← Red Rocks Church Weekend Messages
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Red rocks. You guys excited for a good day at church today? Hey, then would you help me in welcoming all of our Denver based locations? Austin, Texas, you know I love you, Brussels. All the men and women at all the correctional facilities and everybody tuning in online right now. Hey, we love you. We're with you. We're praying for you. Thank you for being here today. Now listen, listen, listen. It's not an accident that you are listening to this right now. I believe that God wants to speak to you today. In fact, that's what we're talking about. This is week four of our series. Can we talk? Have you guys been enjoying the series so far? Pastor Sean spent the first two weeks teaching us how to have confidence in our prayer life and then giving us a very foundational formula that we can use. And I've been using it every morning. It's been changing the game for me in my prayer life. I'm so grateful for Pastor Sean and Pastor Jill and all the wisdom that our pastors bring to us. Last week, Doug taught us that while all prayers good, some prayers are better and was helping us grow in maturity in our prayers. Now I get to finish this series. And, and here's the deal. This series is not called Can I talk to you God? This series is can we talk? Because prayer is not a monologue, it's a dialogue. It's not just us talking to God. It's also God talking to us, which we need to learn how to hear from God. Anybody at all of our locations need to hear from God today. Anybody needs some guidance from the creator of the universe? Anybody have any big decisions that they're trying to make? We always throw out Jeremiah 29:11. Reminder that God has good plans for us, that he knows the plans that he has for us. I love that verse. I'm grateful for it. Sometimes though, I'll hear that verse and I'll go, God, that's great. But like, what are those plans, you know? And so today I want to help lean in and hear from God. But first, we promised you a video, a progressive commercial video at every one of these weeks. And so did we. Save the best for last? I'll let you decide at all of our locations. Take a seat and check this out. All right, what are we working on today, Chad? GPT chat with a T. Chat. GPT. ChatGPT. And okay, so it's chat. ChatGPT is going to get me more Facebook friends. Artificial intelligence, Big learning curve. Hey, Siri. Okay, not Siri, somebody else. Oh, hey, somebody else. How do I get charisma. Okay? You're so that's just a word document that you're typing in right now. It's not just new territory. It may be a place they never get to. Hey, Amazon, ask Siri to play the song that my friend Corey wrote. Okay? He. So Siri isn't here. What do you think? Chat GPT is the Internet. Okay. No, you type, hi, Alexis, you say Chad. So Chad and Alexis are. No. Hey, Amazon, get Siri. Red Rocks can't help you communicate with robots, but we can help you communicate with God. Hey, Amazon, if you find Siri, would you please play the song with the plans that work out really well by my friend Corey? My goodness. Those are my buddies. Welcome to Red Rocks. If you are visiting for the first and final time. We are a bunch of imperfect people, very imperfect people who are serious about pursuing a perfect God. In fact, we may not take ourselves seriously, but we do take God and God's word seriously. And so if you have your Bibles, John, chapter 10, verse 27 is the verse that we're going to keep coming back to over and over and over again. Today. I want you to memorize this verse in your head until it sinks into your heart and becomes a part of who you are. This is Jesus talking here. He says, my sheep hear. Underline that word. Hear my voice. And I know them and they follow me. Couple of things here. First, Jesus just called a sheep, which back in the day, that used to kind of insult me a little bit because sheep are not smart at all. And I would read that and I'd be like, no, sheep, not us. But then the older I get and the longer I live, the more I'm like, yeah, sheep is about right. That is who we are. Sheep that need a shepherd. Good news is we have a good shepherd in John's Gospel. And if you're new to the Bible, the verse we just read is in John's Gospel. John was one of Jesus's best friends, and at the end of his life, he sat down and wrote biography about Jesus's life We call John's Gospel. If you're looking for a place to start in the Bible this week, start with John's Gospel. It will change your life. But what you'll see as you read it is that Jesus makes seven I am statements, seven big statements about himself. He says things like, I am the light of the world. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And then in John 10, he famously says, I am the good shepherd. He says, the Thief may come to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come that you may have life and have it to the full. He says, I am the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. And we got to start there, because at all of our locations right now, there's some of you thinking, hearing from God, like, I'm not ready for that. That's for, like, the professional Christians. Right? Right. Like. Like, maybe in a couple years, I'll be ready to. To hear from God. From God. But you don't know what I've been through. You don't know what I've done. I've made so many mistakes. And I've got really good news for you today. Church we have a good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. Second Corinthians 5 says that God took him who knew no sin, Jesus, to become sin. In other words, Jesus took all of that sin and all of that shame up on the cross with him so that you and I can become the righteousness of Christ. Which means when you put your faith in Jesus, which I'm going to give you a chance to do here in a couple of minutes, what the Bible tells us is that we get to exchange our sin for God's righteousness, which means you have a good shepherd who has your back, who knows you. And with that truth in your mind, let's read our verse one more time. John 10, verse 27. My sheep hear. Now, I want you to circle that word here. My voice. And I know them, and they follow me. Apparently, hearing from God is a part of this journey. Apparently, as we go, we need to learn to hear God's voice. Which brings up a really interesting question. What does God's voice sound like? Years ago, I was praying, and it was the first time I ever sat down with somebody who was like, okay, we're going to pray, but then we're also going to listen, and we're going to try to hear God's voice. And I remember closing my eyes and, like, concentrating for, like, two minutes, and eventually I just looked up and asked a question. That is the title of today's message. I looked up and I said, hey, what does God's voice sound like? Like, what am I supposed to be listening to for right now? Like, what am I supposed to be tuning into? What does God's voice sound like? I love hanging out with musicians, and I. I just resonate with them. But sometimes we'll be hanging out and they'll be like, ryan, you gotta hear this new chorus. Like, listen to this. Three part harmony on this chorus. And I'll be like, all right, great. Yeah, like, let's listen to it. And then I will listen, and then it'll get to the chorus and they'll all be like, oh, it's so good. And I'll just be sitting there like I'm trying to listen for it. But, like, what does a harmony sound like? And what does a three part harmony like? Like, can we play that back a couple of times? And usually by like, the fifth time, I'm like, oh, yeah, Like, I kind of hear what you're doing there. Right? But because they've devoted so many hours to their craft, they know what to listen for. They know what to tune in to. Now, church, listen to me. It's possible for us to spend so much time with God, to keep coming back to church, to get into his word, to pray, to get into a group, to spend so much time with God that we learn what God's voice sounds like, then we know what to tune into. And when we do that, we'll begin to realize that God is speaking a whole lot more than we realize God's always speaking. We just need to learn what his voice sounds like so we can learn to tune in. But let's be honest, this topic brings up a whole lot of shame and a whole lot of insecurity, at least historically, it has for me. Let me give you two stories, both true, both that happened to me. So I started following Jesus my freshman year of college at the University of Colorado, and I got saved. And then I just jumped in head first. And that summer, I moved to Costa Rica for three months to lead mission trips. Now, I was the least qualified person in the world to lead these trips, but I've just noticed from early on that God is not searching for the best and the brightest. He's searching for those who are willing to to go. In fact, next week we're starting a brand new series called Rowdy Church, where we're talking about this very concept, that we can be imperfect people who are willing to pursue a perfect God. And if we can show up ready and expectant, God will change the world in and through our lives. So I get to Costa Rica, and one of the things we would do, teams would come down for about 10 days, I would take them to a church, and we would do all sorts of different outreaches. One of the things we would do is we'd go to a park and we do evangelism. And so we taught the kids these dramas that were incredibly cheesy but they were like creative depictions of the gospel. And then I'd have somebody stand up and share their testimony. And then I would get up and just do my best to preach the gospel. And the last day, day 10 of the last group. So the last day of the summer for me, it starts pouring rain around noon. And I'm like, well, we can't do anything in the rain, so let's just get in the bus and take the hour long drive back to the base. And, well, while we're driving, I start to feel like God is speaking to me. Now, for the record, for me, it has never sounded like an audible voice. Sometimes in scripture, God's voice sounds like an audible voice. I have not experienced that. For me, it's always been a still, small whisper in my spirit. More on that in a couple of minutes. But I start to feel like God's going, hey, Ryan, I've got something, if you want to be a part of it. And I'm just trying to learn what God's voice sounds like. So I'm looking around like, is that God? Is that you? And I say, I go, I'm praying, I go, God, if that's you, it's pouring rain right now. Like, we can't do anything in the pouring rain, so we're gonna need the rain to stop. And no joke, we turn the corner, the bus turns the corner. I have a vivid memory of this. And the rain just stops. And now I'm looking around like, did I just do that? You know, like, I don't really know how all of this works. And then I asked the bus driver, I go, hey, are there any parks nearby? And he says, yeah, the biggest park in the country is like two blocks away. So I stand up and I tell the team, hey, we're not quite done yet. We're gonna go do one more outreach. Anybody left who hasn't shared their testimony? And this youth leader in the back of the bus, who was very quiet, barely said a word the entire week, raises her hand and she goes, I've been praying that I'd have an opportunity to share my testimony. I was like, all right, you're up, let's do this. So we get out of the bus and the kids start doing the drama. And most people are just kind of laughing at it. Some people are kind of watching from a distance. And then there's one guy who walks up front and is watching every single thing that happens. So I'm starting to think, okay, maybe God's up to something. Then the youth leader Stands up and shares her testimony. We hadn't heard it. It's this powerful testimony where she says, man, addiction has been a huge part of my family's life. My dad was an alcoholic. I got so deep into alcohol. But then I found Jesus, and he took me out of it and has absolutely changed my life. And. And that guy is sitting there listening to every word. So now I'm like, all right, God, I hear you. So I get up and start preaching the gospel, and the guy immediately stands up and walks away. So now I'm preaching to nobody, and I'm just doing my best. And I stumble through it, and I pray, and I land the plane. And I'm about to tell everyone, let's get back on the bus and let's get out of here. And as we're doing that, the guy comes around the corner with a big cardboard box in his hand, and he puts it down in front of us, and it's a bunch of bottles of alcohol. It's all of his alcohol. And he looks at us and he goes, I've been an alcoholic for decades. And he said, I lost my marriage last week because of it. And if this. He looked at the lady who shared her testimony and said, if this Jesus guy you're talking about is real, then I'm all in. And we have this beautiful moment where he just repents and he confesses, and he invites Jesus into his life, and we get him plugged in in the local church, and it's like this beautiful kingdom moment, right? And I get back on the bus, and I'm like, I feel like God just spoke to us and then worked through us. Like, that's the coolest thing ever. Story number two, couple of months later, I'm back in Boulder, and we would do these Wednesday afternoon prayer meetings on Farran Field, which is this field in the middle of campus. I'm walking to Farron Field one Wednesday, and I feel like that same voice, like God's knocking on the door, going, ryan, I got something I want you to be a part of. And so I show up to the group, and I go, hey, we're getting out of our comfort zones today. We're not just gonna pray. We're gonna go pray for people. And so I want you to be asking the Lord, is there somebody that you need to pray for on campus today? Now, Leadership 101 is like, you can't really claim that and then not do it, you know? So we start praying, and the first person that I see walk by, I find five seconds of Courage. And I go, all right, I'm gonna do it, guys. Pray for me. And the guy's walking super fast with his headphones on across the front field. And so I started walking faster, you know, and I cut him off, and I go, hey, I know this sounds crazy, but we're out here praying for people. And I was just wondering. And he looks at me, and no joke, he goes like this. What? I was so nervous. I didn't even wait for him to take his headphones off. So I go, oh, you didn't hear any of that? Okay, back from the beginning. So I know this sounds crazy, but we're out here praying for people, and I was just wondering if I could pray for you today. And no joke, he looks at me and he goes, no. And then he puts his headphones back on, and he keeps walking. I go, all right, God bless. You know, I go back to the team, and they're like, how'd it go? I'm like, yeah, really good. This is going really good. You know? Two stories. Both times I thought I heard God's voice. In story number one, heaven got more crowded. In story number two, I got humiliated. Which brings up a whole lot of questions, questions that get to the root of our insecurities, that we feel about hearing God's voice. Like, did I hear God correctly in story number one, but wrong in story number two? Did God somehow lead me into story number two to humble me? Or if we're just being real in church? Most scary to me, did I not hear God right in either of those stories? Was that a voice in my head? And story one was just a fortunate coincidence, while story two was the unfortunate consequence of listening to a voice in your head. See if we're being real. Hearing from God can make you feel like the most spiritual person in the world one day and then make you feel like you're absolutely losing your mind the next day. And it gets worse, because then you continue to grow up, and you realize that life, like, the stakes get a lot higher than just, like, an awkward social interaction in college, right? You're like, well, okay, but what is my career gonna be? And what door should I walk through and who should I date and who should I marry and what city should we live in and should we change jobs now and then your kids start getting older, they start asking you the same questions, and you're like, I'm just trying to figure this out for myself. Like, life just starts to feel like one big decision after the next. And so how do we lean in and hear God's voice so we can discern the plans that God has for us. Well, I want to try to just be super helpful for these next few minutes. I want to give you a framework that I've learned over the years to help us know. Is that God? Is that God really? Who's really speaking? Like, what does God's voice sound like? So what I'm going to do is I want to give you one thing that God's voice always sounds like, and then I'll give you two things that God's voice often sounds like. So this first point, the one thing that God's voice always sounds like, this is most important. So if you get nothing else, lean in for the next few minutes. I can give you one objective truth that is going to help you discern whether or not it's God speaking. And then we'll move into the more subjective ground and talk about what God's voice often sounds like. So, number one, if you're taking notes, God's voice always sounds like God's word. God's voice always sounds like God's word. Second Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16 says this. All scripture. All scripture is God breathed. And it's useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, training in righteousness. God speaks to us through his word because all scripture is. Is God breathe. The amount of times I've sat with somebody who says, I just feel like God's not speaking to me. Meanwhile, their Bible is collecting dust on their nightstand. Like, we gotta start here, guys. God is always speaking to us through his word because God's voice sounds like God's word, which means we gotta become students of God's word. It's such a helpful filter because it allows us to know when we hear somebody say something or think something, and it contradicts God's word. We can just immediately throw it out and go, well, that's not God's voice. So somebody says, well, you know, you know, I'm married, but, you know, there's this other person, and I've been praying about it, and I just feel like God's telling me I should have an affair. Church, look at me. That's not God's voice. I know that because it contradicts God's word. I could give you one of 20 verses right now, but let's go. Matthew, chapter 19. This is Jesus quoting Genesis 2:24 about God's original design for marriage. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate that bad decision. You're thinking about making is complicated. But step one, let's take God's voice off of it. That's not God speaking. That's a complicated combination of a fallen world and the enemy who comes to steal, kill and destroy and your own broken flesh. But it's not God. Or somebody will say, like, we've got this new business idea and I think it's going to be very lucrative. But if we're just getting technical here, like it's not quite moral, we're actually stealing money. Well, let's just call it we're stealing money. But, but, but, but I've been praying about it and I just feel like God's saying, hey, as long as you give 3% of the proceeds to charity, it's all good. Hey, you can't even get past the Ten Commandments with that one. Exodus 20, verse 15. The eighth commandment is you shall not steal. That's not God's voice. Because God's voice never contradicts God's word. Or the famous one is every couple years there'll be someone who's like, I've heard from the Lord and Jesus will be coming back December 2nd at 2:30pm which is always like, okay, what time zone? And it's like, well, ours of course, right? Because this whole thing revolves around us. But like Matthew 24, Jesus says something really important. Get this. But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. And when you tell that person that verse, they usually say, well, actually I don't need the Bible because God speaks directly to me. And at that point the wheels have completely fallen off. God's voice will never contradict God's word. So red rocks. If we want to hear God's voice, we got to become students of God's word. John cassian was this 4th century monk who said a lot of really smart things. One thing he said is that spiritual maturity is a lot like becoming a prudent money changer. And we hear that in the 21st century and we go, what prudent money changer? We don't talk like that. Right? But this was before QR codes and credit cards and they would have a Roman coin that they would use for all of their exchanging of goods. And so because there was just one coin and not the same amount of technology, a whole bunch of people would try to create counterfeit versions of these coins. And so what a prudent money changer did was the prudent money changer spent so much Time with the real Roman coin, the real thing, that prudent money changer knew what it felt like, knew how much it weighed, knew what it looked like. That way, when somebody tried to introduce a counterfeit version, they were immediately able to go, nope, that's not it. And what Cassian, I think, is saying is we need to become that. We need to do the same thing with God's word. That. That the more that we study it, the more that we sit with it, the more that we understand what it looks like and what it feels like. Then when somebody brings something that's not from God's word, we'll immediately just be able to go, no, that's not it. That's not God's word. That's not what God's voice sounds like. But the same thing, the inverse, is true as well. And this is the really good news. The more time you spend with the real thing, the more you'll start to realize that you are hearing God's voice all the time. You'll be like, well, you know, my friend is having a really tough day, and I just feel like it would be good to sit down with them and reach out with them and check in on them and pray for them and see how I could encourage them. I just feel like maybe the Lord's inviting me into that. And it's like, oh, yeah, like when Jesus said, treat others the way you want to be treated. That sounds good to me. Why don't you go do that today? Right? Or you're like, I have this coworker and he's a little rowdy, but he means well. And I know he's asking, like, the big questions about life, and I just kind of feel like I should invite him to week one of rowdy church this week. I'm like, yeah, First Timothy two, that God wants all people to be saved. I think it's pretty safe to say that the Lord is inviting you into that. The more we know God's word, the easier it will be to tune in to God's voice. So that's number one. God's voice always sounds like God's word. Now, with that as our framework, we never graduate past that. But let's dig deeper into another layer as we're sitting and trying to make these decisions in life. What are we listening for? I'll give you two. We could give you 20. We don't have all day. Give you two today. God's voice always. I'm sorry. Always sounds like God's word. But God's voice often Sounds like one step. God's voice often sounds like one step. When I graduated from college, I was living in Laguna beach and helping my friend with his youth group and working at a gym and living a block from the beach and was just sort of trying to figure everything out. And a friend of mine who was a pastor at a church up the street called me and said, hey, we've got this position opening, position open. I think you'd be a good fit for it. And so I go for a walk on the beach. And I go, okay, Lord, is this what you have for me, Lord, would you speak? Is this the job that you want me to take? And I heard nothing. And so I tell my mentor. I'm like, I'm trying to hear from God, but I can't hear. And he goes, okay, well, tell me about the job description. And I was like, oh, I don't know the job description. You don't know the job description? He's like, what about the salary? It's like, I don't know the salary. He was like, have you even, like, talked to them yet? And I was like, no, no, I'm praying about whether or not I should reach out to talk to them about the job. And he helped me as a young 20 something with some very good wisdom that I think is going to speak to you today. He goes, hey, if you. If God was inviting you to take one step today, this week, what do you think that step would be? And I go, I mean, I should probably, like, call them and like, tell them I'm interested and maybe like, send my resume and see if I could, like, land an interview this week. And my mentor just goes, there you go. And it sounds so simple, but I feel like sometimes we want God to give us steps 1 through 28. God's voice, I've realized, oftentimes sounds like one step. I love how the psalmist says it. In Psalm 119, verse 105, your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. You are walking a path. But this was written 3,000 years ago, long before there was a light switch where you could just turn on all the lights. The only thing you had was a lamp. And that lamp was only powerful enough to show you the next step. And then how did you see the next step after that? Well, you had to take a step, and then it would show you the next step after that, and you'd have to take a step. And the psalmist is going, that's how it works with God. Oftentimes he gives us one step and then he invites us to take that step. Because notice God is our good shepherd who loves proximity and loves to go on the journey with us. So oftentimes he speaks to us through a single step. It would be like, okay, week one of football is next week. You guys excited for football season? Broncos Titans, next Sunday. Imagine you came up to me after church, were like, hey, I got two tickets to the game. You want to go? I'm going to say yes. And then imagine we get into my car and I'm driving, but I don't know how to get downtown to the stadium. And I go, hey, where do I go? We're at the Littleton campus right now. You'd be like, well, you're going to go out to the light and turn right on Bulls. But then imagine I go, and then what? You're gonna say, ah, we're gonna take that all the way down to Santa Fe and go north on Santa Fe. And then what? Like, ah, then we're gonna merge onto 25 and go north on I25. And then what? It depends on traffic and what exit we want to take so we can find some parking. And then what? Like, at some point you're gonna be like, hey, why don't you just put your car and drive and go turn right at the light? You know, like, I'm really good at this. I'll get us there. Let's just take one step at a time. But I can't help but think that's what we look like to God sometimes. Hey, go forgive that person. And then what? Go pursue that degree. And then what? Go knock on that door and try to get that interview. And then what? I can't imagine how many God sized dreams have been sacrificed on the altar of. And then what? That we haven't taken step one because we wanted steps one through 28. So I wonder today if God is speaking to you about one single step that he wants you to take today. And I wonder, church, what would happen if this week you took that step and just trusted that he's gonna tell you what that next step is. I did end up calling and getting that interview at that church and it ended up being this amazing training ground for me for years to get ready for red rocks and ultimately to help plant red rocks. Austin 7 years ago and I'm so glad and so grateful. But here's the thing, like if the lights had just turned on completely and I saw all of that back then as I was walking on the beach, like I wouldn't have gone. I would have been so overwhelmed and so terrified. Like, I'm so grateful that God gives us what we need. And oftentimes God's voice sounds like one single step to take church. So God's voice often sounds like one step. Then the last one is this. God's voice often sounds like a whisper. There's this amazing story about this prophet Elijah, who has a showdown with the prophets of baal, and then after that, he gets away and he climbs up this mountain to try to hear from God. We'll pick up the story in First Kings, chapter 19, verses 11 and 12. It says this. The Lord said, go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. So Elijah's listening, going, okay, so what does God's voice sound like? Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart, shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. This is a pretty crazy day. But the Lord was not in the fire. And then here it is. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. I've noticed over the years that God tends to whisper to our spirit. And I think it's because he knows he's. He is our good shepherd who goes, I want to learn to whisper to them so that they have to lean in and press in and have proximity with me. Write this down. The enemy, I've noticed, shouts to our flesh. God whispers to our spirit. That's how the enemy works. Think about the temptation in the wilderness when Jesus is out there in Matthew 4, fasting for 40 days, how does the enemy try to get him? Turn those stones into bread, gratify the flesh. And Jesus goes, no, I'm doing something bigger. And then he takes him up on this high mountain. He's like, look at all this. I'll give you all of it. You can be famous. Shouting to his flesh, Jesus goes, no, we're doing something bigger. The enemy tends to shout to our ego. The Lord will whisper to our spirit. And these days, it has never been more difficult in the world that we live in for us to quiet down long enough and get still long enough to hear the still, small voice, to hear that gentle whisper. Which means today, this week, you have an opportunity to turn down the noise a little bit. So how about this practical. Go for a couple drives where you're not listening to a podcast or listening to music. I love podcasts, but Every once in a while, it's so important for us to get some silence because I wonder if God's ready to speak. It's just that it's a whisper, so we got to turn down the noise to be able to hear him. Parents, you know this. When your kids are going crazy and everybody's shouting, it does no good for you to try to shout louder. Just makes it worse. What do you do instead? You get down, you say, hey buddy, come here, I want to talk to you real quick. You start whispering, and when that happens, they lean in, and you have that moment, guys. That's who God is. Our verse one more time. John 10, verse 27. My sheep hear. Now I want you to put a star around that word. Hear my voice and I know them, they follow me. Doesn't something about that verse not sit right? Like, shouldn't it say, my sheep hear my voice and they know me and they follow me? That's not what Jesus says. He says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. Your good shepherd knows you like the person sitting next to you. Yes, of course. But also you like. Your good shepherd knows that you're an introvert. Your good shepherd knows that you're an extrovert. Your good shepherd knows that you're a morning person. Your good shepherd knows that you're a night owl. Your good shepherd knows who you are and is ready to speak to you. And it's so important that we understand just how good our good shepherd is. Or else we'll feel like God is some distant, far off being who's not all that concerned with what we're going through. Oh, God is concerned. That's why Philippians tells us, don't worry about anything, but pray about everything. God wants to be in all of it with us. And we gotta get that so that we can learn to lean in and hear the still, small voice of God. God's voice often sounds like a whisper, like a single step, but it will always sound like God's word. So the only way to end a message on God being our good shepherd is to end with Psalm 23. And so this is God's word. And hear God speak to you. Today, David writes the Lord, Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. David was known as a man after God's own heart. Not because he got everything right all the time. He was actually far from perfect. But he understood this opening line in his famous song, the Lord is my shepherd, which means, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He Leads me besides quiet waters. He refreshes my son. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. You read Psalm 23:13, and you're like, this is amazing. I just need to make the Lord my shepherd this week. I just need to learn to lean in and have proximity with the good shepherd. Because if I do, apparently I'll just walk by streams of living water all the days of my life, right? Problem is verse four, David continues to write, and he says this, even though I walk through the darkest valley. And you go, wait, what? I thought we were walking by streams of living water, David, what's all this darkest valley talk? The ESV says the valley of the shadow of death. And you go, wait. This famous psalm that you are writing, David, the context of that psalm is you are in the middle of the darkest hour of your life. You're walking through the very valley of the shadow of death. We got to get this. Because sometimes I feel like we have some bad theology when it comes to hearing from God. I feel like we think, well, as long as I know who my good shepherd is and I listen to him and I hear his voice, everything's going to go right for me all of the time. Which means if things are going wrong, I must have heard God wrong. But can I help? That's bad theology. The Lord is our shepherd who walks with us. And sometimes it feels like living water and green pastures. Sometimes it feels like the valley of the shadow of death. The much better news is that he's with us every step of the way. As I like, a lot of us are trying to learn to hear God's voice better. I've learned over the years that I'm asking the wrong question. The right question is not, did I hear God right? Did I hear God right? Was story number one, me hearing God right, and story number two, me hearing God wrong? The older I get, I realize that's the wrong question. I reframe that in my mind. The question I ask is, is the Lord my shepherd? Because. Because if the Lord is my shepherd, then I'm freed up just to be another infant perfect sheep who's doing my best to hear from God. But along the way, I know that I don't have to fear any evil. And so let's go back to our passage and let God's word speak to you today. Church. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the Presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's the good news Church. We have a good shepherd who's ready to walk with us and speak to us, and we can learn to hear his voice. So at every location, would you guys stand to your feet if you are able. I want to pray for us. And here's what's going to happen in the next few minutes. I'm going to ask two questions. The first is going to be to anyone who needs to go. I just need to make the Lord my shepherd. Like, I need to stop trying to do this on my own. And I need to to repent and turn and put my faith in Jesus. And if that's you, I'll give you a chance to raise your hand and pray a prayer with you. But then there's others of you who need to hear from God today. And if that's you, in just a second, I'm going to ask you to boldly throw your hand up in the air at every one of our campuses, because I want to pray a prayer for you. And then we're going to wait 10 seconds and let God speak to us. Now I feel the anxiety already. It's like, well, what if he doesn't? Here's the really good news. God's going to speak to you in a whisper. God's voice often is going to sound like a next step. But even if you don't hear anything, the good news is God's always speaking. He's always speaking to us through his word. He's always speaking to us through Psalm 23. He's always reminding you that he is your good shepherd. And these songs that we're going to sing today are all about that truth in Psalm 23, which means, don't worry, God is going to speak to you. It's a win win when you're walking with your good Shepherd. And so let's pray. Father, we love you. We thank you that you are our good shepherd. Father, would you begin speaking to the person who knows they need to put their faith in you today, who have been trying to build their own kingdom for too long and are ready to build your kingdom. And so at all of our locations, if that's you, if I'm talking to you, if today is the day of salvation for you, would you just boldly throw your hand up in the air? And as you do, just Pray this simple prayer. God, I repent. God, I turn from my ways. Jesus, I make you my Lord and my Savior. I want to build your kingdom, God. Now for everybody at every location, who needs to hear from God? I want to just ask you, just boldly throw your hand up in the air. God, you know every story, you see every hand. We've got a lot going on, Lord. We need the good shepherd. We need you to speak. So speak. Holy Spirit, we're listening. Lord, we thank you for that whisper. God, we thank you for that next step. But Lord, we thank you that you are always speaking to us through your word. And so, Father God, we thank you for Psalm 23. We thank you for the reality that you are our good shepherd. For the one who is walking by the streams of living water, I pray that you would give them permission to celebrate in worship today. But for the one walking through the darkest valley, the valley of the shadow of death, I pray right now that you would remind them that you are their good shepherd walking with them, that they need not fear any evil, for you are there beside them. Father, for the one who has a difficult job meeting coming up this week that they're nervous about, I pray that you would remind them they don't have to fear any evil. You prepare a table before them in the presence of their enemies. Lord, for the one who fears feels like they're far from you right now. Would you anoint their head with oil? Would their cup overflow? And Father, for the one who is doubting, if you really are that good, would you remind them right now that your goodness and your mercy is chasing them down all the days of their life and we get to dwell in your house forever and ever in Jesus name. And everyone said, red rocks, let's worship.