← Mariners Church Weekend Messages
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- [00:04]
Podcast Host
Welcome to Mariners Church Weekend Message Podcast. Inspiring people to follow Jesus and fearlessly change the world. Discover your purpose and get connected by visiting MarinersChurch.org or click the link in the show notes.
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Eric (Senior Pastor)
All right, I'm excited to walk through continually the Book of Numbers with you. If we haven't met yet, my name's Eric. I'm the senior pastor here. If you've been here a while, you have heard me share how I don't love roller coasters or heights. Even get a bit nervous flying. When Kay and I were first married, we went to the state fair and she asked me to do the swings with her and I got sick. I threw up a whole bunch. And since then. I know. And so I don't even like going to the. I know some of you love when the fair's here in town. I personally just don't love, love the fair. Like, to my head, the guys running the rides are 19 year olds with Iron Maiden T shirts from the 80s, mullets, chain smoking, running the ride with leftover bolts and nuts in the bottom. I'm like, I'm not. I know I'm going to go to heaven when I die. I just don't want to go out that way. I just don't want to end that way. So I'm not really a fan. So you'll be surprised then that over Thanksgiving last year, I took my youngest daughter, Evie, to visit some of our partners in South Asia, and we were flying back home through Dubai. We knew that ahead of time, so I said, evie, why don't we spend a couple of days in Dubai? You have extra time off of school. So we were like, yeah, let's look. So we spent time together over Thanksgiving, my youngest daughter and I, in Dubai. Now, she researched what she wanted to do in Dubai, and the thing she was most excited about was Dubai has the world's longest zipline. And so she was real excited about this. And, dad, let's do this. And because I love her, I'm like, okay, let's do this. Not only is it the world's longest zip line, but it's 50 floors up. You go from the top of a building through downtown Dubai, and it doesn't feel like the safest, to be honest with you. My kids love these kinds of things. Catalina, for example, their zip line is really safe. There's two lines and you strap in twice to each line. So it's like four checkpoints. They say it's one of the safest zip lines in the world. That's what they Tell you in Catalina. They're not going to tell you that in dubai because it's one line, one strap in 50 floors up. I posted a video, this will be just a recap of it to my Instagram after it happened. And people were like, that's AI. It's not AI. This is me going off of 50 floors in Dubai. The elders were not excited about this when they saw the video. The helmet doesn't protect anything. It just, it just captures the video. And so this is a recap. I have my hands out, then all of a sudden like, whoa, what am I doing? I feel completely nervous. I will hold myself. Like, that's gonna help. I'm waving at people, trying to get my mind off of things. That was it, guys.
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Prayer Leader
That's what I did.
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Eric (Senior Pastor)
I went for it. Went off a 50 floor building in Dubai. Now people were like, were you, you scared? I was terrified to do this. When my daughter, Evie, she's never scared of anything. She's so bold. She's like, I should just go. I mean, she's so courageous. Evie is. So we get, we take the elevator up to the 50th floor and they ask, who wants to go first? So Evie. I. I knew it would be her. I'm going first. And so Evie gets, gets like, she lays down on that thing and they strap her in. And I hear a noise come from Evie that I've never heard before. It's like a yell. And I'm like, evie, you okay? I thought maybe like the strap hit her leg. I'm like, hey, girl, you all right? Hey, everything all right? Evie, you good girl? Everything good? And she's like, yeah, I'm good. I realized that she made a noise not because of pain, but because of fear. And I thought, oh, no, if Evie's terrified, this is going to be really, really bad. And sure enough, I get to the, to the edge, they lay down and I'm thinking, this is insane that people are asking after, did you want to get off? Absolutely. I completely thought of. Often I'm doing the mental math. If I get off, I've got to go down 50 floors. I don't even know if there's an elevator. I have to walk 50 floors. Abby's already way far away in downtown Dubai. I'm not going to leave my 16 year old daughter in downtown Dubai. And so I've got to go. I was terrified, but I went not because I wasn't afraid, but because what's in front of me is greater than my fear. Come on now, you Know where I'm going to go? I went for it because what I love in front of me was bigger than the fears within me. Fear will stop you so many times in life from going forward. It will stop you from taking a risk in your career. It will stop you from taking the initiative in a relationship. And fear will stop you from really believing what God has in front of you. Fear can cripple you. The scripture speaks of fear being a snare that actually stops you from enjoying all that God has for you. The wisdom writer wrote this in the book of Proverbs. The fear of mankind is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected. Notice the wisdom writer says the fear that you should be most afraid of in your life is the fear of mankind. Fear of people. What is fear of people? Ed Welch is a Christian counselor and he wrote a book about fearing people. And he wrote, when we see people is bigger than God and out of the fear that creates in us, we give other people the power and right to tell us what to feel, think and do. That is fearing mankind. Fearing mankind means that people get bigger in your mind and God gets smaller. And when people get bigger and God gets smaller, you are trapped. You're ensnared. David Palleson is another very renowned Christian therapist and counselor. He passed away several years ago, but he offered a framework that's been really helpful for lots of people to identify your fears or if you believe, as I believe, that what you fear really indicates what you value and what you worship, to identify the idols in your life beneath the surface. He called these source idols. In my late 20s, somebody walked me through this, this tool, this framework given by this counselor, David Palleson, and it was really helpful. I'm going to ask you to evaluate what are the idols beneath the surface in your life. Palacent, who's this Christian counselor, used this tool when you would go in and meet with him and you said you're struggling with something on the surface of your life, he would say, okay, I get that that's your struggle, but let's look at what's going on beneath the surface in your heart. Why is this a struggle? This is about your motivation. So he offers four idols beneath the surface that we should be, that we can be ensnared by. And they are related to making people bigger in our lives. The first is comfort. If comfort your idol. You long for stress free relationships. You really long for a stress free life. Therefore you fear discomfort or you, you fear expectations from other people that will Cause you to be uncomfortable. Someone who has the idol of comfort is a person who switches friends every couple of years, roommates every couple of years, doesn't want anyone to get really close because that person could ask some questions that would cause the person to be uncomfortable. Comfort is your idol. The second is approval. And it's helpful for you to realize that you likely have one of these idols you struggle with. You don't have to surrender to it, but it's helpful to know that we all struggle. Approval is if you long to be accepted by others, you really want to be included by this group or that group. You're in high school, and you so badly want to be accepted by this group of people. Approval is the idol, and you fear rejection by people. That would be the worst thing possible is if people rejected you. That's approval as the idol. The behavior is different, but this is beneath the surface. Then there's power. Those who have power as the idol more than they long to be liked, they long to be viewed as successful. And their biggest fear is disrespect from people because that would be equated to humiliation. Some of you, if you're honest, this is your idol. Beneath the surface, your biggest fear is that you're going to go into a meeting on Monday and be disrespected. It's your biggest fear. People who evaluate the culture of southern california, if you look at the idols, if you believe that there's cultural idols, some would say that power is a cultural idol in southern california, that we may not even recognize it easily in ourselves because we just live in a culture that longs to be seen as successful and powerful. And then there's the idol of control. Someone who has the idol of control longs for certainty in life, and that includes certainty from other people. And so really fears inconsistency and inconsistency from others. When I walked through this tool in my late 20s, this was the idol that I identified that I can struggle with that I want to have everything mapped out in my life. And identifying the struggle has helped me overcome that idol. And I'll share with you at the end how you actually do so. Now, pallison and others say these source idols, it's important for you to identify what's beneath the surface, because you can then understand why you do some of the things on the surface of your life. Example, Martin luther, the famous reformer, he said that underneath every behavioral sin is the sin of idolatry. So there's a sin on the surface, but beneath it is We've made something else in our heart more important than God. Let me give you an example. Materialism, that is the behavior. And we know that it's not good for us. We know that if we long more and more material possessions, they never satisfy us. We never quite get enough. And we also know that that dishonors God. But materialism is on the surface, and people can have the expression of material with different idols beneath the service. For example, the person who has comfort is the idol. The reason they have materialism is because they want more things in their life, believing that will add to their solace or to their comfort and make life more enjoyable. The person who has approval as the idol, they may have materialism on the surface, but approval beneath the surface means that they want more things in their life so that people will like them more. So their motivation for acquiring more is a very different motivation. The person with power as the idol beneath the surface acquires more possessions, but they do so. They don't even really want the possessions. It doesn't add comfort, but it shows people, look what I have done, look what I have accomplished. And then the person with control beneath the surface wants more possessions so that they can feel like they have control over everything in their future, that they have enough, that they've been able to allocate what their future will look like. Those are the idols beneath the surface, which is yours. Now, some counselors would say, here's how you can tell. Here's how you know what you really worship. What are you afraid of? Your fears is how you can identify what you really give your heart to. So if comfort is your idol, you fear expectations from others. If approval is your idol, you fear rejection. If you fear disrespect, power is likely your idol. If you fear inconsistency, control is likely your idol. Are you identifying what perhaps you struggle with beneath the surface? We can take a poll. We're not going to do that. This is just for you, and I'm trying to help you because the fears can ensnare you and stop you from enjoying the promises that God has for you, which is what's going to take us to the Book of Numbers. So we're walking through this incredible book. In the scripture, God's people are in the wilderness. In the Book of Numbers, they're in the wilderness because they were rescued from Egyptian slavery in the book of Exodus in the Old Testament, and they're not yet in the promised land. That's the book of Joshua. They're in between. In the Book of Numbers. They're in the wilderness. They'll spend 40 years in the wilderness. We saw in the first two weeks that in the wilderness, they're not alone, that God has them camp around a tent where God meets with people in the tent. It's called the Tabernacle. We also know that God's caring for his people in the wilderness. We saw last week that he provides manna food from heaven for them every morning. But here they are in numbers, chapter 13 and 14, and this is supposed to be awesome. This is the passage we've been waiting for. They get to the edge of the promised land. They get to the edge. This is supposed to be an awesome text. This is supposed to be the moment they look in and see, oh, God's keeping all of his promises. We're going to go in. I was on the edge of jumping off of a building in a zipline, and I had to decide, is what's in front of me greater than my fear within me? And they are going to have to decide right now, is the promised land in front of them greater than the fear within them? So let's see what happens. It's an amazing account. It's a lot of scripture. So we're going to read a lot of scripture. I'll read it over you. You can follow along. I notice sometimes when we read passages, I can see people drift a little bit. I want to encourage you not to. Here's why. Of everything that you'll hear me say this morning when I'm reading the scripture, it's the thing you should press in the most to, because that's what you know. That's not Eric talking. That is. That is God talking. That's his word. So here is the word of the Lord. Numbers 13, verse 1 and 2. The Lord spoke to Moses, send men to scout out the land of Canaan. I'm giving to the Israelites and one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes. This is verse one and two. Now, notice I have underlined, I am giving. The Lord tells Moses this land, I'm giving it to you. This is not, hey, get 12 people to go do a secret mission to see if we can figure out how to take it. God says, no, I'm giving you the land. And the reason that God says, choose one from each of the 12 tribes is this is supposed to be the moment where they know that God has kept this promise. The 12 tribes? What's the 12 tribes? Well, remember, if you go back to the very beginning of the Bible, God chose that he would bless the entire world through the lineage of one family. This family, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob, that's in the book of Genesis. Jacob has his name changed to Israel. So Israel, the nation comes through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Jacob, or Israel, has 12 sons. So hundreds of years later, this family has grown. There's hundreds of thousands of people now in the wilderness. And Moses says, let's get one person from each of the 12 tribes. So this is the picture. This is what it's supposed to be. One leader from each of the 12 tribes is supposed to go together. They're supposed to check out the land and they're supposed to go back to the people and say, guys, they're. It is awesome. What God is giving us is amazing. This is all a gift from him. It's incredible. Can you believe what God has done? We were slaves in Egypt. We thought that his promise wasn't going to come true, that we would get this land. But he rescued us, and now here we are. I saw it. It's going to be awesome. Let's get ready to go. That's what's supposed to happen. Let's get down to verse 26 through 28. The men went back to Moses. So they went and spied on the land. And then they went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, they brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. They reported to Moses. We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed, it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. So far, so good. However, the people living in the land are strong and the cities are large and fortified. That word, however, changes the entire report. God's promises are true. However, the problems are bigger. 10 of the 12 tribes, 10 of the 12 leaders of the tribes. Those 10 view the problems as bigger than the promise. There's only two of the 12, Joshua and Caleb, who are going to see the promise of God bigger than the problems. Notice what Caleb says in verse 30. Caleb quieted the crowd in the presence of Moses and said, let's go up now and take possession of the land, because we can certainly conquer it. But the men who had gone up with him responded, we can't attack the people because they are stronger than we are. So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted. You're seeing a big difference between the 10 and Caleb and Joshua. Caleb and Joshua believe The promises of God are bigger than the problems and sadly you're going to see which report wins. Is it the negative report or is it the faith filled report? Which report wins? It's really sad. This is such a To understand the whole story of the Bible, you really do have to understand this chapter that we're about to look at. Chapter 14, verse 1. Then the whole community broke into loud cries and the people wept. That night all the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron. And the whole community told them, if only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness, why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder and wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? So they said one another, let's appoint a leader and go back to Egypt. This is so offensive to God, the one who's rescued these people from the slavery that they begged God to rescue them from. They are saying to God, we don't want you to be our leader anymore. We don't want you at all. They're asking for a reverse of Exodus. Exodus was God rescuing his people and them departing from Egypt. They're now asking for a man to lead them back into Egypt. They're asking for a reverse of Exodus. If you have studied the Scripture or listened to Christian scholars talk, perhaps you've heard the term apostasy. Apostasy. It's when someone appears to have loved God, but their life over time shows that they never really were his because they turn away from him and say, I never wanted you to begin with. We are seeing an example of apostasy. Notice what happens next. Verse 5. Then Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jepuna, who were among those who scouted out the land. They tore their clothes. They said to the entire Israelite community. The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. Then they give a challenge. Only don't rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people of the land. Now notice I have this underlined for you, that the passage equates rebelling against God with fearing people. That if you make people big and God small, you rebel against Him. That fear of mankind is a snare. Only don't rebel against the Lord and don't Be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don't be afraid of them, the Lord said to Moses. So now this is verse 11. This is what God says to Moses in response. How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me, despite all the signs I performed among them? You see in this text that God's heart is broken for these people. He loves these people. He loves these people. He loves you. He loves people. He loves these people. He's rescued these people and his heart is broken. Sometimes we can think that sin is only breaking the law of God, the commands of God. But sin is also breaking the heart of God. His heart is broken because he loves these people. Moses then goes before God and says, God, would you please forgive them? Moses is their mediator. He's always going to God on behalf of the people, and the Lord says he's going to forgive them. But notice, this is devastating. This really changes the whole course of the Scripture. This is a turning point. In the Book of Numbers, verse 20 through 24, the Lord responded, I have pardoned them as you requested. Yet as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord's glory, none of the men who have seen my glory in the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these 10 times and did not obey me, will ever see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have despised me will see it. But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone and his descendants will inherit it. This is God's word. I want to be sure you understand the devastating consequences. I mean, this is intense. God had rescued. Some scholars say there's 2.5 million people in the desert. God had rescued these people from Egyptian slavery. Everyone who's 20 years old and older, none of them are going to see the promised land. They all die in the wilderness. All but two. Joshua and Caleb. Hundreds of thousands of people. God says, you saw my miraculous rescue out of Egypt. You saw my miraculous provision when I gave bread from heaven. But you are not going to see the miraculous fulfillment of my promise to enjoy this land. You were not going to see that. You saw these other things. You will not see this because you despise me. He said 10 times that God was really patient, but 10 times, 10 times these people went before God and said, we don't want you to be our leader. You aren't good to us. You aren't gracious. Our slave owners in Egypt were better to us than you are. God, we don't want you. We don't want your promised land. We don't want what you have for us. We would rather die in the wilderness. They say it over and over again. And finally God says, okay, you want a life without me? Okay, you don't want the promises that I have for you. Okay. C.S. lewis, the famous author, he said it this way. There are only two kinds of people in the end. Those who say to God, thy will be done, and those to whom God says, in the end, thy will be done. You really don't want me. After all I've pursued you and all that. I want you. You don't want me. Thy will be done. And this entire generation dies in the wilderness. Now, as we continue walking through the book of Numbers because God keeps his promises, you are going to see that God brings the next generation into the promised land. But none but two, Caleb and Joshua, will go into the land. Caleb, according to the scripture we read, has a different spirit. Something's different about him. The 10 spies from the other 10 tribes, they gave their awe, their worship, their fear to their surroundings. They saw people as big and God as small. Caleb saw God as big and people as small. He gave his all to God. He had a different spirit about him, and he was able to go into the land that God had promised his people. But the reason that people said, no, God, we don't want what you have for us is surely deeply connected to the fears beneath the surface in their life, surely connected to the idols that they gave their affections to instead of God. For some, perhaps they struggled, but they surrendered to the idol of comfort beneath the surface. That Egypt was more comfortable to them than going into the land that God had for them. They just, they wanted to go back to Egypt. It's their comfort. For some, perhaps they struggled and surrendered to the idol of approval. When the word started to spread throughout the entire camp that this is not good for us, everyone started to say it and people wanted to be in the in crowd. Everyone was saying that we don't want what God has for us. And so some just gave in to doing what everybody else was doing because they wanted to be approved. Perhaps some had the idol of power beneath the surface. They were so terrified of those in the land because they would hate the idea of being humiliated if they went into battle and lost to these people that were bigger than they Were. But God was the one who had promised that I'm the one who's given you this land. But they wrestled so much with power beneath the surface that they couldn't trust God. Perhaps some struggled with control or surrendered to control beneath the surface. I don't want God to decide when we move in this wilderness. The tent goes and I follow. The tent sets and I stop there. God's going to decide through Moses and Aaron. When we're going into the wilderness, I want to decide. I want to be in control of my own life and the fears and the idols beneath the surface. Stop these people from trusting the promises of God. They saw people as big and God as small. Caleb and Joshua, though, were different. They did not deny that there were giants in the land. They did not deny that there were problems in the land that they would have to overcome. They just believed that God was greater than their problems. The ten spies believed that the problems were greater than God. Caleb and Joshua believe that God were greater than the problems. What about you? Do you believe that God is bigger than your problems? Or are your problems bigger than your God? Joshua and Caleb gave their all to God. The others gave their all to their fears or their all to other people. Which brings me back to talking to you about your fears. How do you keep moving forward for all that God has for you? Where you see God is big and people as small? All of us struggle. All of us have idols beneath the surface. But how do you not allow that idol to ensnare you and crush you, but instead you move forward? Well, if you have the idol of comfort and you have a fear of expectations from other people, here's what you do. You transfer all from people and you give God your all. You see and remember and believe that God is your ultimate comfort, that he's the one who holds you close to himself. That you are going to go through storms and trials in the wilderness, that there are going to be trials, but that it's not a lack of expectations. That's going to be your comfort, that you have a greater comforter, that God is your ultimate comfort. What if you wrestle with approval as your idol beneath the surface? If so, you fear rejection from people. What do you do? How do you overcome this fear inside of you that you so badly want to be approved and accepted, that you hate the idea of somebody rejecting you. Here's. Here's what you can do. You transfer your awe from people to awe for God. And you do so by remembering that if you are a Christian, if you've already believed in Jesus. Jesus, you are already approved. You do not need somebody else's approval. You have been approved by the God of the universe. He looks at you and you're accepted and you're approved not based on your goodness, but based on the goodness of Jesus that was given over to you. If power is your idol beneath the surface and your biggest fear is being disrespected from people, what do you do? You transfer all from people and you transfer all to God and you realize that he is the one who is amazing. If power is your idol, you constantly live with this pressure that you have to be amazing, that you gotta be awesome, that tomorrow you gotta show up at work and be amazing. If you will transfer your awe from people to God, you can rest in the reality that you don't have to be amazing because you have a God who's already amazing and he has your back and he holds you up and he watches over you. If you're like me and control can be the idol beneath the surface, what do we do? What do I do? This is what I've done. This is what people helped me through in my late 20s. Eric, if you fear inconsistency from other people and you really like everything to be mapped out and everything to be in control, you want everything to go according to plan. You have to, Eric. You have to surrender that and give your all to the One who is faithful. And this is the best news. He is better at planning your life than you are. He's the faithful one. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. People are going to let you down. You're going to let yourself down. There's so much inconsistency in this world, but he is the one who is consistent. You have a choice to make. Are you going to believe that his promise is greater than your problems or that your problems is greater than the promise? If you give your fear and your all to people, your problems are going to multiply. If you give your all to your your Savior, his promise is greater than your problems. His promise is greater than my problems. How do we know this to be true? Because Jesus is the promised One who entered this world into that same land. How do we know that he keeps his promises? This is amazing when you don't know the whole story of the Bible. God's people go into that land. God had promised that one would come who would crush the head of our enemy Satan when sin entered the world. In the beginning chapters of the Bible, God said, a time's coming when one is Going to enter the world born of a woman who's going to crush the head of the enemy. The scripture continues and you see that this family has started. The family of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And God promises that one's going to come in the lineage of this family who's going to bless people from every tribe, tongue and nation. One's gonna come in the lineage of this family that's gonna crush our head, the enemy of the head of our enemy, Satan. That's gonna make us right with God, that's gonna remove our sin and our shame. And Jesus, God the Son. When you open the New Testament, you get to the very first book in the New Testament. This is when Jesus enters the story. Matthew, chapter one, verse one. You read Jesus the Christ, son of Abraham, son of David, that He comes in that lineage. He's born in the same land. He enters this world in that promised land and he lives perfectly on our behalf. And he goes to the cross in our place for our sin. And as he dies for us, the Promised One dies for us to crush our enemy, Satan to rescue us. He gives us, those of us who believe in him, all of his forgiveness and all of his grace and his mercy. He takes from us all of our sin and our shame. And he gives us all of his promises. He solves for you on the cross. Your greatest problem, your greatest problem in all of life and all of eternity is your sin. It's my greatest problem. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and we can't fix it. But the Promised One, Jesus the Christ, entered the promised land, went to the cross for us to solve the biggest problem in our lives, our sin and our shame. As he died on the cross for us to remove it from us and make us his own, he solved the biggest problem we have because the promise is bigger than the problem. And then on the cross, he gave us his people, all of his promises. Therefore, if you are in Christ, here is the promise. You are a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come. You've received the promise that he has made you a brand new person. You've received the promise that you now have everlasting life. That though you will die in this world, you won't really die because whoever believes in him will have everlasting life. You have received the promise that all of your sin and shame has been removed from you as far as the east is from the west. You have received the promise that now you live in this life and you are never alone. Because he is with you to the utter end of the age. You have received the promise that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. That though you live in a world filled with problems and filled with our enemy, Satan, that greater is he that is in you. And because he lives within you, you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus, who loves you, that this world won't ultimately overwhelm you. Because Jesus Christ has overwhelmed the world. He has overcome the world. And he is the Promised One who is with you all the time. He's given you the promise that he will meet all of your needs according to his riches and glory. That though there's times in this world where you may struggle, that he promises to always have your back, that he's your rear guard, that he will provide for you. He's promised that there's no temptation that's gonna seize you except what is common to man, but that he's faithful and will always provide a way out so you can stand up under it. He's promised that one day he's going to return and make everything right and new. And though you live in a world that's filled with the wilderness right now, with lots of pain and lots of sorrow, a day is coming when he's gonna make everything right for the sons and daughters of God. And you are gonna have everlasting, promised life because you've received the promises of God. And his promises are always bigger than your promises. His promises are always greater than any problem you face. His promises are great. So as you begin a new week, you may want to begin a new week this way. God, help me to remember that your promises are greater than my problems. Increase my all for you. I pray that you'll be bigger in my mind and people will be smaller. Increase my all for you this week. In your name I pray. Amen.
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Prayer Leader
All right. Extend your hands, please, and let me pray a prayer of blessing over you as we go. Jesus, I pray you'd bless your sons and daughters this week, that you would remind them that you were gentle and approachable and that you love them, cause your face to shine on them. I pray they will experience your mercy and your joy this new week. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Go in peace. Have a great week.
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Podcast Host
Thanks for tuning in to the Mariners Weekend Message podcast to support the ministry of Mariners Church. You can click the link in the Show Notes or download the Mariners app at your favorite app store. If you've been navigating God's wisdom with us through this year's annual read and would like to hear personal reflections from pastors in your community. Check out the Gospel Everyday podcast. Imagine feeding your heart, mind and soul with the kind of practical wisdom that will change your life. If you haven't picked up the annual read yet, visit MarinersChurch.org or download the Mariners app for more information on where to find it.
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Eric (Senior Pastor)
Sam.