Praise the Lord, everyone.
Welcome to Imperative Life
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Lessons. I'm
Pastor Ryan Johnson.
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At the beginning of the Covid
Pandemic when we were still
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unaccustomed to Zoom,
toiletry shortages and masks.
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When the country was
slowly powering down like a
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great machine after someone
has tripped over the outlet cord
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every industry had to huddle
up and figure out its next play.
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It had to figure out
how to operate in crisis,
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how to survive. The medical
industry, the food industry,
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the sales industry.
I'm sure you know this,
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it's not like you
weren't there. But as pastors
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our priorities were somewhat
different though our needs
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were similar. The
lights needed to stay on, yes,
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the water, the heat, so
there were practical challenges.
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There were and are spiritual
needs of the people, however
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and those needs were great,
the gospel needed to be preached
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and if anything, if anything
circumstances made this seem
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more urgent even to those
who hadn't really cared before.
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And we, as God's people,
needed to move forward in wisdom
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and in faith. I still
remember those first Sabbaths
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preaching exclusively
online remember those,
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preaching to churches
that were almost empty.
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Those were deep times, and
then a strange thing occurred.
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Everyone, everybody,
people from far and near,
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people who hadn't
even been coming to church
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were suddenly inspired, yes!,
we were getting thousands of
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contacts, thousands of views,
people felt their need for God
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they could appreciate
the pouring of the sands of
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prophetic time. It was
incredible, things were
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difficult, things were
very difficult, but God's people
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Praise His name, we're on the
march, Onward Christian Soldiers
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Yes, forward into
battle. Ah ha, tithing went up,
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offering went up.
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People found ways to
study and witness together
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our adversity
sparked holy creativity.
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God's light it seemed always
shines through, and it does.
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However, the pandemic did not
end quickly, things dragged on
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yes, they dragged on
and on, hopes rose and fell,
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clashing
ideologies left casualties,
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littering the social, political
and even ecclesiastical
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landscape, funerals,
in our district at least
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they were frequent.
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Sometimes I was doing
two funerals in a day.
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One friend of mine died,
but because of overcrowding
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at the mortuary, he was
literally late to his own
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Memorial Service.
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In the Las Vegas area, we even
lost a pastor, broke our hearts.
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Saints became exhausted,
weeds grew through the cracks
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in the church parking lots,
we removed them, they returned.
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In the beginning, God's leading
had seemed so clear, so obvious,
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but to continue to
experience suffering here in the
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midst of our journey, in these
troubled waters right in the
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middle of things fear
and despair threatened to
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overtake us. Have
you felt that way?
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As though you are standing
right in the midst of things.
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Your story is an open
book right at the center
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your progress, the
total distance divided by two
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and fear, along with his
brother despair threatening to
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overtake you, is that you?
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When you began your
journey it was with eagerness,
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determination, you
knew the road ahead was long
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but since God was with you,
is with you, you're confident
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but you can make it. Now you
are in the midst, the middle,
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too far away from the
beginning to turn back,
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the end so seeming far
ahead that you can't fathom
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finishing, you're wondering
if God will sustain you.
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It's more than a mindset
you know, it's more than just a
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vague feeling of exhaustion
when entering the middle zone.
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Satan stalks these Midlands
as part of an effort to make us
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spiral into hopelessness.
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Jesus illustrates
this in Matthew chapter 25
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using the parable of the
10 virgins or bridesmaids.
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Let's read that. It says.
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At the beginning, they're happy
and festive, their lamps are
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alight from oil, at the
end of the parable all rise to
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meet the groom, but it
is in the middle during the
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darkness that the groom tarries
that the waiting bridesmaids
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sleep and that their
oil reserves are tested.
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It's their preparation for
the middle that distinguishes
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the five that are
wise and the foolish five.
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Surviving in the
midst is mission critical.
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But guess what,
friends? God is in the midst.
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Did you not know? You,
who are in the midst of trial,
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you who are reaching heavenward
in the middle of your adversity
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our God is in the midst.
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I think it's
worth examining, humm?
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Let's have a word of prayer.
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Father in Heaven, be with us
as we appreciate that you are
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with us in the midst,
save us. In Thy name we pray.
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Amen and Amen!
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In the Book of Revelation, the
aging disciple John is exiled
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on the isle of Patmos.
No, he's not vacationing
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at his timeshare,
he's not having fun.
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This is what it says. It says;
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He is exiled on Patmos
and his crime was testifying
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of Jesus Christ.
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Now look what happens, verse 10.
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John sees Jesus
Christ with glory and power.
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I wonder when the old
man had last seen the savior?
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Was it as Jesus was taken into
heaven with clouds of angels
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as is reported
in Luke and in Acts?
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Hmm. Regardless, here is
Jesus in vision before John
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and there are seven
golden candlesticks.
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Now, in verse 20, Jesus
tells John, that the seven
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candlesticks
represent the seven churches.
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But, still in chapter one,
look at verse 13 to see where
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Jesus is, He is in the
midst of the candlesticks.
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Revelation is a book for the
end times for you, for me, and
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behold, Jesus is in the midst.
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Let's look at another account.
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Since we referenced
Luke, let's turn to that gospel
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and read from chapter 24,
hmm let's begin with verse 33.
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Okay, who are these people who
arise and return to Jerusalem?
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Well, if you read the
entire chapter you discover
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that on Sunday, when Jesus rose,
there were followers of Jesus
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who were unaware
of His resurrection.
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Christ then appears to
them and eventually reveals His
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identity, and it is these
men who rushed back to Jerusalem
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to tell the 11 cowardly
disciples that Jesus is indeed
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alive. We'll
discuss this on another day.
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But remember, the disciples
were terrified for their lives
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and they were devastated,
they were right in the midst
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of terror and sorrow.
00:10:25.12\00:10:27.92
Okay, Now let's
read verse 36. It says.
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Divinity made visible
just as when he appears to John
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in the book of Revelation.
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How wonderful, but did you
notice how and where Christ
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appears? It was in their midst.
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A pattern is forming, yes,
let's go into the Old Testament
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to the book of Daniel. Daniel
the prophet gives the account
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of his three friends as a
Azariah, Mishael, and Hananiah.
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now you may know them
by their Babylonian names
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Shadrach Meshach and Abednego
they were facing a dilemma.
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Let's see what that
was in Daniel Chapter three
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and let's begin with verse four,
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The king made a statue
and demanded all to worship it
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under the
penalty of death by fire.
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Now here's a little background,
The Babylonian king was known
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for his building constructions
and they would take clay
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from the banks of the Euphrates
River, and they'd add straw
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for strength, and they bake them
in ovens to make hard bricks
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like they did with the Tower
of Babel in Genesis chapter 11.
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So, repurposing a few of
these ovens to burn those who
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would not bow down to the
statue was only a matter of
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giving the order.
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But fire or no, the three
Hebrew boys as we know them
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refused to bow down.
Let's read what happened
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in verse 20. It says.
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The king threw God's
obedient people into the fire.
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Now I know many of you
are familiar with this story.
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Still, let's look at this
well explored ground and see if
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we may find a gem
or two. Verse 23 says.
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I know you saw it, the
three Hebrews were spared,
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the fire proved powerless
but look what Nebuchadnezar says
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He says I see four men loose
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walking in the midst of
the fire and the form of the
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form of the forth he
says is like the Son of God.
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Praise His name. The
three Hebrews in the fiery midst
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but God in the midst, the
disciples in the terrifying
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midst, but Jesus in the midst.
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John sees that in the midst
of the churches, God is there
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in the midst, He is in the
midst. Hey, are you hurting?
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He's in the
midst, are you afraid?
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Can you bond with
Christ, laughter, in the midst.
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Now, that is our
thesis, God is in our midst.
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Let's see an application.
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In the opening
chapters of the Book of Exodus
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before the children of Israel
are freed, before the plagues,
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before they'd ever
followed either the
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pillar of cloud by day or
the pillar of fire by night,
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their human leader, Moses,
also had an experience with God
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in the wilderness, remember?
00:15:42.20\00:15:43.54
It is almost a
foreshadowing of things to come
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when in chapter three,
during the act of shepherding
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his father-in-law's
sheep Moses is called by God
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from the flame of a
burning bush, yes. One day Moses
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would shepherd Israel through
the wilderness where from the
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fire on the mount,
with the fire of a pillar or
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even from the fiery shekinah
glory upon the sanctuary
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Israel, too, would commune
with God but here friends,
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read and appreciate the
moment when a preacher, a pastor
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receives the call
from God. It says.
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How ponderous friends,
how wonderful to be called
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of God by your name. Ponderous
in that God knows our name,
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wonderful in that He calls and
Moses is called to leadership
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by God. Isn't it interesting
that here just as with the
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the three Hebrew boys, God
manifests Himself by sustaining
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His creation in the fire?
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The boys weren't consumed,
the bush is not consumed.
00:17:44.63\00:17:48.63
But let's focus on verse four,
God calls to His servant, but
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notice from where God calls him.
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The Bible says...
00:17:58.81\00:18:00.58
It's from the midst of the bush.
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Laughter. The midst of the fire.
I believe scripture is clear
00:18:02.88\00:18:08.62
from John's encounter
on Patmos to the disciples
00:18:08.65\00:18:12.25
in the Upper Room, three Hebrew
boys in the fire and now Moses
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by the mount. We may
find ourselves in the midst,
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in the middle, in the thick
of it, but God is in the midst
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in the middle,
in the thick of it.
00:18:22.86\00:18:25.37
One can learn to talk
to God, from the midst,
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miracles can
happen in the midst, yes.
00:18:29.87\00:18:35.54
So now that we have established
that, let's answer our question
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from earlier. Will God
sustain you in the midst?
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That's what we started
with still in the Book of Exodus
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and this time, the 14th chapter.
00:18:47.59\00:18:51.36
At this point in the story,
Moses and Aaron have gone before
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Pharaoh and in God's name
have demanded that Pharaoh
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let Israel go only to be
met with racist pride and
00:19:01.27\00:19:06.94
determination, but down in
chapters 7 through 11 God visits
00:19:06.98\00:19:12.08
Egypt, with mighty
demon- strations of His power.
00:19:12.11\00:19:15.95
and 10 great plaques
to send upon the land.
00:19:15.98\00:19:19.55
which eventually results in the
sad death of Egypt's firstborn.
00:19:19.59\00:19:25.03
Humbled for a season, the king
of Egypt casts Israel out of
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bondage and out of Egypt
freedom, praise God, freedom.
00:19:30.47\00:19:34.80
Now, Exodus chapter
14, and verse 9. It says...
00:19:34.84\00:19:39.57
The armies of Pharaoh
would turn in anger to smite
00:20:27.76\00:20:32.79
the children of Israel as
they encamped by the Red Sea
00:20:32.83\00:20:36.40
their bones would eventually
be covered by the surf and
00:20:36.43\00:20:41.37
their name forgotten to
history well, that's what the
00:20:41.40\00:20:45.21
Egyptians thought, wasn't it bad
enough to cry, we were slaves
00:20:45.24\00:20:50.85
but alive, now we
will die in the wilderness.
00:20:50.88\00:20:55.38
Thanks a lot,
Moses, thanks a lot, God.
00:20:55.42\00:20:57.75
But then verse 12, look at this.
00:20:57.79\00:21:01.26
The Lord shall fight for you...
Oh, you can preach on this part.
00:21:34.59\00:21:38.59
Now, verse 21.
00:21:41.70\00:21:43.63
Ahh, you know this
story, God divided the waters of
00:21:58.41\00:22:02.75
the Red Sea, he made a
path through the untraversible
00:22:02.78\00:22:06.65
a way out of no way, a
road in the wilderness...
00:22:06.69\00:22:10.99
It says in verse 22 that
the waters were a wall on
00:22:11.03\00:22:15.93
their right and a
wall on their left.
00:22:15.96\00:22:18.93
A great cleft in the sea
with annihilation held at bay
00:22:18.97\00:22:25.17
by God.
00:22:25.21\00:22:26.88
We often consider how wondrous
those first steps onto the
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seabed must have been. To crunch
onto the dry ground that God
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has provided. It must
have been wondrous indeed
00:22:38.19\00:22:42.06
but at the start of the journey,
one is close enough to turn back
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if things go awry. Huh,
we often consider the end of
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Israel's trip through the
sea. The distant shore is close
00:22:53.07\00:22:57.81
enough to see the thunder
of Pharaoh's horse coming from
00:22:57.84\00:23:02.64
behind but when you see the end,
it lifts your spirits, doesn't
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it? At the end, you are
bolstered by all you have
00:23:06.72\00:23:11.02
successfully been through and
by the sights of coming triumph
00:23:11.05\00:23:15.29
for you will rest or you
will sing and shout the victory
00:23:15.32\00:23:18.73
but have you ever
thought about Israel's journey
00:23:18.76\00:23:23.57
through the middle?
00:23:23.60\00:23:25.67
In the midst, too late to
turn back, too far from the end
00:23:25.70\00:23:31.57
to see the roiling water, two
walls on the left and your right
00:23:31.61\00:23:35.28
Imagine what they thought
as they entered that part
00:23:35.31\00:23:38.41
of the journey. Well,
actually, we know exactly
00:23:38.45\00:23:41.78
what they thought, for it is
exactly what we thought as we
00:23:41.82\00:23:45.25
entered the thick of it.
00:23:45.29\00:23:46.82
Will God
sustain me in the midst?
00:23:46.86\00:23:50.99
Verse 22.
00:23:51.03\00:23:53.70
Laughter. The ground in
the middle was just as dry
00:24:03.07\00:24:07.21
as the ground at the start,
as dry as the ground at the end
00:24:07.24\00:24:12.01
for the God who
started them on their journey
00:24:12.15\00:24:14.98
and would see them to
their end of their journey
00:24:15.02\00:24:17.85
would see them through
the midst of their journey.
00:24:17.89\00:24:21.42
Friends, even in the
darkest and scariest of times
00:24:21.46\00:24:24.79
of their journey,
God's in In the midst.
00:24:24.83\00:24:27.40
He's the God of the
midst, He will sustain you
00:24:27.43\00:24:32.37
and see you through.
00:24:32.40\00:24:34.47
First time I preached
this sermon we had just lost
00:24:34.50\00:24:42.54
our first elder to
Covid, and it broke our hearts
00:24:42.58\00:24:48.65
His widow had buried
their daughter about two years
00:24:48.68\00:24:57.53
earlier, and I remember hearing
the word from the hospital room
00:24:57.56\00:25:03.37
two years earlier. His widow
saying I have lost my daughter
00:25:03.40\00:25:07.77
and now I have lost my man.
00:25:07.80\00:25:11.97
I am in the middle of
the worst time in my life.
00:25:12.01\00:25:19.35
The elder was still in
the hospital room when I heard
00:25:19.38\00:25:24.69
those words, and I thought
about that sister in the middle
00:25:24.72\00:25:31.46
right in the fire,
right in the thick of it.
00:25:31.49\00:25:39.47
And as I did, my mind thought
about God's people at that time
00:25:39.53\00:25:47.41
under the cloud of the
Pandemic, right in the middle,
00:25:47.44\00:25:51.68
right in the thick of it.
00:25:51.71\00:25:54.38
Hey, what about you?
00:25:54.42\00:25:57.79
Right in the middle,
right in thick of it,
00:25:57.82\00:26:04.29
it hurts in the
middle doesn't it?
00:26:04.33\00:26:08.40
Come too far to
turn back haven't we?
00:26:10.53\00:26:13.03
The end seems so far we
wonder if we're going to make it
00:26:13.07\00:26:17.14
don't we? Will God
sustain us in the midst?
00:26:17.17\00:26:23.91
And friends, as we
prepare to funeralize our dear
00:26:23.95\00:26:31.22
Elder Ron Mackey, by God's
grace, I was looking in the
00:26:31.25\00:26:36.26
Bible for some encouragement.
00:26:36.29\00:26:37.93
Lord, lift us up in the
midst, say something to us
00:26:37.96\00:26:43.57
we may learn by heart, and when
alone and repeat an encourage us
00:26:43.60\00:26:47.14
Lord in the midst, and
when I I studied found out
00:26:47.17\00:26:52.01
God is in the midst.
00:26:52.04\00:26:54.61
He's the God of the midst
and while you're in the middle
00:26:54.64\00:27:00.52
it's a fine time to
get to know your God.
00:27:00.55\00:27:05.82
I preached this sermon,
tears coming out of my eyes
00:27:05.85\00:27:09.76
and I reached to the sister
and I said, you in the midst?
00:27:09.79\00:27:13.63
and she hasn't heard the sermon
said from the congregation
00:27:13.66\00:27:18.97
but God is in the midst. Yes!
00:27:19.00\00:27:22.50
Yes! Oh God, you who
have taken us this far
00:27:22.54\00:27:30.05
and will take us all the
way, encourage us in the midst.
00:27:30.08\00:27:34.22
And let us never forget,
You are the God of the midst
00:27:34.25\00:27:38.05
and you are here. Save
us. In thy name we pray.
00:27:38.09\00:27:42.29
Amen.
00:27:42.32\00:27:43.66
You know God has
plans for you, you just walk
00:27:43.69\00:27:47.36
with your hand in His
Hand and He will lead you to
00:27:47.40\00:27:49.46
His destination,
may He bless you.
00:27:49.50\00:27:51.87
And as always
friends, Be encouraged.
00:27:51.90\00:27:54.94