's a struggle. It's a hard thing. But God is more powerful, and His presence is available for all who would come.

And she comes today to rededicate herself to the Lord because she wants the power and the presence of God at work in her life in this battle that she's in. And even in the battle, as we just sang, she needs to know God is good and He's there for her in the battle.

So Sarah, we want to pray for you right now, okay?

Father, we just thank You for this one who comes rededicating her life to You. You know the battles she's going through, the struggles that she's dealing with, and You love her. She's a precious daughter of Yours, and she wants Your power and Your presence to be with her.

And that's what she comes to seek today before You. Father, we know she has that available to her, not because she's going to be able to just fix everything herself. She knows that. That's why she's coming. She knows she needs You, and she wants You more than she wants anything else.

So Father, I pray that she would know today more than she's ever known before. She would experience today more than she's ever experienced before. She would realize today more than she's ever realized before that Your power and Your presence is in her through Your Spirit and will never leave her or forsake her.

May she claim that for her life today, and not just today, but tonight, tomorrow, and the next day. May she wake up every day knowing Your presence and Your power is in her, and it will never, ever leave her. May she hold on to You in the days ahead, as I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

God bless you. Thank you for coming today.

This time, Dr. Ed is going to come and lead us in a time of communion around the Lord's table.

We want to thank you again for being here with us today for this time of assembling together as God's people. Remember, this is a worship time, but your worship is your whole life.

So let's continue to worship when we leave this service today. That's our offering to God is to give our lives to Him as an act of worship.

If you'd like to continue your worship through the giving of an offering, we have offering boxes available. There's one in the back of the auditorium, one in the hallway as you exit. You can drop your offerings in the top slot of those boxes. You can also give online at lakeshorechristian.com and click on the Give tab there.

And by the way, as a part of our 50th anniversary celebration, we have a special fund set up for the GAP scholarship program. We've partnered with Point University, and as our partnership with them, we give a lump sum to the school, and then we can send up to seven students each year online to Point University at no tuition cost to them at all.

Now, thanks to some generous people, we funded the first year already, and we have students enrolled from Lakeshore that saw that as a wonderful opportunity to get their degree. And they've enrolled, and they're going to school, or they're taking classes online at Point University.

And your generosity made that possible. We're very grateful. But we want to be able to offer it next year and the next year. So part of what you can do is if you want to give a special offering toward the GAP scholarship program, then when you click on the Give tab at Lakeshore on our website, there's a drop-down menu when you go to designate your giving where you can select Point Scholarship.

If you want to give to that particular scholarship fund, you can do it that way. So thank you in advance for those who might want to help make that something we can offer moving forward for those who want to get their degrees.

Now, if you're interested in getting a scholarship yourself, right now, I think we've got seven slots filled, but as slots come open, we could consider adding others to that program. So you can let us know through contacting our office if you'd like to be on the list to be considered to be part of that scholarship program too.

I'm excited that we're doing this and giving that opportunity to so many people now.

We also want you to know that we have a great opportunity every year. Jeremy's going to come. He's going to share some announcements with us, some things that are coming up. One of those things in the very near future is going to be our trunk or treat. Sounds like a simple thing, but it's a real thing. It's a real connection to our community, and you can help us out with that.

So Jeremy, come on up. He's going to lead us in those announcements and then close us out with a word of prayer.

1. "In Exodus 33 and 34, we see a continuation of a theme of how some things don't go together. And especially when you talk about our sin and the holiness of God. Those two things, should never be together. They can't be together. They cannot coexist in the same place together. And so what we need to remember is, is that God in Exodus, as we've been looking at it here, if you remember, if you've been following along, God has gifted His people through no act of their own. He has gifted them with His presence and His power." [27:41] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "We are a people who want all the promises of God. We want the blessings. We want the care. We want the provision. We want him to grant us success. We like the wealth that we could have. And we live in a country that's been so blessed. We've got a wonderful land. We've got amazing wealth compared to so many other countries in the world. Even though with inflation, it doesn't feel like it right now for a lot of us. We have so many blessings. And we want that, right?" [34:26] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "We want the presence of God without the teachings of God. Because God's presence is so valuable, isn't it? It's so amazing. His presence and His power is greater than anything. One of the ways we know God is glorious is that God is better than everything else. All of it put together. I want to walk through some of His promises here. That He's saying He's going to give them and He has been giving them." [43:08] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "Despite our sleep number beds. Despite our air conditioning we can control wherever we are and keep it either as warm or as hot or as cold as we want it. Or in our case in the auditorium as cold as Walter wants it. Right? In spite of the fact that we can have a vehicle to get us where we want to go. In spite of the fact that we can have a roof over our heads. And in spite of the fact that we can in most cases try to get our bills paid like we need to. In spite of all of that here's the problem. We in America have not found rest for our souls in those things. Because they don't provide it." [46:08] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "Jesus is going to teach that idea later in Mark chapter 8 and verse 36 he asks this question. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world and yet forfeit their soul? Or what would a man give in exchange for his soul? That's the question. We're giving the soul of America to prosperity we're exchanging our souls for the stuff. And we're wondering why are there mass shootings? Why is there so much crime? Why is this happening? Why are people feeling disenfranchised? Why do they feel like they don't have value or worth? It's because when you take out the presence of God everything else leaves you empty." [49:08] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




6. "Creation without the creator is chaos. And we're raising up chaos in our nation. Because we're making it all about everything but the most important thing. Bringing people into the presence of God. Having them come under the power and the presence of that God. So Jesus came to bring us the presence of God. The Israelites had Moses in the tent bringing in the presence of God. And yet God says your actions have demonstrated to me that you don't really want my presence because my presence brings my glory and my glory will not welcome your sin." [50:56] (54 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




7. "Moses understands more than anything else he wants to see and be in the presence of the glory of God. And God says, I'm going to allow you to get a glimpse of it. But here's the thing. It's a foreshadowing. It's a looking ahead. Moses could not actually see the face of God, but here's what's going to happen for us. He was looking ahead to the provision he was going to make so that not only could we see the face of God, but we could remain there and dwell there through Jesus Christ, our Savior." [55:38] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




8. "You're far worse than you think you are. You didn't want to write that one, I know. But that's the truth. It's true for me too. I wrote it down in my notes. I am far worse than I think I am. But here's truth number two. He loves you far more than you think he does. He loves you far more than you think he does. Friends, this is the gospel. It's the stunning reality of the amazing love and grace of God in view of our sin and our rebellion." [58:20] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




9. "Guess what God graced us with? His presence and his power. So that we actually got to see God in the flesh The Bible says he is the exact representation of the Father. When you see Jesus Jesus says when you've seen me you've seen what? The Father. God came to us to rescue us in his love and his grace and his mercy. So if you're not a Christian here today and you ever wonder what in the world are we always celebrating as Christians? We're celebrating this. That God is glorious but he's also merciful." [01:00:56] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




10. "We celebrate not because we're so good. Not because of anything we've done but because you've offered us your power and your presence and you came and made the sacrifice for us that absolutely had to happen in order for us to be reconciled to you and be able to be back in your presence again. Father you want more than anything to have a people who love you who understand the privilege and the honor of being welcomed into your presence and having your power at work in our lives." [01:04:18] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)