Facetime

Setup:

— Encountered God in a fresh way this week at our yearly connection for Foursquare. 3300 other pastors and ministers getting refreshed, filled up.

— Today, I just wanted to preach out of the overflow..

— Background to Foursquare.. Movement that started in the 1920s by Aimee Semple McPherson, a Spirit Filled woman of God who led evangelistic crusades across the nation.. She ended up having a heart for Los Angeles and miraculously by God’s grace was able to build Angeles Temple.. Verified healings, salvations, serving the city during the depression better than the local government, and training and sending out church planters and missionaries all over the country and all over the world.. It’s not glory to Aimee it’s glory to God..

— Our current president Randy Remington shared with us at this years connection three goals for the next 5 years..

— Pursuing His Presence, Passing the Flame, Possessing the Land..

— Today I want to talk about pursuing His Presence..

Exodus 33:13–16 “Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?””

Prayer

Story: Nameless Pastor and his brussel sprouts.

Transition: Now I awkwardly transition this to the Presence of God.. Are we marked by His presence?

2 Corinthians 2:15–16 “For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?”

— In other Words, we are a conversation starter. There should be something different about us!! We should be distinct!

— When we offer our lives in pursuit of the presence of God, we offer this aroma to God.. We give off a powerful aroma to those around us.. To other Christians, it is an encouragement.. To unbelievers they are confronted to believe.. They see that they are perishing and they need Good News..

— We had a couple powerful conversations with a couple of Uber Drivers..

People who are marked by God’s presence:

love the Ways of GOD

— I spoke to this last week, but God wants our heads and our hearts.

— Things change in the presence of God, but..

— There are churches and movements that would attempt to make experiences and emotions etc. trump the Word of God.

— We need to be anchored in the Word of God!

— Moses has just recently in this passage come down from Mt. Sinai to receive the ten commandments..

— If you want to be in relationship with someone than it figures that you need to know what makes them tick.

— What do they love? What do they hate?

— We need to be people of His Word! What is heart?

— The word in the Hebrew for presence means FACE. We want to pursue His FACE. That means intimacy and connection. Not just what I can get from you.

— Sure, Moses expected help in battles from God, provision, direction all of these things. But above all, He wanted to seek His Face.

— Jesus encountered a group like that.. Who just wanted something from Him, but didn’t want Him..

— Jesus had recently fed the 5,000 and they were looking for more of that. More signs etc.

— Jesus said to them in John 6:35 “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

— Then later He said John 6:53 “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

— When we understand the Gospel we understand Him. Like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,”

— The people had no interest in understanding Jesus so the vast majority of them left..

— He turns to His disciples and says in ++ John 6:67–68 “So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,”

— Peter knew that the ways of God were life. That we need to put our trust in the fact that Jesus laid His life down for us. That His body was broken for our healing, His blood was spilled for our saving..

— If you want to experience His presence begin to love HIS WAYS BY FOLLOWING HIS WORD

2. love to Worship God

— Because they were committed to following the ways of God, God gave them instructions on worship..

— There was a tent version of the temple, and God gave them instructions on the who (the priests the Levites) and the how (the sacrificial system all the processes etc)

— All this was so they could enjoy as a people the presence of God who dwelled in the Ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies..

— Worship means something broader than just singing, but singing is important!

— In our time/ post cross, we worship God by giving our lives to Him.. Romans 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

— So, whenever we walk in obedience in giving our lives to Him we experience more of His presence!

— Some of the sacrifices you made to come here today in and of itself is worship..

— But I also want to talk about worship in singing sense..

— The Jews knew how to sing and dance and party when it came to the presence of God..

—++ Psalm 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”

— David, when he brought the ark of the Lord into the city of David he rejoiced so much that his wife Michal was embarrassed..

— But he said. 2 Samuel 6:22 “I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.””

— Why did they dance and sing? Psalm 22:3 “Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.”

— NEW TEST>

—++ Ephesians 5:18–20 “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

— It is not about seeking emotion. BUT. Emotion is often a byproduct of being in God’s presence especially during worship!

— Tim Hawkins on worship..

— carry the tv first one subtle

— big screen

— fish is this big…

— hold my baby

— Goal posts

— Moofasa..

— Pointer, Give God a high five, women like to wash the window..

— God’s people have always danced and sang from the old testament to the new and into the next reality we will be worshiping Him forever!

— People who are marked by His Presence worship Him point to Him!

—++ 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

3. love to Walk with God

— Before the fall Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day..

— Abraham followed the voice of God to come out of Ur to a land that God would show Him

— God was with the Jews as they journeyed to the promised land..

—++ Exodus 13:21–22 “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.”

— If you want to experience the Presence of God go where He is leading!

— He is leading you to the promise!

— Where is God today? In your personal discipleship journey (learning and following Him) as well as helping others to be discipled!

— Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

— And church, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit! He is speaking to you, leading you! the More you say yes to Him the more you will be aware of His presence!

— And by faith you can be baptized with Power by the Holy Spirit! He wants to take you on His mission and give you the tools and gifts you need to fulfill the call He gives you!

— Story about working with dad..

Conclusion

You and I need His Presence more than ever. He changes everything! I want to seek His face! We need FACETIME. I believe the more we embrace these three “loves” Ways of God, Worship God, Walk with God, the more we will sense His presence. The church needs a fresh encounter, and the lost need a fresh encounter..