How God's Rescue Plan Points to Christ | Exodus 1-40

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Good to see you. Thanks for worshiping with us this morning. I'll just share this really quickly. I needed that last song this morning. The reason that last song was meaningful to me is it was a reminder that sometimes we have to instruct our souls how to respond to God. Sometimes we come into this place, and we're just not ready to worship. We're not there mentally. We don't feel like responding. Sometimes we have to tell our being how to respond to the living God.

So I just love that. "Get up and praise the Lord." Sometimes you just have to tell yourself, "Get up and praise the Lord." Maybe some of y'all needed to hear that. I needed to hear that this morning. This is not how I normally start. Here's what I want to ask of you this morning. If you're new here, you're like, "Where are you going, man? What's happening right now?"

Here's the thing. This morning, my hope is you would leave here having met with the living God. I just want to ask you right now… Do you believe God is here and wants to speak to you right now? I'm not trying to exaggerate. I'm not trying to paint a picture of something unrealistic. It is possible for 3,000 people to leave here this morning, saying, "I have met with God. I have heard from him through the teaching of his Word."

So right now, I want to invite you to pray for yourself and say, "God, do that. Speak to me now." Just pray that really quickly. And would you pray for the people around you and say, "God, would you speak to them as well"? Then would you pray for me, that God would speak clearly through me to you?

Lord, it has taken a lot to get into this room. Now that we're here, God, have your way. Do whatever you want. Give us eyes to see you, ears to hear, and hearts to receive all that you have for us this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.

If you're new, you need to know we, as a church family, are reading through the entire Bible in 2025. We're calling it Year of the Word. If you're not doing that with us yet, you can jump in. Tomorrow starts Leviticus. Now, I know some of y'all have been like, "Finally." This is the moment you've been waiting for. You're like, "I'll put up with Genesis. I'll endure Exodus to get to Leviticus." Well, it's here. Jump in. Anytime you find yourself behind in the reading plan… Hey, Monday is a fresh start. Wherever we are in the reading plan, just jump in with us.

Now, I'm talking about the puzzle again. I'm going to be honest with you. I never thought I would talk about puzzles this much from the stage, because I haven't even decided yet if I'm a puzzle guy. I'm still trying to figure that out. I've only put one puzzle together in the last decade. But we're talking about the Bible kind of being like a puzzle, and what we don't want to do is approach the Bible and have an experience where it's like a puzzle without a box top, where you don't even know what picture the Bible is painting so you're left to just look at individual pieces. The goal of us walking through the Bible is that you would see the picture.

Now, I want to take us a little deeper into the puzzle world. A couple of weeks ago, we went on staff retreat, and someone brought a puzzle to the staff retreat. I was like, "Okay. I've preached about a puzzle. I should probably hang around the puzzle table at least for a few minutes just to see what's going on." As I was hanging out, I realized the people at the puzzle table were actually puzzle people. They have resolved that they are, in fact, puzzle people.

Getting around puzzle people made me realize there's actually great strategy to putting a puzzle together. Let me ask you. What's the first step if you're going to put a puzzle together? Great. Some of y'all get it. Some of you just jumped right over what you think is the first step, which is to open up the box and dump out all of the pieces. If that was your step, you're wrong. You don't dump all of the pieces out. We learned that the hard way at the retreat with the puzzle people.

No. You take one puzzle piece out at a time, and you sort it right from the start. You separate out the pieces that go on the edge, which have a flat side to them, from the center pieces. I was like, "I had no idea. That changes everything." You separate out the edges from the centers, but then you go even deeper. You begin to separate out the center pieces according to colors.

Or you can look at the box top and see, "You know what? In these corners you have the Texas flag and the American flag. You have a body of water here. You have this guy on a horse here." So, when you see puzzle pieces that are so clearly a part of those, you separate those out into different groups. You can get to a point where you have puzzle pieces separated into groups that you know, "Hey, eventually, I know this clump of puzzle pieces is going to look exactly like this." It's strategy.

The reason I tell you that is that is the point of Genesis and Exodus. Genesis and Exodus frame the puzzle for us. If you read through Genesis and Exodus and actually understand it, then you will have the entire rim of the puzzle, and you will have all of the puzzle pieces separated into groups so that now, as you read through the rest of the Old Testament, you know what the picture is going to make and you just get to watch these groupings of pieces fit together. If you understand Genesis and Exodus, you'll understand the rest of the Old Testament and the rest of the Bible.

So, what I'm going to do today, as we look at the entire book of Exodus… Forty chapters. It's not going to take me except maybe three or four hours. I'm joking. We're going to look at the entire book of Exodus, and I'm going to show you the different groupings of puzzle pieces. I'm going to show you key themes you're going to see throughout the rest of the Bible, and if you understand these themes, you will know to look for them and the assembly of them throughout the rest of the Bible.

So here we go. I don't even know where to tell you to turn right now, because we're going to be flying through a lot. Let me just remind you… As we looked at the book of Genesis, we saw the Bible start with Adam and Eve falling into sin. And what happens? They're driven out of the garden, so you see separation between God and man, but right before God drives Adam and Eve out of the garden, he plants this Easter egg in Genesis, chapter 3.

He says as he curses the Serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." This is the first mention of the gospel in the entire Bible. This is God declaring, "Hey, look. There's separation now, but it won't always be this way. I'm going to send a rescuer who's going to come from the seed of the woman, and he is going to reverse the effects of the fall. A day is going to come where God and man are brought back together. He is going to restore what was lost in Eden."

So, we found ourselves looking at all humanity, wondering, "Who's going to be the rescuer? Who's going to be the one to crush the head of the Serpent?" Then God focuses our attention, in Genesis 12, on one family. It's Abraham's family. You then turn the page to Exodus, 400 years later, and what do you find? That family has grown into a nation, the nation of Israel. This is the nation that's to produce the rescuer, the one who will crush the head of the Serpent.

Yet, as Exodus starts, you find this nation is actually enslaved to Egypt. So, when you find that the nation that's supposed to produce the Serpent crusher is enslaved, it's fitting to ask the question, "Is the story off? Has God abandoned his plans? Is God truly going to reverse the effects of the fall? It has been hundreds of years now, and the people who should be producing a conqueror and a rescuer are actually being conquered and enslaved."

Then you get to Exodus, chapter 6, which is the beginning of something. It says, "God spoke to Moses and said to him, 'I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.'" Verse 5: "Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant." Verse 7:

"I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord."

Isn't that amazing? This is God showing up, saying, "Look. If my people have thought I've forgotten, if they've thought I just canceled the story, just tell them it's on as scheduled. The Serpent crusher is going to come from this nation. I will reverse the effects of the fall." Four hundred years have passed, and God is saying, "Look. I have plans to make a way for a holy God to be with sinful humanity."

Exodus is 40 chapters long, and if you just want a quick summary of how the book flows, you have God rescuing the nation of Israel, then God speaking to the nation of Israel through Moses (it's the giving of the commandments, the Law), and then you have God residing, or dwelling, with Israel when he fills the tabernacle.

Here's what I want you to see. God, from the beginning, has made plans to reverse the effects of the fall and restore what was lost in Eden. Right here, with the nation of Israel in Exodus, we get hints of Eden, because God is taking them to a land, and God has plans to live with his people, and God gives his people commands.

Think about it. God took Adam and put him in the garden, and he gave him a command. "Don't eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." What was Adam and Eve's mission or purpose? It was to spread God's rule throughout the world. Now you have the nation of Israel heading toward a land to live with God. They have commandments, and their purpose, according to Exodus 19, is to be a kingdom of priests.

That means they are to reflect God's glory to the nations that God's rule might spread to the world through Israel. You have these hints of Eden. So, if you want something that will help you bring cohesion to the Old Testament, think of it this way. From the beginning, God has committed to being with his people in a place where his people are accomplishing his purposes.

So, the story is advancing. The story continues. Now, what I want to do with the rest of my time is to show you several groupings of puzzle pieces. I want to show you key themes that show up in Genesis and Exodus and will carry us through the rest of the Old Testament. So track along with me.

1. God is holy. I've talked about this multiple times. If there's anything you begin to get your mind and heart around more, let it be that God is holy, because from the beginning, God has been declaring that that is who he is. He's a holy God. What does it mean that God is holy? It means he is set apart, distinct from, cut off from all of humanity in terms of who he is. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He's higher than we are.

We can't begin to grasp who God is because he's so other than we know him to be. When you look at the book of Exodus, that's the message. He's set apart. He's distinct. When he calls Moses from the burning bush, he says, "Take off your sandals. This is holy ground. Moses, you can't get very close." Moses was terrified when the bush started talking to him. He's saying, "Look. I'm holy. This is holy ground."

When he starts moving with plagues, he is declaring something. He's introducing himself to the nation of Israel and to Egypt, declaring he's a holy God. If you look, you see this repeated phrase over and over and over: "They will know that I am the Lord." I'll give you one example. Exodus 9:14: "For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth." That's a message of "I am holy. I am separate from. I am distinct from."

Egypt was a polytheistic society. They attached all of these different deities to aspects of creation. God is saying, "No, the earth is mine. There is no God like me. I'm set apart, distinct. I'm holy." Then God brings the nation of Israel out of Egypt, and they end up at the base of Mount Sinai. God wants to speak to the nation. Listen to this. This is amazing. The same God we just sang to, the same God we're seeking to hear from right now, the same God you're going to meet with in your quiet time… This is that God. Exodus 20:18-19:

"Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, 'You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.'"

That is God saying, "Let's just be clear. I'm holy. You don't get close to the mountain or you die." This is fascinating. I want you to think about this. God speaks once, and the nation of Israel is like, "Okay. Oh, jeez! Um, okay, Moses, we made it. If he does it again, we'll die. You talk to God. We'll listen to you. You listen to him. That way, only one of us dies and the rest of us live." It's kind of like that. Is that your understanding of God?

If you look in Scripture, when people see God, what do they do? They instantly hit the ground. In Revelation 1, John gets a vision of the glorified Christ. What is his instant reaction? He falls on the ground, thinking he is dead. This is the God we meet with every single day. God is declaring, "I'm holy." Then they erect the temple. God's presence fills the Holy of Holies. Only one person one time a year is allowed in the Holy of Holies. God is communicating "I'm holy."

The reason that is important is God is trying to establish, "Hey, because I'm holy, there is a right and a wrong way to relate to me." That's why Leviticus is going to make sense to some of you for the first time ever. You see the word holy 80 different times in Leviticus. If you want to know what Leviticus is about, it's this: "God is holy, and because he's holy, there's a right and a wrong way to relate to him. Actually, so much has to happen in order for sinful human beings to be able to relate with and connect with a holy God, and because he's holy, he expects his people to be holy." That's the book of Leviticus. He's holy.

The fact that God is holy should determine how we relate to him. That's why he gave the Law to the nation of Israel, to say, "Look. There's a right way to come at me. There's a right way to relate to me." That should speak to us. We should relate to God in a way that we don't relate to anyone else.

My son Jake, who's 7 years old, was like, "Dad, when people pray, why do they go like this?" I was like, "Well, you can do that. You don't have to do that." I found myself wanting to explain to him, "It doesn't matter what you do on the outside; it's really what's going on internally." Yet, at the same time, over this past week, do you know what I realized? In different moments, when we were praying at the church in different meetings, I became more cognizant of my posture.

There was one time I was just sitting and we started praying. A lot of times when we pray in meetings, David Penuel finds himself on his knees in the conference room or wherever we are. We started praying this one time, and I was kind of slouched back in my chair. As we were praying, I was reminded, "God is holy." As I began to acclimate that God is holy, it shifted my posture. Posture isn't everything, but it does tell you something.

The tension we navigate, as Christians, is that we get to boldly approach the throne of grace and, at the same time, God is holy, holy, holy. So many times, we expect God to meet with us on our terms. No, no, no. Do you realize Christ had to move heaven and earth in order for us to be right with God? He had to conquer death for us to meet with God.

That should do something to us. It should affect the way we relate to God, but it also should affect the way we live. You're going to see in Leviticus God is holy; therefore, he wants his people to be holy. First Peter tells us, "Be holy, for I am holy." God wants us to be a holy people, which means, if God is set apart, we should be set apart. Our lives should look different.

This week, Kat and I got to have dinner with a long-time couple at Watermark. They've served here faithfully for a long time. The guy was sharing his story with us, and he was talking about a time… This was a long time ago. He was in a different city trying to close a deal, so he was entertaining clients. He took them out to dinner, and then after dinner, those clients wanted to go to an adult entertainment place, a strip club.

This guy was there to close the deal, and he told these clients, "Hey, you guys go, but I'm not going, and here's why I'm not going. It's because of my faith. That is not a part of what I'm going to be a part of." The people were like, "Wait, wait. I don't understand. You're not going with us." "I'm not going with you." That meant the deal was on the line. He might have to return home and tell his wife, "Hey, I didn't get the deal. Here's why I didn't get the deal: I didn't go to the place where they wanted to go to close the deal."

That's what it looks like to understand that God is holy, and because God is holy, it impacts how we live. Because God is set apart, we should be set apart. You're going to see that. We see that in Genesis. We see that in Exodus. You're going to see that all throughout the Scriptures. God is holy.

2. Humanity is thoroughly sinful. We've seen this since Genesis 3. Sin has thoroughly corrupted the earth. We saw this in Genesis 3. We saw this with the flood. We see this all throughout Genesis, and now you turn to Exodus, and you see the nation of Israel enslaving people. There's oppression. There's rejection of God. What does Pharaoh say in Exodus 5? "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go." We are so often like Pharaoh. "I don't know the Lord. I'm going to do what I want to do."

So, you see this rejection of God. Not just that. God brings the nation of Israel out of Egypt. He splits a sea in half. They get to the other side of the sea, and what's one of the first things they do? "Oh man! I'm thirsty. We should have never left Egypt." God is like, "Okay, here's some water." Then, a couple of chapters later… "I'm so hungry. Why did we ever leave Egypt. It was so much better there." See? Just a consistent struggle to be grateful for God's supernatural provision.

Then you go a little bit farther. God gives the Law. What happens when the nation of Israel hears the Law? They're like, "We're going to do it. God is amazing. We'll do everything he tells us to do." Then Moses is gone for a few weeks. Keep in mind Israel consistently sees God's presence on the mountain right in front of them, yet just a few weeks go by, and they're like, "We don't know what happened to Moses. Aaron, high priest, make new gods for us."

That becomes a microcosm for the nation of Israel throughout the Old Testament. They demonstrate that humanity is incapable of satisfying God's law and obeying him how he deserves to be obeyed. Our natural tendency is to say, "Yeah, God. I'll obey you. I'll do what you want me to do. And you know what? It has been a little bit since I've felt close to you, so I'm going to go over here and worship something else."

You see instead of influencing the nations, Israel is being influenced by the nations. It's just a reminder that humanity is thoroughly sinful. Even the people who are supposed to be God's people are thoroughly sinful. The reason it's important for us to keep bringing this theme up is I would imagine there are people in here, especially from the younger generation, that it's just harder for you to understand this idea of being a sinful human being.

If you and I were to sit down and I were to say, "Hey, we're both sinful, right?" you might say, "I don't feel like a sinner. That feels like a disconnect." All you have to do is look at an infant. We have this nephew. His name is Samuel. Cutest kid in the world, but when he was about 1, we were at a family get-together, and my wife Kat was holding Sam. He was hitting Kat, and Kat went, "Oh, no, Samuel," and Samuel collapsed into her chest.

Kat was like, "Oh, no, Samuel. Gentle. Gentle." Samuel looked at her and just slapped her across the face. It was crazy. I was like, "No one taught him that." I know his parents. They're good parents. They weren't like, "Let me tell you how to slap someone really well. You're going to want to fully extend so you get that palm straight…" No. He did it instinctively, no instruction. Why? It's hardwired in us to live contrary to God's ways.

So, if you're struggling with the idea of being a sinner, let me be clear what I mean when I say you and I are both sinners. Sin is any thought, attitude, word spoken, or action taken that brings shame upon you or shame upon someone else. It's any thought, attitude, word spoken, or action taken that implies that you don't need God because you're good on your own and you want to run your life. It's cheating God out of what is rightfully his, which is the adoration and prioritization that only he deserves, yet we tend to give it to other things. That's sin. The Bible consistently makes the point humanity is thoroughly sinful.

3. A holy God cannot overlook sin. He can't. A holy God cannot overlook sin. That's what the plagues upon Egypt were. The plagues were judgment for Egypt's rejection of God. The Passover, when Israel painted the blood of a lamb on the doorposts of their homes so the angel of death that swept through the land of Egypt passed over their homes… That was God declaring, "I'm a holy God. I cannot overlook sin."

You need to know the angel of death did not play favorites. The angel of death was there to execute judgment on the entire land, nation of Israel included, yet, because God gave the Israelites a way to have judgment pass over them… That's the only way the Israelites survived. It's because a death took place for their sins. When they killed a lamb and painted the blood on the doorposts of the house, that was a way of them expressing faith that they needed a provision from God to experience relief from his wrath.

God can't overlook sin. When he passed over their homes, it's not that he was turning a blind eye to their sin. The angel of death was able to pass over because a death had already taken place for their sin. Then there were consequences for the golden calf. When God gives the Law to the people, you see there are consequences. "You do this, you die. You do this, you have to pay it back." There are consequences. A holy God can't overlook sin.

4. God rescues his people to be with his people. If you want Exodus summed up in one sentence, that's it: God rescues his people to be with his people. Exodus 29:45-46 is beautiful. Listen to what it says. God says, "I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt…" Why? Why did God rescue the nation of Israel? "…that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God." Why did God rescue his people? To be with his people.

5. Separation between God and man persists. God rescues the nation of Israel to be with him, so we have these hints of Eden. We have these hints that God has a people headed for a land to be with him and accomplish his purposes, yet we are clear, even from Exodus, that God isn't going to ultimately restore what was lost in Eden yet. Why? Because separation still exists.

You see it with Moses at the burning bush. There's separation between God and Moses. He can't come completely near. When God descends upon Mount Sinai, only Moses gets to go up and meet with God. For the rest of the nation it's "Stay away." They looked upon God from far away, and God spoke to the nation through a mediator, through Moses. There's separation.

When they erect the tabernacle and God's presence fills the Holy of Holies, there's a curtain that separates God from the people, and only one person one time a year could enter the Holy of Holies. Why? There's separation. There's separation between God and man. It persists. So watch this. Don't miss it. This is so important. If you want to understand Exodus, here it is.

The book of Exodus sets the stage for the rest of the Bible because it cultivates the need for an even greater rescue, an even greater exodus. Watch how it all fits together. If you think about all of the groupings of puzzle pieces we've talked about, here it is. It all fits together. God has rescued his people to be with his people, yet he is holy and can't overlook sin, and humanity is still thoroughly sinful, including his very own people; therefore, separation between God and man still persists; therefore, humanity is in need of a greater rescue, a greater exodus.

For the rest of the Old Testament, do you know what you're going to be looking for? "Who's the rescuer going to be?" We need a greater rescue. We need a greater exodus. You turn to the New Testament, and Jesus is that rescuer. Jesus has come to lead a greater exodus. Even more than the nation of Israel being enslaved to Egypt, all of humanity is enslaved to sin and in need of liberation. Even more than the nation of Israel being at a dead end at the Red Sea, in danger of being captive again to the nation of Egypt, we find ourselves at a dead end in ourselves.

We, in our own strength, cannot forge a way back into right relationship with God, yet Jesus Christ has come and declares, "I am the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So, what does Jesus do? Jesus, in a sense, parts the Red Sea between us and God, and he makes a way. He's our rescuer. He liberates us from slavery to sin through his death, burial, and resurrection.

He's our greater high priest. See, the high priest's responsibility was to go into the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for the sins of the people. He would do that by slaughtering a lamb, and it was the blood of the lamb that would atone for the nation of Israel. Jesus comes, and John the Baptist declares, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

Jesus Christ is our greater high priest who has gone before God, and it was his body that was broken, it was his blood that was shed, once and for all, making a way when there was no way for sinful, unholy people to once again be right with a holy God. Because Christ has entered into the Holy of Holies on our behalf because he's our greater high priest…

On the cross, when he gives up his last breath, do you remember what happens in the temple with the curtain that separates the Holy of Holies from humanity? It's torn from top to bottom as a declaration that all those who put their trust in Christ now belong with God in the Holy of Holies, that it's not just one person one time a year. Anyone who would trust in Christ has access. That separation… The gap is closed. Christ has come to bridge the gap, making a way for you and me to be with God.

I hope you grasp what I'm telling you right now. Jesus has made a way for you and me to live with God in the Holy Place, in the Holy of Holies. God invites all of us to ascend the mountain into the smoke to meet with him. Do you get that? Christ has made a way for us all to come up the mountain to meet with God. The beautiful thing is when you put your faith in Jesus, God puts his Spirit inside of you, and God tabernacles in you. He makes you his dwelling place.

Do you know what God establishes in Exodus that finds its greatest fulfillment in Christ? God rescues his people to be with his people. The greatest benefit of knowing Jesus is you get to be with God now and forevermore. What was the greatest consequence of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden? They were removed from the tangible, physical presence of God. What will be the greatest reward for knowing Jesus? Restoration to the presence of God.

The whole Bible is about the presence of God. It's about the people of God being restored to a place where they can enjoy the presence of God without hindrance. So, the reason I'm showing this to you is my question for you is…Do you have any value for the presence of God in your life? Is there a priority in your life on the presence of God?

My fear is that some people have entered into a type of relationship with God where the Word of God has replaced the presence of God. Do you know what ends up happening? You end up meeting with God's Word without ever meeting with God. But the Word of God doesn't replace the presence of God; the Word of God is the way we fully encounter the presence of God. The Word of God is how God speaks to us, and it moves us closer to him.

My fear is that so many people meet with God's Word without meeting with God. So, my question to you is…Do you know the God of God's Word? Another thing that concerns me is when you read a book like Exodus, it's so easy to look at the fact that God was leading the nation of Israel by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day and be like, "That would have been incredible. It would be so much easier to follow Jesus if we got that cloud back."

Like, if you woke up every morning and there was a pillar of fire in the doorway, like, "Follow me." It's like, "I will do that." It seems like it would be so much easier. Or you know what? If we could go up the mountain, if we got to get into the cloud and meet with God like we're face to face. Then it would be easy to follow God.

If you go read the book of Hebrews, the point is we have it so much better than they had it in the Old Testament. Anything you see in the Old Testament you should read and be like, "Thank goodness! We have it so much better." Instead of just one person getting to go up the mountain, God says, "You all can come through Christ. Come up the mountain. Come meet with me. Draw near to me." James 4:8: "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."

Instead of just one person one time a year entering the Holy of Holies, God says, "The veil was torn from top to bottom, because you belong in here with me." Instead of going to the tabernacle to be in God's presence, God says, "I'm just going to make you my tabernacle." We have it so much better. Yet, when I look at the Scriptures and look at how the psalmists talked about the presence of God, something in me… I'm just being honest with you. I'm just sharing my heart right now.

If someone like David were to walk in here on a Sunday morning, I wonder if he would look around and be like… Do you think David would walk in and be like, "That's what I'm talking about. These people get it," or do you think he would walk in and be like, "Wait. I just want to make sure. This is a Christian church? This is a church that believes in the God that the Scriptures declare is holy, holy, holy? We're talking about the Jesus who, because of what he has done, has torn the veil so we have access into the presence of God?"

David, who didn't have it nearly as good as we do… He would have to go to the tabernacle. This is the way he talked about God's presence. Listen to this. Psalm 84: "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God."

Verse 10: "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." Some of us are like, "Man, he's going long today. I've got to get to Costco." David is like, "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness." Psalm 100:

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."

Imagine being able to say Psalm 27:4. "One thing have I asked of the Lord…" Like, if you only get one. "…that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple." Psalm 65:4: "Blessed is the one you choose and bring near, to dwell in your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple!" Then Psalm 16:11, which has been a shaping verse in my life. David says, "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

You read those verses and you tell me that when you come to a place like this or when you meet with God at home it isn't supposed to stir your affection in some way. When I use a word like experience or encounter, some people are like, "Oh no. We're going charismatic." No, I'm saying just look at the Bible. Just read the Bible. If David were to step into your quiet time, would he be like, "Man, you get it. Christ moved heaven and earth for you to be able to do this…be with God, meet with God, enjoy his presence, come into his courts with thanksgiving."

I'll just tell you, for myself personally, my goal is to move more and more toward a greater enjoyment of and awareness of God's presence with me. Even over the last few years, what that has looked like in my time with the Lord is just creating more space to sit and be still, to make myself aware of the fact that God is in the room with me and he actually lives inside of me. It's creating the space to not just quickly open up the Bible and start reading but to first make myself aware of the God of the Word so that when I do begin to read, it is a conversation of him speaking to me through his Word.

What I hope for our church is that when we come together on Sunday mornings there would be a belief from corner to corner of this room that God is here, that he wants to meet with us. If you come into this place and feel unengaged and distracted, it might be because of something we're doing up here, but I wouldn't be surprised if the issue isn't up here, if the issue is you've forgotten who you came here to meet with, that a holy, holy, holy God has rescued his people to be with his people, and that when we gather together, according to your own way, you would have an awareness of God that results in worship.

This next Saturday, February 1, we're kicking off 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting. We did it last year. We're bringing it back. I want to invite you in, because we're in the Year of the Word. Just imagine. When you get the ingredients of prayer, fasting, and God's Word, when those three things come together, those are the ingredients for revival among God's people. The reason we even take 21 days to say, "We want to devote 21 days to praying and fasting" is to get more of God. In Matthew 6, Jesus talks about finding our Father who is in secret. It's about getting more of God. It's about enjoying him more and knowing the joy of his presence.

I'll end by sharing this. Back in the fall, some friends here from Watermark invited my son and me to go down to College Station to Kyle Field to watch the A&M/LSU game, which turned out to be a great game, but it was a very loud game. I mean, the whole second half… The stadium, over 100,000 people… It was electric. Right to my left, there was this couple that had brought their infant, who had headphones on, and the baby was asleep in their arms the whole game. Sometimes it would pick its head up. The parent would adjust its head, and he'd go back into it.

I just wonder if that's us sometimes. God is putting great displays of his goodness and power on in our lives, and there is something happening in the universal church. The Spirit of God is on the move. Revival is happening on college campuses all around the nation. The gospel is moving in radical ways in countries that are closed to the gospel. Sometimes I just wonder if we here in the American church in comfortable Dallas, Texas…

We just have our headphones on of all of the different cares of the world, and we're just asleep, when God is like, "Wake up! Wake up! Be with me." Christ has come to rescue us to be with him, to enjoy him, to delight in him, to be delighted in by him. So, my hope is that we would be a people…today, this whole week, when we gather together on February 1, that night of prayer and worship to kick off 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting…that we would be a people who are committed to enjoying our God who is present. Let's pray.

Here's how I'm going to ask us to respond right now, which is different than we normally do. I'm going to ask you not to get up and leave yet. I want to give us two minutes of silence. I'm not trying to manufacture something here. I'm not trying to tweak your emotions. This is two minutes for you to meet with God, whatever that looks like for you. If we really believe God is here… Maybe some of us have sat this whole service and have still been out of tune with that reality that he's here to meet with us. So sit with the Lord, and then we'll respond in song together.