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00:00:00 thank you an okay uh let's get up the PowerPoint slides if we can can we get up the PowerPoint slides we're going to finish off our three-parter series on safe space and if you remember last um last Sunday I showed this video from a 1997 movie called The Apostle by Robert rudal and remember he he's having a conversation with god and it goes something like that God I'm upset at you I'm upset at you I am upset at you this is me sunny speaking you are Jesus I'm Sunny I'm you give me a sign Give Me A
00:00:34 Sign something like that right and at one point he does this you know you watch the video again he does this what what what's he trying to do come on someone tell me come on he expects an answer so one thing great about I think one thing I really like is when people respond like so like I said a dear brother sent me a long email will so encourag me another brother said right since you're talking about safe spaces he talked to me after the second service he said you know I I I've done what you asked me to do I've done rigorous
00:01:09 prayers with God i' I've gone before God and I I expressed my frustrations and he doesn't answer have you ever got that it's correct right so all you theologians come and say we need to have a two-way dialogue with God we need to talk God doesn't answer and if he does answer how do I know it is the voice of God how do I not know is the voice of the devil didn't Jesus say when Peter spoke to him get thee behind me Satan how do I not know is me speaking to myself so it's important point to pick up and today we look at a counter text
00:01:49 to the Genesis 18 story where there's complete silence and we're going to see what the text teaches us about when it is to speak to God and when does God reply and when is there silence and this is going to wrap up our whole idea of the safe space let's just get into it so let me just go back a little bit on what we spoke last week on Genesis 18 number one God's wants us to vigorously dialogue with him of course the issue is how do we know when he speaks back to us one two the dialogue we saw with Abraham
00:02:27 and Moses habc Jeremiah Ezekiel kill the persistent Widow it goes in steps of boldness The Lord's Prayer you know uh who for you ask for bread will give you a stone know you knock at the night the friend will give it to you so it goes in boldness now here's the point which is very difficult for us especially I think leaders if we are honest leaders all have this problem how we dialogue boldly with God images how we have bold dialogue with other believers because leaders have pride so when we talk to others I have a
00:03:02 problem we like to lecture people so it's very hard for us to take a stance and a posture which is humble and that's why Paul trip says until the church has a culture of rebuking in Grace no one's going to apply Matthew 18 nobody to me this is the hardest thing to do I I really struggle with this and Asian culture is worse Asian culture don't talk one they tell they go behind everybody's back and say people don't listen Elders don't listen you like this like this like like this so this is the thing and what the most important thing
00:03:37 what Matthew 18 sorry Genesis 18 leads through is this thing which we really need to Grapple with that the boldest form of dialogue with God is len so let me just pick up some things and I we all talking about safe spaces you can't have a safe space with people unless you have a safe space with God the vertical informs the horizontal so let's ask a question which is key to counseling what we call counseling what's the key difference in a Christian safe space and a secular safe space and and and in secular space
00:04:12 safe space you hear this words inclusivity you hear this words acceptance you hear these words that know diversity who whoever you are whatever you are we will make you feel safe with us the biblical understanding is that there's a difference between being feeling safe and feeling comfortable you cannot be comfortable with sin you can be safe with God that's Grace but you cannot be comfortable with sin so let me tell you what I think is the key difference in a secular safe space you work with therapist cognitive
00:04:47 behavior therapist family therapist emotionally focused therapist any kind of modality I spent the last few years spending a lot of time with people like this psychiatrist psychologist therapist whatever issues you have your anxiety depression all the issues the function of therapist is to move you back to the steering wheel you are master of your destiny but biblical counseling shifts it to God there's a world of difference in the two and you need to recognize this and that's why we we place so much importance on people
00:05:22 coming forward making the church safe so that we can talk and because it's such a bad stigma of this people rather go out there pay $250 get a therapist and separate their issues anxiety with discipleship that is completely unbiblical because maluma because the therapy is will fill you with secular teachings so we need to talk so the end purpose of all safe spaces is to really reveal who you trust with your life and Genesis is the key because Genesis is the beginning of everything and right smack in the Genesis story of two and
00:06:00 three there is a test the test is who do you trust you must understand the Genesis motives are the motive that carry through right through to Israel in the wilderness it carries through to the kingdom narrative and it carries through the to the New Testament who do you trust and God says trust me you have life eternal but I am God I have the knowledge good and evil then a rebel comes and says no trust yourself you can be God and that motives goes again and again Israel in the wilderness decides to
00:06:35 trust on themselves in the Kingdom before the kingdom is split right War comes and God says Trust on me do not go to Egypt when the Babylon is attack but Israel does not trust in God and when it comes to time of Jesus Jesus is tested again so the idea of trust God is a major motive in the Bible so let's pick that up a little bit and why because what we learned in all of this one of the recurring theme is the idea of the test so let me give you the big picture you and I are going to be tested for
00:07:15 Faith that's why James says whenever you go into trials and tribulations what does it tell you pray to get out of it James says what ask for ask for what wisdom so that's the thing okay and so today we look at the test of all tests Genesis 22 everybody's preach on this and the beauty of a Biblical test is that you can take the same test and recast it in another way I'm going to recast this in a Christian Counseling context but it's a fantastic test okay another preacher will swing it another way but one thing
00:07:52 great about biblical text there are manifest to it so let's just go through this very famous test a text is called The Binding of Isaac AKA in the talmud all right Genesis 22 sometime later God tested Abraham he said to Abraham Abraham here I am he replied then God said take your son your only son whom you love notice that refrain there Isaac and go to the region of Mora which is a mountain all right pick up those details sacrifice him there as a burn offering on a mountain I will show you what is
00:08:25 the burnt offering is when you actually take an animal cut it up and burn it up as an offer uffing but now God says do it to your son horrible instruction horrible early in the next morning you find that exact same phrase repeated in chapter 21 if you going to read your Bible again rep repeated motive to show you Clues early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey in chapter 21 early in the morning he got up and took ishel and hagga out to the desert going to read the text he took with him two of his
00:08:57 servants and his son Isaac when he cut enough wood for for the burnt offering he set up for the place God had told him about on the third day wow three days agonizing three days Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance he said to his servants stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go up there we will worship and then we will come back to you you notice what's completely missing in this dialogue is silent nobody talks there's only one conversation recorded and it's deliberate verse six
00:09:27 Abraham took the word Bor offering placed on his son Isaac which is very ironic he himself carried the fire and the knife as the two went up together Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham and he's very piercing and these are the only words in the text father and yes my son the fine wood are here but where's the land for the burnt offering oh sorry Isaac you are the one who is the burnt offering he doesn't say that he says God himself will provide the land for the burnt offering my son can you imagine the pain he is going
00:09:59 through he struggles to do it and the two of them went up there when they reached the place God had told him Abraham build an Al range the wood on it he bound his son Isaac and laid him on alar top the wood then very famous text then he reached out his hand talk a knife to slay his son the angel of the Lord called out to him for heaven Abraham Abraham here I am he replied do not lay a hand on the on the boy do not do anything to him now I know you fear God why you have not withheld from me your own your son again again notice the
00:10:30 rephrase your only son have you picked that up so it starts off you know take your son your only son whom you love verse 12 your son your only son and you notice something about Isaac Isaac is like sedated you know like somebody shock him with something you know you imagine you take the boy you tie him there he'll go and wrestle with you the the text presents Isaac like a lamb you got to pick up all these details they're very important in the story Arch which starts on Genesis 12 to 22 and we'll go
00:11:01 through that a while more so Abraham looked up there in the ticket he saw a ram caught by his horns he went over took the ram sacrifices burn offering of his son so Abraham caught a place the Lord will provide to this day it is said on the mountain of the Lord that's Temple language that's edenic language all right it will be provided that's a call back to Eden the angel the Lord called to Abraham from Heaven the second time and in the first time from Genesis 12 to 22 God says This I Swear by myself he never does that
00:11:33 declares the Lord that because you have done this have not withheld your son what is it again your only son three times that refrain is used your son your only son your son your only son these are important details the author is picking up something for you to remember and then he repeats the Genesis 12 Covenant I will surely bless you and make your descendant and numerous as a stars in the skies the sand of the sea that was done in Genesis 12 that was done in Genesis 15 and it was repeated in 17 just some details your descendants
00:12:09 will take possession cities the enemies through your Offspring All Nations on Earth will be blessed you've obeyed me Abraham returned to his servants they set off to bashah and Abraham stayed on in bashah okay why this story so in so profound one is the Exemplar story of a person of Faith the story is important to Muslims Jews and Christians in the Muslim version it is not Isaac but Ishmael who is being sacrificed to the Jews it is a key story in the tamut and the midic writings all right it's a very
00:12:42 famous story it is exemplary because he gave up his own son to some others it's a crazy story it's a it's a famous video game The Binding of Isaac those of younger generation will know a very famous uh uh uh um Christian philosopher Emanuel Khan said that if an apparation appeared to me and said give up my son I will tell the apparation you are from the devil you don't ask me to do something normal you ask me to kill my son hello and a lot of Scholars has struggled with this again and again yes we know it's a
00:13:20 test he doesn't wow this test is is this what Christianity is Blind Faith your pastor ask you jump off the cliff you jump that's what it is no wonder you religious people like to blow other people up no wonder a lot of you people don't use your brains Blind Faith so the text is that but here's the other detail which some people picked up which is an important detail which we want to pick out as a Counterpoint to Genesis 18 and it's simply this there's no dialogue he doesn't talk back to God where's the vigorous dialogue where's
00:14:03 all the Talking I mean in Genesis 18 last week we looked God approach Abraham approached God will you sweep away the righteous the wicked you why didn't he tell God will you kill my son the righteous with the wicked why didn't he tell God far be from you to do such a thing far away from you will not the judge of the earth do right why why didn't Abraham object he kept quiet that's the point of the text and all Scholars have picked it up that's why they call this The Silence of Abraham so why so let's pick
00:14:47 it up and and and maybe we we we we we go through some details about it but let me let me try explain a little bit of of the genes the Abraham story line this and here some details you may not picked up which is is important the story line starts with 12 right there was a man called Abraham and God said he uses a Hebrew word called Le go go all right in here in Genesis 22 he tells him go and sacrify he uses the same Hebrew word meaning the story line is tight I want to give you some details between 12 and 22 I don't know
00:15:22 when they picked it up there are two stories of Sarah being kidnapped by chapter 12 the king of Egypt chapter 19 the king of philistine there are two accounts of Lord needing to be rescued chapter 14 the battle of the nine Kings and includes of all things the king of Sodom and then chapter 18:19 Lord is rescued again Sodom you pick that up two accounts with the wife two accounts with Lord there are accounts of two births two sons now that's not a coincidence and you follow the structure from 12 to 22
00:16:11 they follow like a valley structure because go 12 to 12 22 go two stories of Lot 12 19 two stories about no the wives two stories about Lord in the middle is the story of the Covenant the first Covenant in 15 the Covenant with Abram and he didn't preached on this before the second one is 17 the Covenant with Abraham so the key of the story is the story of the Covenant okay now here's the point Abraham likes to question God one you know I give you some verses you don't read it chapter 15 he go and
00:16:47 question God I got no children you never give me children argue with God Genesis 17 he laughed you know ha I am 100 years old ishmail is my son he likes to argue with God now not only does he argue with God God replies him Genesis 17 I will establish a covenant with you Genesis 15 a son that comes from you so the the story line shows you Abraham likes to argue with God and God replies so why in this chapter he keep quiet not one word now the Genesis 22 story you read it there is no mention of how he felt it
00:17:29 is an action text you know is just cut wood La take the donkey La bring this kill your son is like a clinical description so I want to pick up a few things on this all right now here's where you understand the story Genesis 12 go and then 15 17 18 21 dialogue 21 hagga tells him no his wife tells him take hagga take ish and throw them into the desert to die that's literally what Sarah does you know you know and the story tells us he's very distressed hey how come he not distressed about Isaac ish is distressed
00:18:05 you going to read 21 he's so distressed because the text says it's his son then God says don't worry you you send him there I'll take care of the boy now why you find 15 17 18 21 a lot of dialogue 22 finally God says give up your son not a word and I tell you why I think because he had dialogue with God so much by the time he gets to 22 he completely trusts in God's wisdom that's Genesis 3 this is the tree of life story you either trust me no matter how crazy my instructions are or you trust yourself
00:18:46 and by now he trust God and that's why we vigorously pray with God and and another person come tell me the Asian culture don't do this we not used to this I say we are not Asians or european we are we are biblical culture and scripture tells you to vigorously bring it to him because the more you do the more you do the more you challenge the more you ask his wisdom comes to you that's James again James 1 so I let me try to get you into his mind in Genesis 15 the first time God speaks to him God tells him a son who
00:19:23 your own flesh and blood all right that's one he knows really and the Covenant will be him then Genesis uh 21 we Genesis 17 our establish Covenant through Isaac and 17 is more interesting you will call him Isaac God tells him to name him then Genesis 21 we just mention the matter distress Abraham greatly but said no it is true Isaac your offing be reckon three times God says your son Isaac will be the Covenant so now God says kill your son so what happens the mind is conflicted three times God says must be
00:20:04 Isaac now God says sacrifice the son this is the way of wisdom so the first thing he tells himself God does not contradict himself he doesn't contradict himself and because of that he rationalizes and says you know what even if Isaac dies Isaac can be brought back from life that's gospel language he can come back from the dead and so Hebrews tells by faith Abraham and God tested him offered Isaac's a sacrifice and he the thing he who embraced the promises were about to sacrifice his one and only son that's
00:20:39 the apparent contradiction even though God has said it is true Isaac your Offspring will be reckon but three times God had told him and God does not contradict himself so Abraham rered that God could even raise the dead and in the matter of speaking he did receive back Isaac from the DAT there a movie in 20110 about the King speech is a King Edward I 7 he speaks with a with with a stammering his status his stmas and the movie which was very famous One lot Oscars in the end shows that he actually
00:21:19 overcomes his th he overcomes it at the end of the movie he has to make an important speech a voice to the nation and has to tell England that England is going to go to war so in a very famous scene you see the ending of it everybody listens and the voice goes over the Wilders to say you have to trust you have to trust in God trust your king we are going to war and as the movie ends the the Jeffrey Rush who place his voice coach says you know you spoke again with a stummer although he knows that the
00:22:00 stammering has gone he said yes that's the only way English people will know it is me they hear my voice and they will obey you want to hear that again you will hear my voice it's a difficult decision and they will obey and the New Testament tells us my sheep hear my voice I know them they follow me and Abraham on that day Genesis 22 heard God's voice no matter how crazy it was he had wrestled with God enough to know is the voice of God and he would trust and that's the big lesson for us today you see God doesn't contradict
00:22:47 himself but we often feel it does and so this what will happen you will be praying for someone you love and you will be praying and praying and praying and if that person that get doesn't get healed you will say why and you say God is not fair God you contradict yourself but God never contradicted himself but no God you did you say you're a good God why would a good god take away my uncle my wife my so and so I understand this personally but we do not remember the voice of God says that God can heal you
00:23:28 from your disease or he can heal you through your disease and the same way Abraham felt that God could resurrect Isaac from the dead scripture tells us even if there someone we pray for passes on he will be resurrected so someone last week spoke to me and really really touched me uh and going to change the details a bit and he was saying how you know his wife who passed on had cancer changing the details a bit and he sat down with her and said you know uh God he won't heal you now will heal you in
00:24:11 the next life and so when the pain came it was easier for him because he had heard the voice of God and he had trusted God what's the purpose of counseling what's the purpose of safe space for us to trust him I want us to take on this number two yes I will go through this later okay we don't have time number two we have to reflect back to recognize patterns of God's guidance in our life the problem with human nature is that human nature is intrinsically negative so if we look back life we only think of the negative
00:24:51 things we think of how our husband abandoned us how life was unfair how I got divorced how I'm lonely we we we tend to focus on this hurting people are swallowed by their pain and then their pain becomes their identity so what did uh what did Abraham do firstly he knew God but secondly he experienced God in his life let's just look at some patterns okay God as him to go then God gives the promised land to him in 13 after he fights with LA he ask to measure the land then then he allows God to rescue Lord with 318 people and
00:25:32 we we read 18 and 19 he saw the hand of God's justice and then finally Isaac is born so he has seen God's hand in his journey so here's one question for you and I and it's important question can I ask you now if you pause or after when we do a prayer right and I ask you to pause and think back your life up to now can you think of God's hand in your life or are you more inclined to look back with misery and say my life has been nothing but one after another of unfair treatment and God you're not fair to
00:26:08 me I I I think it's an important question but Abraham looked back he saw God's hand in his life and you notice until 22 God doesn't ask anything from Abraham here's the other thing I think he looked back he saw he saw that actually he failed the test many times you know Genesis 12 he lies about Sarah he lies again with King ABC he abuses an Egyptian slave to have a baby this so the Israelites in Egypt who been abused by Egyptian they look at this you know they they they see something and then his wife sends away
00:26:45 the kids to die sin after sin after sin and God's grace is on the family here's the other thing when we are hurting you know we we we we cannot see our culpability so sometime you talk to people and they tell you things are so bad and you want to tell them you know what maybe you shouldn't have done this they they react on you you know they only want to say God's not fair can't hear anything else but but maybe you should have done that no no no after that you don't see them in church anymore so looking back is
00:27:15 important and when you look back you see so a God knows Abraham told him to go twice he's he took care ishmail God had been faithful and in the story of Sodom God God's justice were there so here's the other thing unless you know in your heart God is a good God God is a real God he's been walking your life when bad things happen to you you you you won't stand that storm you know and if you look at people who leave the faith very often when they leave the faith is never an intellectual thing is always something happen in
00:27:53 their lives some they lost somebody and they say God why you did that to me n out of 10 if you ever sit down with someone who has who was once an FBC member a church member and now spits in the eyes of Christianity and tells you Christians are hypocrites are this and that very often they had a bad bad bad encounter and often is somebody died so unless now you take stock of your life because maybe a lot of you in a good space right now and maybe you need to be more grateful so it's not only about knowing
00:28:26 god is about Experiencing God here's maybe the last point to pick up is about surrendering to God so it's knowing god Experiencing God and surrendering God because what's the text about the text is about him willing to give up and here's the phrase again his son his only son right Isaac was Abraham's favorite son if you follow the narrative later Esau is Isaac's favorite son and God will not give it to him Joseph is Jacob's favorite son that story line carries through we will take Jacob's story later on which is really
00:29:04 interesting because a lot of Jacob's in us but The Narrative of the favorite son is a storyline in the patriarch families and I will take you through later on when we go through the families in Genesis series but I just want you to take this phrase we say again your son your only son whom you love and three times is repeated what is this story telling you because in the New Testament God gave his son his only son for us and in this time the hand was not stay the hand the nails went through and he died but was resurrected for us why
00:29:47 if you think the Abraham story is a crazy story all of you shouldn't be Christians because God died for you which to a non-Christian is the stupidest thing to ever say the fact that you are Christians is you believe in it and here's the hypocrisy of it but when it happens to us we don't like it when it happens to God is okay so why don't you pause on this because God so loved the world he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him will not perish have eternal life now we all know that and so
00:30:19 the question is this is not just knowing god Experiencing God is what are you prepared to give up for God to surrender to him and let's not talk about children let's do a very simple test I got this from Sister Kitty B bits our dear Filipino sister tremendous uh tremendous Insight you know DC started a shop called Kad Blast how many of you know Kad blast nobody because all you very atas people very atas few people know how many you buy stuff from K bless for nobody oh all very atas why you don't
00:30:56 buy for K blast you never heard let me tell you what K blessings are it's a it's a fantastic intention what DC does he tell he tell the church people you take all the stuff you give it to us fre and then we go and sell for you very good intention when you ask church people if we we were thinking about it our elders why don't we do something similar if tomorrow we say let's do a k bless and then we ask you to donate guess what we will get for people sorry I didn't hear that C thank you we will get
00:31:32 junk thank you now you want to test this sister Kitty had a great idea she says and this is real we're going to start the Kad Blast for FBC and here's what we want from you I don't want your Jer I don't want your second head clothes I don't want your toys with a year missing you know what I want you to give and here this is prophetic we'll be approaching your soon we want each one of you to give something thing that cost you ah that should be interesting I I had to think about myself you know I got some very things I'm very
00:32:10 proud of I did not give up I told myself God I cannot give it away give it could be a watch it could be a pair of shoes it could be this thing you bought from England cannot find anywhere else W give to us we sell on Carousel we make more money correct I I challenge all of you when we launch this you don't give us junk I challenge you it doesn't have to be very expensive but it has to be meaningful you have to go like cannot give up you take other hey you give like that IO the one how why you say I give it willingly Hallelujah
00:32:56 brother that's the point of tax isn't isn't it knowing God is Not Enough Experiencing God is Not Enough the point is it's a test and here's the lesson to all of us and where it hits on Christian Counseling what are you and I withholding from God and I challenge you today to ask that question is it your pride is it the fear of being exposed a fear of being looked stupid knowing your past if you do not surrender this you do not give everything and you do not give everything to a God who gave you his son
00:33:40 his only son whom he loved so let me just end with this the silence reveals the condition of our hearts no on the third day Abraham looked up wow God made it even more difficult he gave him three days to so that he could change his mind I mean you want me to kill my son do it immediately you make me make me three days no I think those three days are quite hellish to go through but he's deliberate and in the three days he's Resolute so let me explain a bit Abraham after chapter 15 God say look up to the
00:34:18 sky and see your descendant are me like that 10 years are going to pass nothing happens I I I sort of Imagine know that he God tell Abraham you know you go and look at the sky and you count the Stars that's your descendant it world gets excited and and Genesis 15 tells us Abraham believ God and he was credited to him as righteous righteousness Paul picks it up after that 10 years is going to pass you know 10 years you know he was 89 then you know so I something Wonder certain night he walked out you
00:34:48 he saw the sky and there were no stars and maybe he told God God I'm trying to count stars in a complete black sky and I'm I'm sick of waiting and there is silence and there is silence and there silence and see God's intention to delay Isaac is very deliberate and we will never know why why didn't God just give Isaac immediately he made him wait for 20 years you know have you ever considered that have you considered why job whatever happened in the end God doesn't tell him why you see God's silence is for
00:35:32 purpose he speaks for purpose when when pain happens to you the default question we ask is why and very often is silent it's like that video where Robert duva puts out his ear he's not going to get an answer and this is where we struggle with because we do not know the mind of God Psalm 39 says I will watch my ways and keep my my tongue from sin I put a muszle my mouth while in the presence of wicked I will remain utterly Silent not say anything good but what happens my anguish increased my heart grew hot within me
00:36:14 while I meditated the fire burned I spoke with my tongue he burst out there is a kind of Silence right that takes you to a calm Resolute place that's Abraham and there is the kind of Silence which screams in your mind and you ruminate over the issue again and again and again and say why Lord you happened why Lord you happened why Lord happened and the question to you and I this morning is which silence are you experiencing and you know why I ask people to come in front just now I'm not going to force it because later in
00:36:52 worship we are going to go into a time of silence and when that happens there's only going to be two things that going to happen to all of you one God speaks secondly that silence is deafening you can't wait for it to end Abraham silence speaks volumes of his trust in God lament allows us that space for us to tell God God why Lord why Lord I'm on the verge of Despair I can't take it I can't take it I can't take it I'm in a bad place I'm in a bad place against all Lord I want to hear your voice You Are My Hope but
00:37:45 voices scream in me and the pain is threatening to drown me so I say search me oh Lord and the Silence of my heart speak to me and I will respond and we're going to spend some time doing that I'm going to invite the worship team to come up I want us to silent ourselves and let me give you a quote from Mother Teresa can I please have back my slide and Mother Teresa says this he say God speaks in the Silence of our heart God speaks in the Silence of our heart and so now we have a time of silence and
00:38:32 you listen the worship team is going to take you through a new song called lament and we're going to give you time to be very very quiet that's why it's only 9:35 40 and in that quietness you either hear your own voice screaming at you and you just say I can't wait for this to be over but if you humble yourself God speaks can you imagine that day Abraham his son is there his life is at Peak and God says give up the son can you imagine what went through his mind but he taught he remembered the god
00:39:11 of his Covenant three times God says is Isaac and with singular Focus he gave up his son only to get him back more Victorious if you cannot do this you will lead and continue to lead a very defeated Christian Life and what really pains me is to see people in church every time you meet them is always complaining is always negativity is always this because they do not live a resurrected life so Mother Teresa continues we speak to God from the fullness of our heart and God listens this is listening this is speaking this is
00:39:57 prayer I'm now going to pass a time over to the worship team who will take us through a new song called lament and as they do this may God speak to you um a few years ago I was personally in a very dark place uh and I kind of questioned why I was really on this Earth why why why should I be here anymore um and uh this the lyrics of this song really speak to what I was going through at that time uh he says you're near to the broken uh your peace passes understanding you your hope for the hurting but where are you you know um
00:40:48 and and yeah I think this is is really what I could identify with this song uh and I think through all that time I think God was still watching but in that turmoil and hurt I wasn't really listening so I just want to invite the church to really talk to God today as we sing this song um and spend a time of Silence uh talk about your fears talk about what your worries are your difficulties in life yeah [Music] you say you're near to the broken you say your peace pass is understanding you say St your hope for
00:42:29 the hurting where are you [Music] now come close I'm on the verge of breaking come close I'm desperate for your presence come come close the weight of pain is crushing come close she touched your hand and you heal her you open eyes with the dirt we walk when will I wake from this [Music] nightmare where are you now where are you now to come close I'm on the verge of break Come Close desperate for your presence come close the weight of pain is crushing come close [Music] for some of us sometimes life seems to just be going
00:44:46 great everything's going good for us we're doing so well that we just don't imagine that something bad can just come crashing and and just wrecking our whole perfect life and sometimes things are going so great that we don't even see the sufferings that our fellow brothers and sisters are going through we're so selfish that all we care about is ourselves but right next to you today could be someone who's going through a terrible time someone who just needs someone to talk to but doesn't have anyone
00:45:33 there or someone who's just so broken that they are lost for words and they don't know what to say even if they wanted to say how they feel today church is not just about ourselves it's about coming together as a community coming together as the body of Christ to support and to care for each other I'd like to invite you in this time just think of someone it could be anyone your friend your family member your colleague who's going through a tough time right now it could be anything there's nothing too small too
00:46:17 big that they may be going through and I like us to just take a moment and think about this person to bring this person before God and to cry out for this person you can say whatever you want to say you can tell God why do you do why do you allow such things to happen to this kind and good person or why does this person have to go through so much when he or she has already been through so [Music] much just use this time she just pour your heart out to God [Music] God we come before you with so many
00:48:19 questions so many times we question the situation and the circumstances that we're in sometimes it just happens so suddenly that we can't even process what's going [Music] on we don't understand why you would have us go through these circumstances we don't understand why this can happen to someone that we care and love so much for and many times that we pray for respite or pray for relief from that circumstance we don't get any answers it doesn't matter how many times we cry out sometimes all we hear is
00:49:06 silence and we can't help but wonder if you are actually there or if you're even listening to how we feel or if you're even listening to what we have to say God is hard but even in this time of doubt we want to say that we want to trust you although things don't make sense we know that you're Sovereign and that your purposes will always come to pass just maybe not in the way that we envision it to be or the way that we want it to be we believe that you will make your purposes clear and plain in your own way
00:50:03 and in your own time help us not to be fixated on the outcome and to find all the answers that we think that we need to make ourselves feel better but help us to find peace in the process and in who you are help us not to run away and depend on our own knowledge sh our own wisdom but help us to run towards you Lord deep down inside we know that you are sovereign and you are in control over everything and we know that you are always good you are always good through it [Music] all you are good you are
00:51:01 good I believe you are good you are good you are good I still believe you are good you you are good you are good I believe you are good you are good you are good I still believe that you are good come close I'm on the vir breaking come close and desperate for your presence come close the weight of pain is crushing come close come close I'm on the verge of breaking come close I'm desperate for your presence come close the way of pain is crushing come close [Music] if you're not scared of my questions where are you
00:53:16 now Lord in the quietness now and Lord we are so not used to quietness our mind is a monkey mind we ask right now you speak to each one of us and the driving question today we ask is simply this how much do we trust you when things are difficult in our life do we prefer to trust ourselves or trust you some here are going through medical conditions and is it just so difficult do we trust you that in the same way Abraham trusted that even Isaac dies his beloved Son his only son God will bring him back from the
00:54:16 dead do we trust you that you can heal us from disease but true disease that your promise in the new world you wipe away every tear and there be no more death so take a moment now for all of you who may be struggling through illnesses or have friends or people you care for who are struggling that I want us to take a moment to just in that quietness just think of them and ask ourselves do we trust God in this for some of us it's a is an ethical issue we are stuck in the bind and the world is telling you give a
00:55:02 Brier do this do that the snake Whispers you can decide what's right what's wrong and maybe God is asking you should you take a more difficult route are are those the only options left are you able to make a hard decision for life is about testing if you're in that position maybe is a the business decision where corruption is there and I I understand this because I'm facing that now so right now we want to put all of you who are working maybe there's office politics a boss a colleague and you're very tempted to use
00:55:45 your wisdom and God is saying will you trust me in the quietness now those of you at work facing corruption issues Integrity issues would you trust God and lastly I think many here have relational issues maybe is your wife your parents your children someone who Dishonored you disrespected you someone who caused you much pain you either use your own wisdom to to get your back get it back at them or do you trust God and some of us we bury that pain so much and God is asking for you particularly would you look back
00:56:43 and not just look at the pain but look at how I walked with you and as you wait upon the Lord in the sil Ence the final question to all of us is this Abraham was prepared to give his son his only son to God because God is good and he trusted God and a challenge to us what am I not prepared to give to God and we come to you Lord and we say we struggle with that Lord in this quietness speak to us clearly and individually give us a silence that leads to Clarity and we know you're speaking to us that we may
00:57:40 lament over our sins then we say cry out to you Lord we are sinners and you did not withhold your son your only son whom you love and he died a horrible death he passed the test so that we we can have fellowship with you again that makes even less sense than the Abraham story to a non-Christian but for us born of the spirit that's wisdom and so right now we're going to close with a song about Victory I like the worship team to take us through and just let me just give you some words as we bring the words verses
00:58:27 up can we have the verses up to this song I just want to just say this about that God's grace is here God wants to pull you from whatever struggles you have You're On Solid Ground he is your salvation do not lead a defeated Christian Life do not lead the rest of your life unhappy and bitter and just sitting in a quiet Corner the church for the next 10 years that's not Christianity lead a Victorious Life that is God's calling for you and that is a message today and if you're struggling with that
00:59:12 you stay back and you talk to us break that for God wants you to be happy to be sitting on Solid Ground and say I am a resurrected believer I am Victor Victorious over everything and I beseech you the elders will be here the pastors will be here as we sing this song no matter what you're struggling may you always know you do not fear when Darkness Falls on you his strength will help you through the Lord is your [Music] salvation church can I invite you to rise [Music] the grace of God has reached for
01:00:22 me and pull me from The Ring [Music] see and I am safe on the Solid Ground Lord is my [Music] salvation I will not fear when Darkness Falls his strength will help me scale the w [Music] I'll see the dawn of the Rising Sun the Lord is my [Music] salvation is like the Lord Our God Strong to Save faithful in love my J is pain and the Victory won the Lord is my [Music] salvation my hope is hidden in the Lord he flows each promise of his word when winter fades spring will come the Lord is my salvation in times of waiting times of
01:02:13 need when I know lost when I am weak I know his grace moving you these days the Lord is my salvation who is like the Lord Our God strong to sa faithful in love my Deb is paid and the Victory one the Lord is my [Music] [Laughter] [Music] and when I reach the final [Music] day he will not leave me in the grave but I will rise he will call me home Lord is my Sal who is like the Lord Our God Strong to Save faithful and love my death is prais and the Victory W the Lord is my salvation glory be to God the
01:04:03 Father glory be to God the son glory be to God the [Music] spir the Lord is the [Music] Salvation the Lord is is our [Music] Salvation the Lord is our [Music] Sal this morning we ask you speak to us and we say that you are our salvation and this is not escapism so we truly ask everyone here that today you really spoke to our hearts that this is a safe space that we can stay back and talk to someone and we can just tell of our fears and our anxieties so we really ask for your spirit to just move quietly in our midst
01:05:11 as you depart us and now the benediction May the god of your salvation give you his power give you his peace give you the love of Christ and per perhaps today we focus give you his wisdom as you trust in him in daytoday tests that you're going through and may we pass the test that God puts in us and be found worthy of him and we say this in Jesus name amen go in peces again this is a safe space as you depart in peace any one of you want to stay back and quietly talk to us maybe from a place where don't feel
01:06:01 stigmatized if you don't want to come in front wait for us one of us would talk to you let us truly be a church where we can really talk as you talk to God talk to us as we you and I learn to trust the Lord is our Salvation God bless all of you have a good week
