Mike Harrelson - One Thing

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Almighty God, you welcome you. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Hey, there. If you're new to Restored Church, we want to welcome you and thank you for tuning in. You're listening to a portion of our Sunday worship gathering. We believe the church is not an event, but a family you belong to, so we would love the opportunity to connect with you. If you want to learn more about our church or if we can help you in any way, please Visit our website, www.restoredtemecula.church and click on Contact. With all that said, we, we hope you enjoy the message. [00:00:35] Speaker C: Yeah. For those of you that don't know, my name is Mike. I'm one of the elders here, and I get the privilege of sharing God's word with you this morning. Yeah. We're going to start out with prayer. Yes. Yeah. All right. So will you guys pray with me? Yeah. Father, I thank you for your faithfulness through the years. Just seeing it imprinted on so many lives that you've put me in contact with the gift of your faithfulness. I thank you for these people that are here this morning that all of us get to be together to celebrate our King Jesus, to give honor and glory to him as he's due. Thank you for your word that is true and is good and speaks to our hearts. A gift from you to us to be able to see who you are. And it teaches us as well on how we can interact with you. So, yeah. Lord, would your word speak loudly this morning? Would it touch the hearts of your people? Would you do the work that you would want to do in each person here? May you be blessed. We pray this in your name. Amen. All right. So, you know, New Year, new you. I think that's what they say. I don't know. No, but, you know, New Year for me always is like a what's ahead for this year. But also looking back at what happened last year, I don't know if everyone else reflects on the year in the past. Sometimes it's like it's easier to reflect on the year that, like, that was an awesome year. Other times, it can be a challenging year. This last year for us, it started out with one thing, one thing I desired, and that was to go wherever the Lord was leading. That's sort of like every year, though. But this year felt different in a way. It started out in January, end of January, went to a conference, and I had this profound experience with the Lord. It's like he just reoriented some stuff in my heart. He released me of some stuff that I'd been dealing with for Years. A lot of years. It was immediately after that. The next day, I got a text from a colleague I hadn't talked to for a couple years, and he ran the division of a company for the United States within the United States. That sounded weird, but he's like, hey, I got this position and I would love for you to consider talking about it. And I'm like, wait a minute. The Lord spoke to me in a profound way, and now I'm getting this text message. And then it was a couple weeks later. After that, I got another, like, offer that sort of came. And, you know, the hard part was, is this one that came was sort of lucrative. And I'm like, whoa, what's going on here? And so I'm like, I need discernment. Where do I go in the midst of this? Here's the thing, though. That spring, last spring, at the same time, Marla and I were considering what it would look like to go into full time vocational ministry. So it's like all these different things all at once, and we're like, what do we do? And one hand, like, one's like, you know, financial security. In some ways, as much as that's a thing, I don't know if it is really on the other side. It's like, this is going to be a lot of sacrifice. But also, and it's not to say that one is better than the other. I think that some of us are meant to be working in the marketplace. God blesses the church, he blesses his people through that. But for me, it's like, where were we supposed to be, me and my family? And so, as you can imagine, a lot of temptation came with that, a lot of fear. We had a lot of distraction. I almost. I felt like the things that came right after that moment where God sort of like, spoke to me were actually like a distraction. It felt like a distraction from what he actually wanted to do. And so, you know, we were just. We were seeking him, trusting him for where he wanted to guide us. And, you know, you guys know, history is what it is. I'm here now. But here's the thing is my point is, is that we rarely know what's coming next, and uncertainty can leave us really uneasy. Now, I've walked with people long enough to realize that I'm not the only one that deals with this. All of us deal with this uneasiness of what the future holds. And, you know, one of the things I love about being a pastor and one of the things that's hard is that I Get to be with people on their greatest days and on their hardest days, and you see, like, the. You see the weight of it and all that kind of stuff and what it does. And for many of you in this room, this last year was not easy. I know that. Like, there's moments of hard, really tough decisions, extreme hardship. There's death in families. There was, you know, medical trials that people were going through. There's betrayals that were unexpected. And, you know, the list could go on. But here's the thing is, sometimes you're like, I hope this new year will be different than the last one. But reality is that sometimes these things bleed from one year into the next, and it can be tough. And so at the same time, in the midst of all this, it feels like God has been up to something. In many of the lives we've seen people be profoundly touched by the Lord and lives changed in the course of this year. And so I think there's like, this reality as God's grace washes through, the enemy comes, and he wants to distract and discourage people along the way and to destroy things, like the Word says. And so this morning, we're going to be looking at Psalm 27, and I feel like it's a timely one. David writes the Psalm not from a place of certainty on his circumstances, but he writes it from a place of confidence in God in the middle of uncertainty. And so that's where we're going to sit with. So if you guys wouldn't mind, open up your bibles to Psalm 27. We're going to read through the whole Psalm, all 14 verses. It's going to be up on the screen as well for you. If you don't have your Bible with you and be reading out the csb. All right, Verse one. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life. Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh, my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell. Though an army deploys against me, my heart will not be afraid. Though a war breaks out against me, I will still be confident. Like there's a reality to what David is up against. And he says he's confident. And then verse four, it goes on to say, I've asked one thing from the Lord is what I desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple. For he will conceal me in his shelter in the day of adversity. He will hide me under the COVID of his tent. He will set me high on a rock. Then my head will be high above my enemies around me. I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord. The Lord. Lord, hear my voice when I call. Be gracious to me and answer me. My heart says this about you. Seek his face, Lord. I will seek your face. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger. You have been my helper. Do not leave me or abandon me, God, of my salvation. Even if my father and mother abandoned me, the Lord cares for me because of my adversaries. Show me your way, Lord, and lead me on a level path. Do not give me over to the will of my foes. For false witnesses rise against me, breathing violence. I am certain that I will see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord. Yeah, we see here that David is surrounded by opposition and uncertainty. And yet his confidence is unshaken. And the reason for this isn't because his circumstances are easy, because his desires are clear. And so my main idea for the whole morning for you guys is that confidence in the Lord comes from making your one thing the first thing. Confidence in the Lord comes from making your one thing the first thing. So my first point for you this morning, it's a really original one, but I think it's a reality. Life is hard. Life is hard. Before we can talk about David's circumstances, I think we have to be honest about or confidence. Sorry. Before we can talk about his confidence, we have to be honest about his reality. David was. He was born the least of his siblings. As his brothers were going off and doing big things, he was off, sort of relegated out to the fields by his father to take care of the sheep. And we see that, like, I mean, you could say that he was unassuming, maybe unappreciated at that point in his life. And up until the point that Samuel comes to anoint one of the sons of Jesse, they don't even think anything of David. And it's after Samuel's, like, it's none of these brothers that they actually. There has to be another one. And that's when David's anointed to be the future king of Israel. So David keeps on going, but Saul's king at the time. And so it's not even realized the promise that God has put on his life. And so he's just living life, trying to follow God. He's working out in the field, eventually ends up in the king's castle at the time. And then eventually comes the day that many of us know David for, which is he slays Goliath. And then all of a sudden, David has some stardom. And then comes trouble, lots of trouble. The king, King Saul, is jealous of how David is gathering a following. At that point, he feels threatened. And then it escalates from there. David is chased down, hunted by Saul for a long time. And I think it doesn't say specifically this is where the psalm was written, but it feels like it could be in those days is where David is speaking from. David calls it in verse five, the day of adversity. Some other translations call it the day of trouble. But I realize, like, for many of us in the room, we're like, I don't have a whole lot in common with this ancient king of Israel. I'm not a king or a queen. But the reality is that the day of adversity doesn't just speak to big things. It speaks to the things that sit under the surface that make us uneasy, things that are troubling us, maybe even from a relational standpoint or from just not feeling seen. So when we look at ourselves in this moment, we could say, like, I feel overlooked, maybe by even loved ones. Like, I just don't feel like I'm all that important or at work. It's like, man, I just don't feel appreciated. I feel like I could do so much more, but no one sees me. No one sees me. What's going on here? I just don't get it. Or you feel passed up in life. Here's the thing is the day of trouble doesn't have to be something that looks big, like in this psalm. It could be just the reality of the uneasiness of life that sits underneath the surface of everything. And I think we all deal with that. The state of our world is sort of chaos. You look at the news and it can be overwhelming. When we look at the psalm, it doesn't approach life with rose colored glasses like so often. We would love in suburbia, wouldn't we like for everything just be fine, it's all going to be okay. But reality is we all feel it underneath the surface. There's things that bubble up that make us feel uneasy about who we are, what's going on, the uncertainty of what the year holds ahead. Instead of approaching this. Bless you. Instead of approaching this from a place of feeling, like everything's going to be alright. David actually acknowledges the enemy is surrounding him in verse five. And he's able to say God hides him under his cover and lifts his head high above his enemies. He's not escaping, but instead he's approaching the day of adversity with sobriety and confidence. And that confidence is in the Lord. So David doesn't know what's going to turn out, but how things are going to turn out. But he realizes that his confidence isn't as his circumstances, but in God. And so for us, as we hope in a cushy life, it's not the reality. Jesus actually talks about this in John 16:33 and he says, you will have suffering in this world. Be courageous. I have conquered the world. So you know, personally I haven't always dealt well with the uncertainty of life. There have been moments where I've tried to fix myself my own coping mechanisms. I think all of us have probably had some of those. A big one is I try to distract myself. Honestly, when things get tough I'm like, I just don't want to pay attention to it. I want a doom scroll right now. I mean, I don't know if anyone does that. That's why I kicked all those ones away from my life, because I can't. Doom scrolling is not good for me. Actually. I feel worse afterwards and I feel better. That's sort of how it works. I've tried to manage my image over the years by controlling the way people see me. I'm alright, everything's good. When everything isn't alright, I just try to put the best thing forward to control the way that everyone would see me. At that point it doesn't work. I've gone to substances. That one wasn't good. That was some time ago. It wasn't good. Or even food where I'm like, man, that cheeseburger, I just want one more of them right now. I'm just gonna eat it anyways. And then I feel horrible. The thing is, is that like all of them, all these things have failed me at time to time. That's the thing, they've all failed me. And honestly as I talk about it, it sort of makes me feel exhausted and become a little bit weary. So I want to ask you guys, what is it that sits under the surface for you that makes you feel uneasy? What are the things that like where do you feel anxiety closing in on your life? David talks about in Psalm 23 he says, Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. David was able to walk through adversity with his head up. Not just surviving, but thriving and not hiding. He was able to rise above it. And the question is, like, how does that happen? How do we do that? I think part of it is David didn't fixate on the darkness. He actually fixed his gaze somewhere else. And so that's where we get to my second point this morning. David was captivated by beauty. Verse 4 says that I have asked one thing from the Lord is what I desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gazing on the beauty of the Lord and seeking him in his temple. His desire was to dwell in the temple of the Lord and to give. You know, there's something crazy about beauty. Mark hit it on it this morning. Actually, there's something crazy about beauty. What it does, it's like it captivates our soul, and it actually, it makes us feel at peace. I don't know if you guys realize that, like, if you get into those places and you're like, man, awe and wonder of God, something happens to your soul in that place where you just feel at rest. Other things could be going on, but you feel at rest. For me, recently, I got to spend. Leading up to the Christmas party, I got to spend like a week at the farm and, like, odd times, too, like when no one else was there. I don't know if you've, like, I know some of you have been there at that time, but the thing is that place, something happened in that time with me. Like, I had a lot on my mind. I was like, there's a lot of things going on for this party, but at the same time, I felt so at rest. We got rains like the month before, and it was just green and beautiful. The skies. I don't know if you guys remember the skies that week, but they were just like, magnificent. The sunsets, the temperature was perfect. It was like in the 70s with a nice breeze. I mean, oh, man, it was so good. And then to add to it, like, when I was there early in the morning or later on in the evening, the sheep would come up right to the fence. Usually when people are around, it seems like they're in the back, but they came up right to the fence and the dogs are with them. Man, I kept on joking about, like, to be one of those dogs, like, that'd be amazing. Like, they're just living their best life, just chasing other animals around. They're doing the work, but they're just living their best life there. It's amazing. And then on top of all that, I don't know how you guys feel about birds of prey, but I'd look up and there'd just be birds of prey just up above, and they'd just be gliding effortlessly on the thermals, just rising and lowering and going through. It was just. Man, there's something about it that just put me at ease. Like, all the temperature of life just sort of, like, settled in that moment. I'm sure you have a place like that, too. Like, whether it's up, like Mark mentioned the mountains or maybe it's on the ocean. There's places that, like, something happens in us. You know what's crazy is I did a little bit of a deep dive on this. They've proven that from MRI images where they'll put someone in the machine and they'll show them images of beautiful places, like aesthetically pleasing places, and you'll see the anxiety, the movement in their brain actually settle in those moments. It's wild. So I say all that because many of us have started in Genesis this week, right? Yeah. Okay. There's a couple of us. Okay, Eat and Speak is in Genesis this week. And we start out in the garden. Well, a little bit before that, there's a little. God brings the garden. But we get into the garden, and there's something beautiful about the garden, where God dwells with man. And it's beautiful. It's good. It's before anything else sort of comes in. I think when I read it, I was like, man, we were meant to live in beauty and to reflect beauty, and not just beauty in the way that we see it, like, in the world around us. Because God's creation is beautiful, don't get me wrong. But we were meant to live in the beauty of relationship. We were meant to live in the beauty emotionally with God. The garden is where God dwelled with man. And we were made for that. But now maybe that place, wherever you went in your head when I said, hey, you might have a place like that, now imagine for a second that someone just took a big, huge heaping pile of trash and threw it in the middle. What happens to you in that moment? Anyone? What happens? What's that? It just feels demoralizing. Demoralizing. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. There's a reality that when that happens, anger, you're like, why is this happening? Anxiety, like, what's going to happen to this place? I don't want this to be destroyed. There's a rupture of Beauty in that moment. And that's what happened in the garden. We read about it the other day. There's a rupture of beauty. Relationally, Adam and Eve sinned against God, and then they had to leave the garden. There was a rupture, and that's where we find ourselves in this moment. We live in a place that does reflect the beauty of God, but relationally, there's a rupture that took place in that moment that we live with thousands of years later. Yeah, we're separated from God. And here's the thing is, the danger is when we chase the beauty that reflects God in the world, it's incomplete when we're chasing it, it's fleeting. Have you ever noticed you go on vacation, you're like, oh, man, that place was epic. It was the most beautiful place I've ever gone. And then you come home and what are you thinking about? When's the next time I get to go there? Right. When's the next time I get to observe some beauty like that? Or I'm dreaming about that next vacation? It's fleeting. I feel like a hamster on a wheel, just going and going and going and going. I'm never gonna get there. But when I get there, I can't wait for the next time I get there. Yeah, it's crazy, isn't it? And so here's the thing is, when the garden was lost, God didn't abandon his desire to dwell with people. And that's where we find ourselves with David right now. He didn't abandon that. He made a way. And so David says in verse four, at the bottom of it, he says that to seek the Lord in his temple, right? So the temple at that time was a tabernacle because David never really got to experience the temple. That was until Solomon. But the tabernacle was the place that God dwelt with his people. He had his people make the tabernacle, and it became the new. You could say garden in a way. That's where God came and dwelled with his people. And it was in once a year that. In the place called the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was, is that the priest would. They'd make sacrifice and then they would sprinkle the blood to cleanse the place and to atone for the sins of the people for that year so that they could dwell with God again. And that's where we find David. He's captivated by the beauty of the Lord that God has made a way for redemption. The beauty of redemption that happens there. See, beauty in creation can only go so far to soothe our souls. It can only do so much. But the beauty of redemption, oh, my goodness, that can transform a person. And that's what's happening with David. He's finding this beauty. He's cast his view on the beauty of God and redemption and what he's done there. But here's the thing is, with David, it had to be done over and over and over again. Once a year, the people, they would have to make sacrifice to be able to be forgiven of their sins. But us, the beauty is Christ. He's made that sacrifice for once, for all. And so the one that was beautiful and came down and walked amongst us was beaten to a pulp and made ugly. And it was in that that he could make ugly people beautiful and be able to be with him again. And that's the gospel, you know. So David, I think his response is beautiful. And he can only see, in part what we get to see a little bit more fully now. He says in verse six, I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy. I will sing and make music to the Lord. David was marveling, gazing at the reality that he had given. Been given the privilege to have an intimate relationship with God. You know, intimate relationships, man, there's something beautiful about it where you can be yourself, where it's not tied up in other things. I think about the day Marla and I got married, man, I still remember her walking down the aisle. Like, she was beautiful. It was absolutely beautiful. Like, I was a total mess. I was crying like a baby. I actually thought about bringing a picture of it, and then I was like, I don't want to do that. I'm going to pass on that right now. But it wasn't just the beauty of how she looked. It was the beauty of who she was, who she is also seeing, like, God's hand on her life and thinking of the beauty that was gonna happen. And that as she became more and more into the image of Jesus, there's the beauty of life together, getting to do this, like, this thing together, of living, following Jesus at that point, hopefully having a family, what it meant to our friends and our family that were there with us. It was about union, enjoyment, and intimacy with one another. Could you imagine, like, if it was about something else? I mean, if it was about productivity, that would be horrible. It was about transaction a this for that, or just extracting benefits of, oh, I'm married, here's the benefits of it. No, but it's about presence and intimacy. It's about dwelling with one another. And so you think about a man and his bride. So often we read in the Scriptures about what is union with Christ. It's like a marriage. And this is the thing that David is seeing, that he's casting his gaze on. This is the thing that he wants to be all about. It says in verse eight, I'm going to read it in ESV, actually, because I like the way it says it a little bit better. It sort of explains a little bit more about the verse. You have said, seek my face. My heart says to you, your face, Lord, do I seek. I realize in the CSB it says a little bit different, but there's like this command that came here for David to seek God's face. And David's response is, what, Lord, do I seek your face? He's saying, yes. So there is this invitation for that intimacy with God. And David's like, yep, that's what I want right here. I'm gonna take that. I'm gonna seek that thing. And here's the crazy part about that verse is when it says, seek my face, it's not actually an individual. It's a plural. It's speaking to the people of Israel at that point for the people to seek his face. And David actually goes on to say that in other places. And you see it where God is saying, seek my face. And so what is sent out as a command to David, what's an invitation to all of us? David's like, yep, I want that. You can't do that as a corporate people. You can, but it has to come with individuals doing it together. And so there's a call for us to seek his face in this. And that invitation for intimacy with God that David received, it was what we've called beholding so often. We talked about it for, like, months a couple years ago, beholding Jesus. Tim Keller talks about that. And he says, to behold the glory of Jesus means that we begin to find Christ beautiful for who he is in himself. For who he is in himself. It means a kind of prayer in which we are not simply coming to him to get his forgiveness, his help for our need, his favor and blessing, but rather the consideration of his character. Words and work on our behalf becomes inherently satisfying, enjoyable, comforting, and strengthening. See, the place where David is resting and where we can rest is in the reality of the redemptive work of Christ that was done for him. He saw it in the atonement at that point and letting that wash over your soul over and over again to where the most beautiful thing is Jesus. He's the most beautiful thing. Look, the things of this world will only go so far. But the redemptive work of Christ, as it rolls over your soul, you begin to see who you actually are. The brokenness, but also the grace of what he has provided. You get to know your identity and who you are. There's confidence. When we know that we are sons and daughters of the Most High God, we can take confidence in that. And that's what David is doing in that moment. That's what we've been invited into as well, guys. But how often I approach God from a place of a laundry list. What is it that I need today, God? I want to tell you all about it. And then I miss out. I miss out. I miss out on his presence. I miss out on his comfort. And if I'm honest, it happens more times than I'd want to admit. Or I come with the laundry list instead of just enjoy him. See, David came with one desire, one thing. When we behold something long enough, it begins to reorder everything else. It reorders everything else in our life. That's what happened to David. Beauty gave him clarity on what his one thing was. Gave him clarity. So my third point for you today. David had clarity of his one thing. That was it simple. He had clarity of his, one thing. So if I were to ask you, what is your one thing? If you were to ask of the Lord one thing, what would it be today? Would it be to be free of something? Would it be to be complete in some way that you feel incomplete? Or maybe you could say, fill in the blank here. Only if I had blank, then I would feel complete, at peace and whole. See, our circumstances have a way of like, trying to reorient us and press us into a mold of what our one thing might be. But David in the psalm, was under attack, like big time. Probably more under attack than most of us have been. Not going to say all, but most of us have been. He had armies closing in on him. There was war at hand. And he approached God for one thing, for him and him alone. So we know it's possible, even if it seems impossible. We know it's possible, He says, to dwell in the house of the Lord. That's his one thing. John Goldingay. He says the expression is an image of living in Yahweh's presence, living in Yahweh's household, and therefore being under Yahweh's protection. It gives everything else but the one thing fall away. It makes everything else except for the one thing fall away. The one thing prioritizes all things and allows us to rest our hearts upon Jesus, the one that will never leave us or forsake us. Guys, It's interesting is Jesus was asked about what the greatest commandment was in Matthew 22. We'll be there. I'm sure in the next couple months. We'll get there. It'll happen. But when we read this, I'm going to read verse 37 and 38 for you. And it says, love the Lord your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. It seems like David had connected something from the commandments to his one thing. He'd made his one thing. The first thing is what he has done in that moment. And so in that, he had clarity on what he wanted. And so we actually see this throughout scripture in a couple other places. So, Luke 10, you guys know the story of Martha and Mary? Yeah. Okay. Martha was busy, we could say, and Mary. And Martha's eyes was lazy. Okay. I wasn't going to say it, but someone else said it. Okay. She wasn't. Yeah, no, she wasn't. We'll see that in a second here. But Martha's like. She's frazzled. She's upset with Mary, and she's like, jesus, do something about this. And Jesus says, martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her. See, Mary made her one thing, sitting at the feet of Jesus before anything else. Now, it doesn't mean that we don't deal with the things in life, but priority was taken in that point. For her. One thing was to sit at the feet of Jesus and take advantage of that moment and allow that for her to behold him, for that to form her to be that soothing balm upon her soul. Yeah. Gosh, Paul, in Philippians 3, verses 13 and 14. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God's heavenly call in Christ Jesus. His one thing. Pursuing Jesus and his kingdom first. That's what it was all about. That was his one thing. See, our one thing provides clarity. Intimacy is not built on transaction. It's built on intentional presence with him. Confidence flows from that relationship, not from controlling our circumstances and the things that are going on around us. As much as we want to control it it's out of our control. We've come to realize that. I think most of the adults in this room are like, as much as I tried, it hasn't worked. I can't control everything. And maybe the youth, maybe you're experiencing that too. And you're like, I don't know how to deal with this right now. See, intimacy is built not on transaction, but on intentional presence. So if you're honest with yourself right now, what's driving you, what's driving you at the moment, if you're anything like me, it changes over time. My one thing has changed. It's happened over the years. It shifted. I thought it was one thing, but actually something else was driving me because the circumstances, it made me want to, like, I gotta deal with this thing right now. And here's the thing is, when we look at Psalm 27, we see that pressing into this is so important. It's so important because David's head, it says, was lifted above the things that were going on. He was high on a rock. He was able to get vantage over all the things that were going on. And he was able to take confidence in the one that had the ability to change things and to actually. That held everything in his hands, honestly. And so. But when we look at David, this is the thing I love about David. David lost track of his one thing multiple times in his life. Herrick talked about it last week. He fell morally, like, really bad. He had to deal with all kinds of things, the repercussions of his fall for the rest of his life. But unlike so many of the other kings, as we read through the Old Testament, we see these kings, they got this idea in their head. They go their own way. They're warned by the prophets to come back, and what do they do? They keep on going straight to hell at that point. They keep on going straight to idols. They keep on going straight to their own desires. But David was different. I believe that's why he was called the man after God's own heart, is because when he was confronted by Nathan with his infidelity that he had with Bathsheba, what did he do? He turned and he repented. In that moment, like his desire, he was like, oh, I had a wrong desire. My one thing wasn't my one thing. And he turned and he went back to God. In that moment, he got clarity on what his one thing was and he repented. And that's what we have the opportunity to do in as well. Guys, here's the thing is we lose track. We're not gonna do this perfectly. All of us will fail at this. This week. I spent the week just. I read this a couple weeks back, and I'm like, I feel like this is where the Lord would have us for this week. And I was like, all right, Lord, I want to keep my one thing. My one thing. You know, what happened over and over again, distraction. I got to deal with this. I got to deal with that. My one thing. I lost track. And so I had to keep on coming back. And here's the beauty of it. By the blood of Jesus, I could come back without condemnation. I could come back with confidence. I could come back with knowing who I am. And. Cause it isn't on my perfect performance. It's on his performance that I have that freedom. And so we all have that freedom in it. So when we fail and we lose track of our one thing, we can keep on coming back. This is like the posture that David's heart was in. This is the posture that we can take in this moment as well. Here's the thing is, it's not always what we do, but it's how we do it. I think all of us have dealt with that in some way, shape or form. So often when I come before the Lord, I come with a whole bunch of boxes to check. And I failed miserably over and over again. Because that's not the way. It's not this multitasking mindset that happens at times in our society. So prioritizing the one thing individually and corporately. We're going to talk about that for a second. I think we had to get the heart thing before the heart posture before we can actually get to the actual application of how we're going to do this. So like I said, most of you guys know I came into being full time in the summertime this year for 20 years before that. I spent a good portion of my life sitting behind a steering wheel, driving from one area of California to the next and then on an airplane for quite a few years as well. And, man, I felt like over and over again, it was like, I just gotta fit my time in with the Lord. I gotta figure out a way to put it in there. It was fitting it in was my mindset. Now, I'm not saying that's bad. Cause we do need to figure out how we're gonna do that. We need to. We're responsible for that. To set aside that time like any relationship. But I never say I need to figure out how. I need to fit my wife into my Life. That seems really weird when I say it out loud. I mean, if you were to say that to your spouse, it'd be like, you need to fit. What are you talking about right now? But that's sort of what happened with me for a long time. I had to figure out a way to make my priorities correct. And so I was trying, like, how do I fit this in? I read this quote by John Goldengay the other day and it just so I feel like it encompassed my life for many years. In western culture, we have gotten used to multitasking partly out of apparent necessity, which that was a big part of it for me. Partly out of choice, that was another part of it, if I'm honest. We think we can keep adding one more thing to our schedules without asking what we are going to abandon to create room. We aren't very good at standing back and asking what has priority. I joke multitasking is doing everything half as good. It's halfway a joke. 100% true though. When I try to multitask my time with God, miserable, like I joked about, because I had many cars driving that many miles for all those years and there were company cars. I joke about the next person that gets this car, man, that driver's seat, because there's so many hours of prayer there. But there was nothing better than Saturday when I got to be home and I didn't have to pray behind a steering wheel because I wasn't multitasking that time. It was time that was just given completely over. Eyes shut. Jesus, I love you. I'm so grateful you're so kind to me. Oh, the way that you love me. I couldn't do it behind a steering wheel, guys. It was impossible. When I multitasked my time with God, it was just. It stunk. And so I realized that many of you guys are in that place where you're like, I got so much going on, I don't have a lot of time. And I don't say this to condemn you whatsoever. That is not it. My challenge is for 2026 is that we would prioritize our one thing. We prioritize it. To dwell in the house of the Lord, to gaze upon his beauty, to seek him in his temple. Prioritizing the most important thing. That's the thing. So what does that look like? I know this isn't going to be life altering necessarily and it might seem like, oh, man, that seems a little too. I don't know, Mike. I don't know about doing it that way. But honestly, guys, What I did is I started blocking it out of my calendar. I blocked it out of my calendar. If you don't make time for it in your calendar, what happens to your calendar? If you don't actually block something out, you fill it up with something else. It just fills up so quick. Years ago, Marla and I were like, okay, we're gonna put a date on the calendar where we're gonna be together. We're gonna do it. Cause life was so busy. And so I started doing that with. Honestly, with the time, with the Lord. I'm like, nothing's gonna get in the way of this. No one can take that spot because it's already taken. So I blocked it out. Sometimes it was for 15 minutes. Cause that's all the time I had. Other times it was for half an hour. But what I'd say is, block it out. Make that time his time alone. No one else gets that time. Not your kids, not your spouse, not your girlfriend, not your boyfriend, not your work. Just him. That's it. Just to be able to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord. That's it. And then remember how I talked about it? Being. Seeking his face. Corporately, it was for the nation to do it. Hebrews talks about not forsaking the gathering of the saints. I'd say that the time that we spend together as a church, the stones were. Each stone's being built up into his temple, right? That is of utmost importance as well. Albert Barnes talks about this, referring back to the Psalm 27. And he says, in the tabernacle in the temple, there was a manifestation of the character of God not seen elsewhere. The whole worship was adapted to set forth his greatness, his glory, and his grace. This morning, Mark talked about it. That's what this time is for. Great truths were brought before the mind, fitted to elevate, to comfort, and to satisfy the soul. And it was in the contemplation of those truths that the psalmist sought to elevate and purify his own mind and sustain himself in the troubles and perplexities of life. I think about so many people that I've got to hear stories just like that. We're in worship together as we're singing, as we're praying that God has brought things before your minds that have soothed your soul, have brought clarity on who you are, have elevated, have comforted you. I could say that I know that lives were changed in the gathering of the saints. And so missing out on that. It's not just for you. It's for the Church as well. It's for him to bring him glory. And so prioritizing our time in Lord's suppers, in prayer room and Sunday gatherings is so important. It's the time where we get to celebrate him. We get to do it throughout the week on our own, but we get to do it together as a church. And it's absolutely beautiful. So, you know, transformation happens through beholding. Everett, could you put up 2 Corinthians 3, 18 for me? We read this for months, I think, but it's true. We all with unfilled faces are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image. From glory to glory. This is from the Lord who is the Spirit. When we do this and we actually give ourselves over to this, guys, just like David had battle around him or gonna experience it too, there's gonna be opposition, discouragement, pushback from the enemy. Bob Sorge says all hell will militate against your becoming a man or a woman of one thing. Circumstances will go haywire. Your to do list, it will mushroom. The demands of your life will escalate. Satan will employ any device, anything, to keep you from becoming a person of one thing. Because if you find this, you'll become a blazing torch for God. Love for Jesus will empower and energize everything you do. Resistance is inevitable. We don't have to be afraid of it. He'll be with us in the midst of it. That's why when our confidence is in him, we can rise above. Our head, can be risen above these things that are surrounding us. And as I look back at the year, guys, so many of you, I see you doing it. You're gazing upon the beauty of the Lord, and it's transforming the way that you look at these things. Your head has been raised above the hardships, like really, really hard things, guys. And see, you're not crushed. You're not crushed by them. The reason why is because you're gazing on the One that was crushed for us, on Jesus. He was crushed for us. So we can have that freedom, that confidence, that assurance that no matter what happens in our life, he's with us. So beholding the One, the One, that's how we are transformed. Yeah, none of this is going to do this right this year. But I believe that as we trust in the One, he's going to transform us. So I'd say church, cast your gaze on the beauty of Jesus. Seek his face. Be a people of one thing. See, confidence in the Lord comes from making Our one thing. The first thing, I'm going to ask the band to come up right now. Yeah. The last. Everett, could you put up Psalm 27:14 for me real quick? This was David's encouragement to his hearers. Wait for the Lord. I think he actually probably said this to himself, too. At least this is what I would do. Not that I'm the authority, but. Yeah, wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord. I'm gonna pray for us right now. I'm also gonna ask for the prayer team to come up, please. Yeah. Father, thank you for your word, how it's true, how it guides us. Thank you for. Yeah. For how we've seen evidence of you at work in these ways, how you do lift our head above the things that are going on, the hardships, the anxieties. I want to thank you. For each person here, I want to ask that you would bless them, that Holy Spirit that you would just put in their heart, just the reality of the confidence they can have in our Lord Jesus, pointing them to him and him alone. I want to pray for our church for this coming year. Yeah. That you would remind us to cast our gaze on him, to see him as beautiful, that there's no one like him, that redemption is only found in him. And as we behold him, we're transformed. This is a work that only you can do, Lord, and you invite us to be a part of it. So I thank you. Thank you for your grace and your mercy. Pray this in your name. Amen. [00:53:57] Speaker A: God, I'm going to invite you to stand if you're able. Thank you, Mike. We got plenty of time. This is great. I'm going to try not to fill that with talking. [00:54:14] Speaker C: So. [00:54:17] Speaker A: If you're laughing. Mike asked a question, or at least this is the way I wrote it down. If you could ask the Lord for one thing, what would it be? Did anybody catch that question? I answered it in my head. I couldn't help it. It just popped up. Do you know what it wasn't? It wasn't to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord in His house. It wasn't that. It was actually an answer to a practical problem that we have as a household that we're trying to figure out and that we don't have an answer to, that we've been trying to sort out, and we just can't. Can't find an answer. And it got me thinking, man, I wonder how many of us, if you answered that question honestly, would have something similar, some problem that's Open that's pending, maybe something that's out of your control, maybe some outcome that you are just trying any which way possible to grab a hold of. Or maybe it's a problem that feels so big that maybe you're avoiding it. But either way, I'll ask the question again. If you could ask the Lord for one thing, what would it be? It's an important question. I think it's important to answer it within yourself honestly. What is it for you? [00:55:52] Speaker C: Then? [00:55:52] Speaker A: I want to ask the question, what if an answer to a problem, is it nearly as important as access to a person? What if an answer to a problem, is it nearly as important as having access to a person in the midst of your problem? There's no guarantees here in life. I guess death and taxes is typically what people say, which I'm like, I'm pretty sure that's true. No guaranteed outcomes. That problem that you have, it may not be answered the way you want it to. That health diagnosis or that open question, the answer you may get back may not be what you want. That relationship that's on the fritz or that's hanging on by a thread may fall apart. That romantic relationship may not come through. It's a part of life. It's how life works oftentimes. But again, what if the answer to an open question wasn't the point, but access to a person? Jesus? And so I'm so glad Mike asked that question because I sat there and I thought to myself, man, what did Jesus do? I think it's a fair question. And it got me thinking about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. I'm not going to read it right now, but basically Jesus is there in the garden. He's facing the one certainty that we all face, which is death. And he doesn't want to die. Jesus isn't like he doesn't have like this death wish he didn't have that said, Lord, if there's any other way, Father, if there's any other way. But then he says, but not my will, but your will be done. And it doesn't just happen once, it happens again. And so there's this wrestling with God as we have these questions. We have these problems, we have these issues, we have these things. Doesn't mean that we can't ask God. It means that we ask him and then we accept his will for us, just like Jesus did. So we don't avoid, we don't distract ourselves. All the things that I love to do and you love to do too. When we face Big problems. Instead of coping, what if we confessed God, your will be done? And what if we had a confidence that we have access to a person, Jesus, who's going to be with us in the midst of whatever the answer eventually is. So if you are facing a problem right now, I guess I just ask, like, what are you uneasy about in life? How are you coping with it? What are you looking to. If you know that there are things in your life that you're handling, and in reality you're probably forgetting about God and figuring it out for yourself, I want to encourage you to come and get prayer and take this opportunity rather than coping, to confess and say, lord, not my will, but yours. Here's what I need, but I invite you to come and get prayer. There's trusted men and women that would love to pray for you. Maybe you're facing something bigger than you, something that you don't have answers for, something that you go to sleep thinking about and that you wake up thinking about. Whatever it is for you, I just want to encourage you and invite you to bring it to Jesus and you can take a step today to bring it to a brother or sister who would love to pray for you. These are trusted people that we would love for you to receive prayer from and then others of you. What I'm talking about isn't resonating with you because you're just in a good spot. 2026 may be your best year ever. I hope it is. Like, I'm not. I have unanswered questions. Many people in the room do. But, man, if you're doing great, amazing, thank him for it. Just praise him if you're like, I don't know, man. I'm just kind of whatever. I'm kind of blah. Can you think back to a time when you were facing a question or a problem? I mean, it doesn't have to be existential, have to be like life or death, but just a time in your life when you were stuck and God came through for you. Let that motivate your praises so we could fill this room with praise. And for a lot of us, this is an invitation to learn to wait on the Lord by bringing him our problems, asking him for what we need, and then accepting his answer and knowing that no matter what happens, no matter what the answer is, we have access to a person, even if we don't have answers to a problem. And that is the beauty of life, that one day we'll have everything we want when we see him face to face. So I'm gonna invite you. If any of that resonated with you, please come up and receive prayer. And if just in general, you're struggling with something and we haven't hit on it today, come and get prayer, because they would love to pray for you. We've got about 10, 15 minutes, and then we will be back up here to close. [01:00:46] Speaker C: Enjoy.