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Red rocks church. How do you feel? Tyler, tell the church about that song we just sang. Yeah, it's called who you always be. It just released this last Friday, so. Two days ago. Come on, go stream it. Even better. Go presave the record that comes out in two weeks. Come on. Sorry. Hey, so Tyler and I were talking about the title of this song right before church. Say that word. Yule. Yol. Say it by itself like three times. Yule. It's a weird word if you just say it by itself, isn't it? Okay, let's do church. Tyler, thank you. We're excited for the new song. Hey, if you're just joining us, you'll find out eventually that we are just a bunch of messed up, imperfect people. But man, we love to get together like this and pursue and praise and be changed by a perfect God. And so what that means for you is like whatever, Whatever you've been through, whatever it is you might be going through right now, whatever you're dealing with or have dealt with, we want you to know right here, we're going to do everything we can to make sure you know that you are loved and valued and welcome. We've been praying for you all week. So welcome home. Welcome to Red Rocks Church. High five. Somebody have a seat. Hey, I know that if you are in one of our buildings, you heard the campus pastors already announce this, but church, I just. We gotta celebrate this one more time. In case you didn't hear, you're watching online and you didn't hear a campus pastor talk about it. Two weeks ago, baptism weekend, church, 1,130 people. Come on, make some noise. Went public with their faith. And Red Rocks, I just say that again because I just want you to realize, like, not praying for a revival. We're not hoping for a revival. We're in a revival. And I just want to say thank you to God. We give all the praise and glory to him, but church, let's not take it for granted. Amen. I remember the day that I got baptized like it was yesterday. And I remember literally drying off from being baptized and already my mind was going to what am I supposed to do now? Right? Like, I just made this huge decision. Like, I just went public with my faith in front of my friends and everyone here and God and like, I want to have a changed life. And I heard I could have a relationship with him and it would go to a whole new level. And so all of a sudden I'm going, what now? And it occurred to me, like, what I Needed was I needed to be able to hear God communicate with me. I needed to be able to hear God speak to me because I had all kinds of questions. What do I do next? God, where do I go? What about my job? What about these relationships? Got all kinds of questions. And I realized I don't have a clue how that works. And so if you're one of the 1,130 people who just got baptized and you're going, hey, what should I do next? I'm so glad you're here because we're going to talk about it this weekend. Three of you clapped. Fine, we'll do that. We'll do it that way. Nah, too late. But this is an all play. This weekend is an all play church. I can't tell you how many times I have been talking to people over the last few months, and it doesn't matter if they've been saved a day, a month, a year, so many years ago that they don't even remember how long ago it was. I feel like the conversations are all so similar and they all ended the same way. And it was like this. It was like, man, I'm just trying to hear what God wants me to do. I'm trying to see what God wants for us next. I'm trying to see if God wants to open this door. I'm trying to see if God wants to shut this door. I'm waiting to hear what God wants us to do. And I felt like, man, that's all of us all the time. Maybe you're dealing with some crazy finance stuff right now, and you're like, man, I just need to hear God speak. Maybe for you it's a relationship thing. Maybe a tough marriage situation. Maybe life's going amazing for you right now and you just kind of realize, like, I still, like, I have this feeling like there's just something next. God has something next. He has something new for me, and I just want to hear him speak. I want to know what that is. Never outgrow wanting to hear God speak and lead and guide and equip and encourage and change us. And so if you're taking notes today, and we all know note takers get into heaven first. The title of today's talk is how to Hear God Speak. I mean, talk about something that we all need. Any of you. And I'm only, you don't have to raise your hands in any other campuses because, one, I can't see you. And two, I don't really care. I care, but it's not about the answer to this question. How many of you were in this room the night all the power went out across the city? And we did a service like out of the blue here in the dark. How many of you were here for that? Okay, a handful of you. Right on. So then you're going to be familiar with this first story, because I left that night. And for those of you who don't know, we had a huge power outage and Ryan Weckenman was in town and he had promised the whole church that he was going to talk about how to hear from God. And then the power went out. Well, we happen to be a multi site church that uses video that takes power. So Ryan went over to the Park Meadows location and I came here and put together some notes in like 10 minutes and preached literally in the dark with a microphone on a cord. And those of you who were here, remember I tried to do the. I was trying to whip it around like I was a comedian and the mic fell off and I was like, man, I'm falling apart, guys. But I left that night going, man, there's part of this I would love to share with the whole church. And so part of that you'll hear today. And it looks like that affects about 20 of us, so we're good. So my son Austin, I was talking to him this week. He. He's funny because all growing up, of the three boys, he was the only one that like, early on wasn't interested in tackle football. And. And I was kind of like, jill, are you sure he's mine? And I'm kidding. Come on, guys, grow up. And so, so no, but the funny thing is, is Austin, his sophomore year of high school, just kind of went, I think I'll play football now. And all of a sudden was amazing. Literally, we were like, oh, who's the giant who's super fast who catches everything? Who knew? Like, he started playing his sophomore year of high school, ends up getting a college scholarship to go play football. Like, it was crazy. So. So. But his sophomore year, we're about. About five games in, and I run up to Austin after the game, I'm giving him a hug and, you know, tell him good game and all this stuff. And he's walking like, like me when I get out of bed in the mornings. He's like. And I was like, son, son, are you okay? What's going on? He goes, oh, dad, my feet, my feet hurt. I was like, oh, dang, you twist an ankle, someone step on your foot? Like, what happened? He goes. He goes, nah, My shoes are too tight? I said, what? Yeah, my shoes are too tight. I said, well, how long have your cleats been too tight, son? He goes, a couple months. So I went from feeling bad for the kid to now I'm kind of mad at the kid. All right, because if you know me at all, like, you know, my love language is buying shoes. Like, the book says, there's five love languages. Oh, there's a sixth. And it's buying shoes and receiving shoes. I'm like, well, are you. Are you kidding me right now? Two months your feet have been hurting. Do you. Like, all you had to do was come tell me. You didn't even have to use words. You could have just pointed and went, like, I'd have figured it out. Like, I'd have been at Dick's Sporting Goods that day buying you new cleats. I looked at my son, I said, your problem is not that your cleats don't fit. I said, you've been struggling for two months. Not because your shoes don't fit, because you didn't come talk to your dad about the problem. That's why you've been struggling for two months. And I was thinking about that in light of this message, and I thought, I wonder if that's what God would say to some of us. I wonder, for me, have I spent more time complaining that God won't speak then I have actually time asking God to speak. See, God says, some of us, we're struggling not because our shoes don't fit. He says, we're struggling because of this. You do not have, because you do not ask God. If you want to hear God speak, write this down. And I know for some of you, especially these first couple, you're going to write these down and go, I already knew this one, bro. Pretty obvious. Number one, if you want to hear God speak, you got to ask God. James 1:5. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But here's where I think we missed the mark. I was actually talking to one of my boys about this this summer, and it was kind of a confusing thing. And we were like, well, why do we need to pray about things that we need? Because God already knows everything. He knows what I need. He knows what I want. Like, it doesn't make sense. And I asked him for it six months ago. And so for me, what I think is, man, I'm really busy. Why would I need to sit down? I'm not going to sit down today and like make this formal plea to God again that I've already done six months ago. He knows everything. He knows what I want. He knows the answer I'm looking for, right? And I got a lot going on. And isn't it true sometimes we go and like, if I'm real honest, I did ask for an answer six months ago and still don't feel like I have one. So and so I wonder if sometimes we spend more time complaining that God won't speak than we do actually asking him to. Because see, according to Jesus, he said you can't just ask six months ago and go, eh, God knows he'll figure it out. And I'm not God, I didn't create the system. I don't get to make the rules. But according to Jesus, God says we're supposed to, we're supposed to talk to God every single day about the answers we're looking for, about the things that we're wanting from him. Here's, here's how Jesus said it. Matthew 6. This then is how you should pray. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Here it is. Give us today our daily bread. According to Jesus, we're supposed to go to God daily and talk to him about the things we want, about the things we need, about the answers that we're looking for. And I get it because a lot of you feel the same way I do. I'm busy. I don't have time to make a formal request day after day after day when he already knows what I need. And again, I'm not guide. I didn't get to make the rules. But, but I have an idea. I have an idea as to why he set it up the way he did. Because God doesn't just love you, Church. He likes you like your Father, your heavenly Father likes you. And he wants to hang out with you. Not because he has to. Cause he actually likes conversating. He likes you talking to him. He likes getting to talk to you. He likes hanging out. And he knows that if we'll come spend time with him every single day, he. It'll change our lives in a way that an answer to this particular question could never change our lives. And so he says, son, daughter, you don't have because you haven't been coming to me on the daily and just talking with me about it. Some of us, truth be told, we've been struggling for a while. It's not cause our shoes don't fit. It's because we haven't asked God. Now, if you didn't like writing down the first one because it felt too simple, you're going to really judge me on this one. You want to hear from God number one, ask God number two, listen for the answer. I know for sure some of you are rolling your eyes right now. You're going, duh. Okay, if we could put your prayer requests, just the audio files. If we could just go, hey, Pease, play those audio files. Let's hear Conrad's prayers for the last month. But I would never do that. I would do that for me. I'd embarrass myself if it would benefit you. I'd do that all the time. But I was thinking about this. This is gonna be a paradigm shift for some of you. See, listen, Jesus said this. My sheep, they don't just ask for stuff. When we get together and have conversation. My sheep don't just talk all the time. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. Did you know that your prayer time isn't supposed to be over when you're done talking? I told you, this is going to change prayer for some of you, probably a lot of us. I mean, I bet you, the vast majority of us, we consider prayer time with God to be while we're talking. And as soon as we're done talking, prayer time is over and we're out. How many times, Church, I'm telling you, don't dub me. Write this thing down. We listen. We got to listen if we want to hear the answers. Because how many of us go, God, I need you. I need an answer. I need you to speak. I need to know what to do. How am I going to get through this? God, I need to hear you talk. Amen. It sounds simple, but I'm telling you, Church, I don't think a lot of us are doing it. Last week we were in Austin. Jill spoke. Amazing message. We recorded. Yep. And we recorded and in Austin and sent it live to all of our locations around the country, the one in Brussels, and to, you know, laptops, phones, and screens all over the world. And just let me say this. If you're new to Red Rocks, and that's kind of a weird thing to you, like someone invited you to church, and maybe even right now, you're sitting in a room, and I'm not actually standing on the stage. You're looking at a screen and you're going, I don't know. But I don't know if I like this or not. Can I just remind you of something? Church. We had to make our peace with this a long time ago. The presence of a preacher does not change your life. The presence of our God is what changes your life. And God's word says, when we get together and have church like this, and he's the focus, his presence is here with us, no matter what location you're watching from. But so we. We do church last Saturday in Austin, and I'm telling you guys, it was sinfully hot in Austin. Am I wrong? Conrad, Whitney, you were there. You know, in fact, I was sitting next to Conrad and Whitney at dinner afterwards, because the Austin team thought it'd be funny to take the Denver people out to dinner in this 2000 degree weather and get us a table outside. Yeah, I guarantee they had a little pre meeting. Like, we're gonna get these Denver people. They don't know how to do. They don't know how to deal with this. I'm sweating. All right. It's hot. And we had this awesome waiter, but at one point, he came to the table, and I'm just thinking, like, if I don't get some more water, you know me, I drink water like a camel. I'm like, if I don't get some more water, I'm not gonna make it through this dinner. And he walks up to the table and he goes, hey, guys, can I get anybody anything? And then I go, yeah, I'll take. And he goes. And I was literally. I was sitting next to Conrad and Whitney, and they heard me. I go, yeah, can I get a walk? Can I? And I go, okay, good talk. He asked, but he took off before I could respond. And I thought, oh, my gosh, I think that's how I pray. Can I suggest that prayer time with God when we're done talking? My guess is it should at least only be halftime. I think I can make a real good argument that it ought to probably just be the end of the first quarter. Because if us and the creator of the universe are going to have a conversation, I don't know about you, but I think he ought to do most of the talking, right? And so it can't be, I need, I need, I need, I want, I want, I want. Talk to me, talk to me. Because you got to think about, like, think about your relationship with anyone else. Anyone. You have a friend. And every time they come to visit, all they do is talk about themselves. What I need, what I going through, what makes me feel good, every time they call, every time they text. Here's what I'm up to. Here's what I'm doing here. It's not much of a relationship, is it? Pretty one sided. Think about you sitting every time you pray. This is going to change some things. Think about you. You and God are sitting down at Starbucks. Let's call it Chili's. Yeah, we need a little bit more time. Let's say we're at Chili's and you're like, God, I'm going through some stuff. I need to hear you speak. Trying to figure out if I should propose, Trying to figure out how to fight for this marriage. I'm trying to figure out what to do with my mental health issues. Trying to figure out how me and my family are going to make it after what we've just been through. Like, I need you to speak. Like, would you speak with me? And God goes, oh, son, daughter, I would love to. Here's what I think. And you go, hup. Grab your phone and you just walk out. You just scroll, you make a call, look at the calendar, hop in the car, go see some other friends. And then you start complaining to your other friends, man, I'm just waiting on God to speak. And they're like, oh, well, you were going to meet with him today, right? Yeah, yeah, I did. Well, did you ask him? Oh, I did. Did he tell you anything? Why not? Oh, I left before he could. You see what I'm saying? Like, I think that's what we're. I think that's what we're doing in our prayer time. Watch this. Jesus. Actually, I'd never, I've never seen this before in scripture until I was getting ready for this past Easter. Jesus actually shows us what this looks like. And this will change your prayer life. Matthew 26. We're gonna start in verse 39. This is Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane right before he gets arrested. To begin the journey of going to the cross to pay the price for all of our sins so that we could simply be forgiven and saved. Today he tells his friends, I'm really, really struggling. Like, I'm overwhelmed to the point of death. He says, would you pray with me? Right, let's pick it up. Verse 39. Going a little farther. He fell with his face to the ground and prayed. My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me yet not as I will, but as you will. The gutsiest prayer we could ever pray right there, God, here's what I want. But more than that, I'm trying to follow you. So what I really want is what you want. That's the only thing that the Holy Spirit tells Matthew to write in his Gospel about what Jesus prayed. That one sentence. But get this. Watch this. Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. Here it is. Couldn't you men keep watch with me for one hour? He asked Peter. That means Jesus went to pray to have prayer time with the Father. He had one question in mind. He asks God a question and says, will you please speak? And then he spends an hour with him just listening. You go, well, maybe he prayed other stuff. He might have, but it just doesn't look like it. According to how this finishes. Watch. It's pretty clear on what Jesus prayed. Verse 42, he went away a second time. It doesn't say. Here's part of what he prayed. It says, he went away a second time and prayed, my Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done. When he came back, he again found him sleeping because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed a third time. The saying the same thing. It's really clear. That was the prayer. And I thought, my gosh, how many of us are just. All we can do is talk about how God is not speaking to us and God is not talking and God is not leading and God is not guiding, and I don't know what he wants. And I just had to ask, like, for me, I won't even indict you. For me, when's the last time I went to God three times in one day, asked a question, and then just sat with him for an hour and said, I'm just here to listen because I want you to speak God. You see what I'm saying? We think prayer time's over when we're done speaking. And I'm telling you, church prayer time is just beginning. When we're done speaking, there's this guy named Samuel, and I don't have time today, so put it in chat and you'll see everything he did in a nanosecond. But he ends up being this guy that is like, he lives with more purpose than he could have ever imagined having. In fact, he had so much purpose on his life, he got so good at hearing God's voice that he became kind of a mouthpiece for God, speaking often to the nation of Israel and to leaders. And at one point, he's so in tune with what God is saying to him that he goes to a guy's house, looks at all his sons, and says, nah, there's got to be more. Bring me the one from the field. In comes David as a young adult from a field, watching sheep. And God says, that's the one. And he chooses David to be the future king of Israel and anoints him. And I mean, talk about God using him for crazy things. The very first verse of the entire New Testament, Matthew 1:1, is, this is the genealogy of Jesus, son of David. Samuel was so in tune with God, so good at hearing God speak to him, that he got to be a part of making sure that, like it was prophesied, Jesus would come into the world through the lineage of David so that he could die on a cross, save our lives, and change the world. Now, this is Samuel as a young boy. He's not familiar with the Word yet. He doesn't understand how to hear God speak yet. And so a friend of his in the church, the leader actually at the church, says to him this. He says to Samuel, go lie down. And if he calls you, say, here it is. This is beautiful. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. So Samuel went and lay down his place. Go read the rest of that for yourself. Here's what Samuel understood. If I'm going to hear God speak, it's not enough just to tell people I'm waiting to hear God speak. It's not enough just to complain that I can't hear God speak or he hasn't said anything yet. No, I got to put myself in a position to listen. And so he goes to a quiet place by himself, and his prayer to God is, speak, Lord, your servant is listening. And then he just until God speaks, and, oh, does God speak? And that would begin the process of a lifetime of him being able to hear from God. And so my challenge to you this week, church, is, what if we spent 30 minutes a day? What if we got crazy and spent an hour a day? You go, I could never. I dare you to pull up that little graph that shows how much screen time you spent today. I bet you we could. Yeah, but I might have to rearrange my whole life to put Jesus first. I think that's the point. What if we, this week, some of you, like you, need real answers. What if this week you went to a place for an hour and your prayer was, speak, Lord, your servant is listening, and you just be with God? And when that silence is so deafening because our culture just doesn't allow for it anymore, put on some worship music, real low. If you obviously want to hear from God, it'll be red rocks worship. Put on some worship music and just be with God and let him speak according to his word. He says, I am the creator of communication and I do speak to you when you ask. I do speak to you when you listen. And he says, I do speak to you when you walk with the wise. Proverbs 13:20 says, Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm. That word wise there is not talking about IQ points. Proverbs actually says that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is not, I'm scared of God. The fear of the Lord is. Is I'm in awe of God. You want to know if somebody is walking with the fear of the Lord. You just look at their life. Are they the kind of people that none of us are perfect, nobody is, but are they the kind of people that they're non stop going, I'm just so in awe of God. I just want to know what he wants me to do. And then I'm just going to try to do that. I just want to know what he wants me to do, how he wants me to handle my money. I'm just going to live that way. I'm just going to find out how he wants me to handle my relationships. I'm just going to try to live that way. This verse says, if you'll walk with the wise, if you'll lock arms with people who are sold out for God, they're so in awe of God that they're actually trying to do what whatever they think he wants. He says that you then will become wise. What God is saying is if we'll start living in such a way where we're locking arms with other believers, that it's in those relationships. God says, I'll pour out wisdom from heaven to you through those relationships. He'll actually speak to us when we're walking with people like that. And that word walk, I looked it up in the Hebrew this week and it's literal and figurative, right? It's literal because they walked. They were walking everywhere they went. But it's figurative because it's talking about not just walking with someone, but actually doing life with someone. In fact, the Hebrew word for walk. Here's what it said. It said, you're continually together, you're continually getting together, you're continually going together, you're continually marching together, talking. One is leading, one is following, the other leads, the other follows. Guiding, encouraging, battling. That's what it looks like when we are living in such A way where we're locking arms with people who are sold out for God. He says, I'll speak to you through those relationships. And I have experienced this for myself so many times. But one of the times that just kind of popped into my mind recently was about seven years ago when I was. And if this is your church, you know. But having just a bunch of anxiety and debilitating panic attacks. Couldn't eat in a restaurant, hardly ever. I'd have to leave. I was having a panic attack. Couldn't ride in a car, hardly ever. I'd have to get out. I was having a panic attack. It was just super debilitating, and I didn't know what to do about it. So I went to see one of my pastors, and he said, I've got five things I want you to change about your life. And I was like, awesome. And he goes, but. And one of them was. He's like, dude, you need counseling. Like, you need some childhood trauma therapy, probably because you've been through some stuff. You need counseling. And he goes, but I can't tell you who to go to, he said, because someone that might be a good counselor for me might not be a good counselor for you. And that's why on our app right now and on our website right now, we have over 85 vetted by our staff Christian counselors that you can reach out to, depending on what you may or may not be dealing with or something that your loved ones might be dealing with. We believe in that. But Jill and I had no clue where to turn. We were praying, God speak to us about a counselor. Speak to us where to go. We don't have a clue. We're in the word. God speak to us. Felt like we were getting nothing. All of a sudden, we're talking with a couple who's planted in the house of God, sold out for God. And I'm in the kitchen of this house, and this guy's talking to me about his life, and he's telling me that he was having anxiety and he was having depression, and he was dealing with all these suicidal thoughts. And. And I was like, man, I feel like this guy's, like, telling me my story right now. And. But he seemed so healthy. And so I was like. I was like, bro, like, how many years ago was that? And he goes, oh, that was, like, five months ago. And I was like, like, how are you doing? So good. And he goes, oh, I went to this place for counseling, and he's in the kitchen telling me about where he went for Counseling. My wife was simultaneously in the backyard talking to his wife and she's telling Jill about where they went for counseling. And that's where I ended up going and checking myself in for several weeks. And I didn't come out perfect, but I came out better and healthier and stronger than I ever thought I could be. But the point is that we didn't have a clue. We needed God to speak. Speak. And found out that he. Yes, he still does speak through relationships. When we are locking arms with people who are sold out for God. That's why you hear us non stop saying in church. I'm gonna say it again. If you're not on a team or in a group, please don't leave service before going to the welcome party. We have welcome parties on Saturday night after church. We have welcome parties on Sundays. Just listen to the campus pastor. They'll guide you to them. It'll take like 15 minutes, but you'll find out what this place is all about. You'll get to meet some of the staff, and most importantly, you'll find out how you can get involved. And we'll help you get in a group or get on a team so you can start to actually do that. Start locking arms with people in the house of God. Sold out for God. It'll change the game. We good? You got time for one more? All right, I'm happy to do it. Number four, get in the word. Psalm 119. 105. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path. It's interesting. I was talking with Pastor Conrad Bess about this message this week, and we were both like, nobody that's going to actually take notes on this message is other than the listening one is going to have a probably a moment where you go, oh my gosh, I've never even thought of that. And Conrad and I were like, then why are so many of us struggling with it? And I thought about it and we were talking about it, and it's what James talks about. He says, hey, hey, don't deceive yourself. Don't pretend that you're actually following God because you know the Word. You gotta be a doer of the Word. And it just was a great reminder to me that church, we can memorize the entire Bible. If we don't actually do what it says, it doesn't change our lives. We can know that we're supposed to get in God's Word and that he says, my word will be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path. But if we don't actually do it, we don't actually hear him speak. We just know it could happen. First, Kings 19 says that God will often speak in a. In a real, still small voice. And if you've spent much time reading the Bible, you'll know. And I've occasionally tried to use a couple stories to help you see how this works. And if so, if you've heard this before, this story of mine, that's okay. I'm not trying to wow you with a personal story. I want to remind you of a biblical principle. But when you get in God's word, you can read the same chapter on Monday and something will pop out, and you can read the same chapter on Friday and something different will pop out. It's because you're not reading a history book. The Bible is alive and active. God says every single word of it breathed by the Holy Spirit. And it's alive and active. And it can teach us and equip us and guide us on a daily basis. In fact, me and my small group are doing an exercise right now where for the next two weeks, all we're doing is reading one chapter. We're reading James chapter one, and then we're reading some commentary about it and saying, God, what do you want to say to me? And then the next day we're reading James chapter one, saying, God, what do you want to say to me? And the next day, and we're going to get together in two weeks and we're going to talk about what we think God is saying to us from James chapter one. Because, see, every time you read it, something else and it, that, that's that still small voice that First Kings is talking about. When you read something and part of a verse jumps out and you get this thing in your soul and your spirit that goes, hey, that's for you. Hey, pay attention to that one today. Be encouraged by that today. Let this challenge you today. That's the voice of God leading and guiding. That's the lamp to our feet and the light to our path. And the more and more we do that in, in private, the more and more we sort of begin to recognize his voice out in the chaos of life. And this is the story that some of you may have heard me tell before. But it's such a good illustration. The very last one of the last things Jill and I did before we moved to Denver was we were living in Rockford, Illinois, outside of Chicago. And one of the last things we did is we went to a Cubs game because we're like, we can't have lived this close to Chicago for eight years and never been to Wrigley Field. And so we go to a Cubs game, and it's the seventh inning stretch. The whole place is singing Take Me out to the Ball Game. My wife went to the bathroom. I realize I need water. Shocker. I go get in line to get some water. And I mean, this place is going crazy. The whole place is singing. People out here are yelling and cheering and chanting and hammered and. And hot dog and beer here. I mean, it's just chaos. And all of a sudden, I'm in the back of the line and I realize, whoa, Jill's at the front of the line. I thought she went to the bathroom. She's way up there. And I'm telling you guys, pandemonium. And I go, babe, in the middle of all that, my wife goes, I said, give me a water and a hot dog and some chips. How, though. How did. In the middle of that crazy zoo, I didn't even say her name. I said, babe. Barely even a word. More of a, how did she turn? Because. And you know the deal. You've heard me say it. Because she's heard my voice so much in private that she recognizes my voice in the middle of chaos. And that's what God wants for every single one of us. He wants us to spend some time in His Word, letting him speak to our soul in that still small voice, time after time after time. So when we get out into the chaos of life and we go, God, I need you to speak. I don't know what to do next. I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. Do. We can actually hear his voice because we recognize it, because we've got so accustomed to hearing it when it's just him and us. See, that's how that works. Okay? There's not a. There's not a person hearing this message that doesn't either right now or right around the corner won't want to hear God speak. And the truth is, some of us are. Man, we're doing really good. And we just kind of sense that God's got something new. And next. And then there's. There's a good amount of people that are. They're going through really difficult things, some tragic things, and say, God, how are we going to get through this? A marriage thing? How we gonna get through this? A health thing? How we gonna. God, I need to hear you speak. And what happens is, what. What's Satan wants Is while we're in that holding pattern of I'm trying to hear him speak. Satan wants us to be overwhelmed with fear. God says this. Proverbs 3, 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways, submit to him and he will make your path straight. We could talk for hours about different aspects of our life. We could submit to him. But for today, for this weekend, I chose those four. What if we submitted to him and said, I'm gonna humble myself and I'm gonna ask you on a daily basis. I'm gonna submit my calendar and my time to you. I'm gonna sit in your presence and listen. I'm gonna get in your word and. And ask you to speak. I'm going to go out of my way and get on a team, get in a group, do life with people. When I don't feel like I have time, and honestly, my pride says I don't even need it. I'm going to submit in these areas. And his promise is, I'll speak, I'll lead, I'll guide, and I'll make your path straight. And he says, and he says, when he does this, listen, we don't have to be afraid. In fact, what I wanted to do at the end of today's service church is I wanted to denounce fear in the name of Jesus. No matter what you're going through right now, no matter what answer you're waiting to hear, no matter what provision you're waiting to experience, I wanted us to denounce fear in the name of Jesus. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Red Rock Church. Would you stand up with me at every single location? I believe with all my heart somebody needs to hear this today. You're waiting on an answer. You're waiting on a provision. You're in that. I'm trying to hear from God. I'm trying to figure out what to do next phase of life. And Satan would love for you to be overwhelmed with fear. And I want you to be reminded today I'm standing on his word. He's been with me because I'm still here. He's with me right now on the days I can't feel it. And his word says he's already gone before me. He's already working on my future. He's already doing miracles, preparing me for my future and preparing the future for me. And I'm gonna Walk into that thing with some confidence. I don't have to understand everything because I'm not leaning on my understanding anymore. I'm a pray, I'm a listen. I'm gonna get locked arms with some people. I'm gonna get in God's word. I'm not leaning on my understanding anymore. I'm trying to obey his word. I'm gonna lean on his. And I will not be afra. In Jesus name. All right, so here's our last verse. And I'm gonna ask you. I'm gonna ask you to. To declare it with me. I'm gonna read it, I'm gonna pray for you, then we're gonna declare this thing before we go into worship. So if you're watching on the screen, don't you dare turn this thing off. Psalm 34. 4. I sought the Lord and he answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Let me pray for you. God, I thank you that you are with us right now. I thank you that you have brought us this far. We're still here. I thank you that your presence is with us right now. And I thank you that you've already gone before us into what you have for us next. So I pray God right now, in the name of Jesus, that you would take some fear out of our hearts in Jesus name, that you would take some weight on off our shoulders. In Jesus name. It's not up to us to figure out the fix. It's not up to us to make the supernatural happen. It's not up to us to fix all the problems. We get to rest in you. We get to lean on you. The God who was with us, who is with us and who's going before us. And I pray for some peace and joy right now in Jesus name. With everyone's eyes closed, I want to ask two questions. If you're here this weekend and you go, man, there's some stuff going on in my life and truth is I have been dealing with some fear as to how it's going to turn out. And today I just want to get rid of that fear. In Jesus name. If that's you, raise your hand. I'm going to pray for you and we're going to denounce this thing. Yes, a whole bunch of us. I'm with you. Same second question is this. You realize. Wait a sec. I meant I might not have even known why I was coming to this church or tuned in online, but something's happening in my heart. Like, I realize I need to take God up on what he's offering me. I need to take advantage of the fact that Jesus died on a cross to pay the price for my sins. I want all the things we're talking about today. I want him to lead me and to guide me and to help me figure out what's next. But I need to start with God. Forgive me. Forgive me of my sins. I want your spirit to be in my life so you'll be walking with me everywhere I go, and so that I could go to heaven for all of eternity. If that's you and you go. This is my moment right now. Raise your hand. I'm gonna say a prayer for you as well. Put them up. Put them up high. Praise God. Praise God. Yeah. Yeah. Praise God. I see you. I see you. I see you too, God, you knew exactly why you brought us here. And I pray as we begin to sing this song as a declaration of faith, that fear would literally start to fall off of us like chains being unlocked off our wrists. In Jesus name, I thank you, God, for the eternal that are being changed right now. I pray that every person who just raised their hand, that they would sense you in such a real and authentic way as we begin to worship you with music, help them begin to wrap their mind around the fact their life just changed for all of eternity. And Red Rocks Church Heaven just got a lot more crowded in Jesus name. Okay, give me that last verse again. Put on the screen. We're going to declare some stuff. Church Worship team, come on out and get ready. Cause we're gonna take off. We'll get a cadence together. Okay? I want you to say this with me. I sought the Lord. Now don't say it after me, say it with me. I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Say it with your chest this time. I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Say it like you've never meant anything more. Say, I sought the Lord and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears Last time. Here it is. With some crazy confidence. I sought the Lord and He answered me. And he delivered me from all my fears. That's the word we stand on. Church in Jesus name. Fear must go. Let's worship. I stopped the Lord and he heard and he answered.