Presence on the Peninsula 2024 Sunday Night

Summary

On the last night of Presence on the Peninsula Pastor Adrian challenges us with the question do we put God's presence before His power?

Transcript

'Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.” No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel. Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven! When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire." Hebrews 12:16-29 (NLT)

Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews 12 verse 16, here we go, it's pretty full on this word, that's good because I like the Word of God, so Hebrews 12, we should if I'm a pastor, so we should like the Word of the Lord, Hebrews 12 verse 16, make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. You know that afterward when he wanted his father's blessing, he was rejected, it was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears. You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai, for they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God's command, if even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death. Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, I'm terrified and trembling. No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God's firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven, who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people and to the sprinkled blood which speaks of forgiveness, instead of crying out for vengeance, like the blood of Abel.

Presence before power

I want to talk to you today about this topic, presence before power. Presence before power. We're going to have a look at this scripture, I love that it says, you haven't come to a physical mountain, you've come to Mount Zion, you have come to Jesus as his firstborn children and I want to talk about this idea of presence before power today. We get this kind of concept, my daughter, who is not... where is she? There you go, she's always up the back doing the streaming, but she's sitting on the front row today. If you have children, you know about this idea, parents have power, don't we? We have a lot of power and our kids know it. Our kids know it. They know we have power to give them stuff and our kids are very good, very good at asking for those things. My daughter, the other day, she wanted some weight things and she found it on Amazon. She found this weight training thing that she's already bought, we've already bought her stuff for this and she found a new one, because there's always something more, isn't it? She gets that from her mother and I said, I'm sorry, she'll claim it, she'll claim it. There was something more and so Ella shows me this thing. I said, great, I said, awesome, go buy it. She goes, you buy it. I was like, you buy it, you're working. She goes, no dad, you buy it, you buy it, I'm saving up. Then she goes, she's got all these orders, she's upping her protein and she's like, here's the order and Narelle's like, what's, what do you want? I need this, I need chicken, I need this, I need this. There's this massive supermarket shopping list of food and I go, where's your contribution Ella? She's like, no, you give it to me and I go, my daughter's very good at asking. I want some books dad, I want to read and that, that's a good thing, so you should buy me those books and so she'll come to us and she'll ask Narelle and I for all this stuff and because we're loving parents, usually she gets what she asks for, doesn't she? That's what most of the time, most of the time it's Narelle. Narelle doesn't even question, she's just like, my daughter wants it, she gets it and I'm like, hang on a second, what about pushing back a little bit here? But we love our kids and so we give them what they want. But you know, like, I appreciate those times Ella, when you come to me and ask me for things and, and yeah, there's needs you have and we want to provide those needs. You know the times I love the most though? I go, the times I love the most is not when Ella's asking me for stuff and saying, hey dad, what about this and what about that? I love the times when it's at night and it's before bed and you know, I'm sitting there on the couch and Ella will come over and sort of sit near me and sit there and start talking and she just wants to talk. She wants to talk about her day, she wants to ask me a question about something or share how she's feeling or talk about these things and, and those times at night, the sort of impromptu times, those times to me are so much more valuable and beautiful than the time she's asked me for stuff. I'll go, they're the times I love with my, isn't that what we want with our kids? We want those times where you share.

We don't want to, and this is the same of God. God loves his kids and it says there, you're his firstborn children. He loves you, he cares about you and so many times we come to the Lord and we have needs, don't we? And the Lord says, hey, bring your needs to me. I want to care for you, I want to provide, I've given you promises, I will look after you, I will bless you but do you know what the Lord loves far more than us asking for his power in our lives? He's spending time in his presence and to me this is one of the greatest keys of my spiritual life. The Lord and his relationship with me and my relationship to him, he doesn't want it to be one of asking and just trusting and having faith. Yes, they're so important, have faith, believe God but my relationship with God has to be more than that. If it is based on asking for his power all the time, the depth isn't there, the heart isn't there. We were made for more than just asking. Kids who have, you've seen this, kids who have their parents give them everything but have no relationship, they have a deep hole in their heart. Oh, my parents gave me everything except the love and the relationship I needed, the time I wanted to spend.

God wants us to spend time and value his presence over his power so I want to talk to you about that today. I want to look at some people and challenge us and really I've just got the one point, I want to look at some examples of this and I want to challenge you and say in your life, in your life, is God's presence coming before his power and we can all do it. Some of us have been saved many years and we get caught up in this, oh Lord, I'm believing for breakthrough, I'm believing for, you can be a pastor, believing for breakthrough, believing for growth, believing for a whole bunch of things but God wants us to believe and love his presence before his power so I want to have a look at that today.

'This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” ' Genesis 32:24-26 (NLT)

The first person that's mentioned in this scripture, in verse 16, talks about Esau, says, Do not be immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal. And we come and we see this correlation, if you look in scripture, Esau versus Jacob and Esau was the old, they were twins but he was the older one and he had an inheritance but because he was so hungry, he wanted something in the natural, he traded away that birthright, that honour that he had for a meal and sort of gave it up and Jacob, he wasn't perfect either but there's another encounter that Jacob, his brother, has later on in Genesis 32 and basically in Genesis 32, Jacob ends up fighting this being, this person, ended up being this angel, angelic being, some people think it was a manifestation of the Son of God and he fights this and he's wrestling, it says in Genesis 32, 24, Jacob was all alone in the camp and a man came and wrestled him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, Let me go, for the dawn is breaking. But Jacob said, I will not let you go unless you bless me. What is your name? The man asked. He replied, Jacob. He said, Your name will no longer be Jacob, the man told him. From now on you will be called Israel because you have fought or wrestled with God and with men and have won. Okay, he held on and this imagery of Jacob wrestling with God in his prayer and saying, I'm not going to let you go, I'm holding on, I'm going to be here, where Esau gave it away and Esau said, You know what? I want the promise, I want the power, I want it right now and Jacob said, No, I'm holding on to you, I don't care what you do to me, I'm holding on until you lead the way, until you show me. And we have this difference and Jacob inherited the promises of God, he did, but it was because he'd learned to wrestle with God, to be in his presence, to be there. Esau gave it up and I want to say too often, we can be so willing to go after power before his presence because it's harder to be in the presence of God, isn't it? It takes longer. Jacob wrestled with God and it hurt and sometimes it's boring and sometimes you don't get what you want.

We're very selfish actually, as people. I tried to pray, I prayed for 40 minutes, God, I didn't feel your presence, so bad luck, you know, I'm not coming back. Some people do that with meetings, I came to a meeting, I didn't feel the presence of God, so I'm not coming to the next one, okay. So when did God say, I'm gonna, as soon as you've sought me for a little while, I'm gonna give you everything you need and make you feel good. We should come to say, Lord, I need your presence, you are greater, you are awe-inspiring. That's what this scripture talks about, the awe-inspiring, amazing God. I don't come to you, God, demanding you give me things before I seek your face. I come to you knowing you are Almighty God, you Jesus, you've come to me, I come to you and whether I feel anything or not, I will keep on seeking your presence and I need some people in our church, in our community, I need some Christians to join with me and say, we're not gonna be hungry just to feel good ourselves, like Esau, I just want to feed my stomach, I'll give up whatever I can and if I don't get it, bad luck, I'm leaving. I need some people who say, God, your presence is more important to me than the things you give me and you watch and see what God will do in you and your family when you take that, that's the first one.

'It was Moses’ practice to take the Tent of Meeting and set it up some distance from the camp. Everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the Tent of Meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents. They would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside. As he went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses. When the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents. Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting. ' Exodus 33:7-11 (NLT)

The second group we come to and we see in this, he talks about the Israelites coming to Mount Sinai and being scared because of what was happening there. I want to talk about the Esau versus Jacob, Israelites versus Moses and Joshua, we come to another scripture in Exodus 33, listen to this, Exodus 33 verse 7 because it's so powerful, it was Moses practice to take the tent of meeting and set it up some distance from the camp, everyone who wanted to make a request of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp, whenever Moses went out to the tent of meeting, all the people would get up and stand in the entrances of their own tents, they would all watch Moses until he disappeared inside and as they went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and hover at its entrance while the Lord spoke with Moses and when the people saw the cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, they would stand and bow down in front of their own tents, inside, listen to this, inside the tent of meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend and afterward Moses would return to the camp but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the tent of meeting.

We're very good at watching other people do great exploits. Yeah, I mean Australians have made a pastime of this. This is a great thing. We talk about sport. Most of us don't play sport. I love Formula One. Yeah, because I've got my shoes, Ferrari. They won the last race. They got pole position in tonight's race at nine o'clock. Now I like to think of myself as a racer. I bought a game, I bought a chair and a game on my Xbox that I haven't played for over a year and I thought I'm gonna be, I'm gonna play Formula One on this screen. I'm gonna be awesome. Do you know what? I can't win one race. The practice race, I can't win. I've done it like 40, 50 times. I gave up. I can't even win one three-lap race but I love watching it. Some of you guys are the best. You guys, you know exactly what should happen to AFL. I'm one of them, right? If we gave, we had a game out in the grass right now, it would be an embarrassment. We can't kick, we can't run. I mean if some of the pastors did it, we'd do our backs in, we'd be limping, we'd be struggling through but we're very good at watching. That's what the people here were doing. They're going, "Oh, Moses is going to seek the Lord. Oh, let's see what's happening. Oh, look at that. Oh, God's presence has come to meet with him. Oh, wow." This is a, you know what it says before, anyone at any time could go into the tent of meeting and seek God. That's what I said, but they didn't. "Oh, Moses, oh, let's get out. Come on guys, hey guys, let's watch. Oh, that's awesome." And they'd wait there and then he'd come out and they'd be like, "This is amazing." Oh, they'd bow down, reverent, okay, and they'd get on with their day, except Joshua. Joshua went with Moses inside the tent. Other people could have gone but Joshua went inside the tent and when Moses left he stayed there because he said, "You know what, if Moses can seek God, I can seek God. God, I want your presence. I want you to fill me. I want you to be with me. Presence before power.

The Israelites were so good at saying, "We want God's provision. Give us more water, give us more bread, look after our needs." And guess what, he did. If you know the Old Testament you know that God sent for 40 years, he gave them what was called manna, would just appear before them, water would flow, their clothes didn't wear out for 40 years, God provided their every need. They said, "We want your power God," but when it came to seeking his presence there was Moses and Joshua, seeking after God, seeking after God.

Reminds me, my daughter the other day, she dared me, she said, "Dad, she goes, come and do a workout with me dad, come and do a workout." She's got her little gym room, she's got her weight, and she goes, "Come on dad, I'll show you, let's do it together." She goes, she tried to do a thing, she goes, "If you love me dad, we can spend time together, I'd love to do it with you dad, come on, let's do it together." It was an opportunity to spend time with my daughter. I looked at her and I went, I said Ella, there is nothing you can say or do that will make me ever go and do a workout with you, not doing it. And she went, and I said, "Don't you try and emotionally manipulate me, so it's not gonna work, I'm happy with my flabby belly and my no muscles."

You know what saddens me? Here in this scripture, at any time, they said the tent of meeting was open, you can go into the presence of God, and they said, "Thanks but no thanks, we'll watch others, we'll celebrate others." Isn't that what we do in church? "Oh, there's a mighty man of God, there's a mighty woman of God, oh I look up to them. Do you want to come and seek God together? I'm gonna be watching the game tonight, so I'm ordering KFC. I mean we've got a million reasons, come and let's worship the Lord together. I mean you guys are the converted, you guys are doing, but we all get lazy don't we? We all go, I've got other things to do.

God's looking for some people my friends, Joshua led the people into the promised land. Do you want to inherit the promises of God? Do you want God's power to flow in your life? It will only happen in the way that it's supposed to happen, if you put God's presence first, and you can't use God's presence as a little key that's gonna trick God off, I seek the presence of God, then he'll give me the real thing I want. No, God says you need to need and want me before, before my power. I want you to want my presence, he wants you to fall in love with him. See Joshua, Moses fell in love with God, and said, "Oh God, I need you." He talked to God like a man talks to a friend, because he loved spending time with God. Joshua watched that and he followed suit and said, "God, I want your presence." Is it any wonder that God used Joshua?

Exodus 33 says this, Exodus 33 15, then Moses said, "I love this, this is the heart of Moses, you want to talk about the kind of person you called to be? Then Moses said if you don't personally go with us don't make us leave this place, how will anyone know that you look favorably on me, on me and on your people if you don't go with us, for your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the earth." The Lord replied to Moses, "I will indeed do what you've asked for, I will indeed do what I will indeed do what you've asked, for I look favorably on you and I know you by name." Moses responded, "Then show me your glorious presence.

What separates us from every other person on earth is not the promises that you've inherited, nor the power that you see displayed, because others have that in this world. Other people are rich, other people are powerful, other people go and break through. You don't have to be a Christian to see those things happen in this world, but Christians, we've gotten so caught up in going, 'God, I need your power, I know I need a demonstration.' We fall in love with the power and the things that God does for us, rather than God himself.

If your presence doesn't go with me, then what's the point? God wants people who hunger and thirst for his presence. And some of us, we've all got desires, don't we? We've all got things. They're not bad. We've all got promises God's given us. We're gonna pray for them tonight. We're gonna believe God for his power. We're believing for breakthrough, really. But before we do those things, I want us to come to the Lord and say, 'God, I need your presence. I want to tell you in my life, this has been the key of my life. God, I don't need this stuff, I don't need the promises, honestly I don't. In the end, I don't need the promises. I've got promises, I don't need them. If they don't come to pass, it's okay. If this church doesn't grow, if everything I do doesn't bear the fruit that I wished it did, it's okay as long as I have your presence. It's the cry of my heart.

Lord, in this life, you don't have anything else, brothers and sisters. They're all, it's all a mirage. All the promises of God that he gives you in this life, they will fade away without his presence. The promises that count are all to do with his presence, aren't they? That Christ in us, that's a promise of God, that's something you have, but that's him. All the promises that matter are just God with you, in you.

The Israelites went into the promised land, it caused them a whole heap of problems, it did. They went into the promised land, it wasn't the end, they had to fight, they had to battle, then they infought among themselves. In the end, they lost their nation over history because they went away from God and his presence. The promised land is not everything, his presence is everything. And I want to challenge us to say, do I want to be like Moses and Joshua that sought after the presence of God, or do I want to be like the Israelites that say, 'Give me the promises and someone else can go after his presence'?

'Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” Then Jesus left them a second time and prayed, “My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. Then he came to the disciples and said, “Go ahead and sleep. Have your rest. But look—the time has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. So he went to pray a third time, saying the same things again. ' Matthew 26:36-45 (NLT)

I want to bring you to one final example, Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, Matthew 26 verse 36. See, Jesus had this revelation, but look at these disciples. We've got Esau versus Jacob, we've got the Israelites versus Moses and Joshua, and then we've got the disciples and their attitude, and then Jesus. Have a look, it says this, Matthew 26:36, "Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane and he said, 'Sit here while I go over there to pray.' And he took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed. He told them, 'My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me, while I go seek God, while I go ask God for his presence and speak face to face with God. Stay here and keep watch with me.' So he went out a little further and he bowed with his face to the ground praying, 'My father, if it is possible let this cup of suffering be taken away from me, yet I want your will to be done not mine, in the very presence of God.' And in verse 40 it says, 'Then he returned to the disciples and they were seeking God, it was revival and they were, Jesus we're with you and it was awesome and it was a powerful moment and these disciples, they're on fire for God after spending three and a half years with Jesus and man alive, they were great, hey what did it say? He returned and found them asleep, so whenever, just in case you feel bad going, 'I haven't been seeking God,' these guys spent three and a half years with Jesus every day. Can you pray with me guys? I mean if Jesus was with us right now and said, 'Neil can you pray,' I'm pretty sure you'd be pacing up and down, you'd be speaking in tongues, you'd be hands raised, you'd be like, 'Oh come on, guys can you pray,' because this is a pretty important moment, no worries Jesus, had a bit to eat, we had the Passover mate, it's nap time, it's a Sunday afternoon nap, now that's all right though, because that happened once, he says to Peter, 'Couldn't you watch with me even one hour?' And then he says again, 'That's right I'll give you another go, keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation, for the spirit is willing but the body's weak. I want your presence Lord, but my body wants the power.' And then Jesus left them a second time and he prayed, 'My father if this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it your will be done.' And when he returned to them again there, they were on their face before God, fast asleep, he found them sleeping, for they couldn't keep their eyes open, so he went to pray a third time saying the same things again and then he came to the disciples and said, 'I love this, just go ahead and sleep, whatever, have your rest, but look the time has come, the Son of Man is betrayed in the hands of sinners, you know, God will have his way, but those disciples were not ready, they were not ready for what God was about to do, it took them a long time, and Jesus rose from the dead and it took them a long time for them to get any kind of clue as to what was actually going on, you know one of the reasons why? Because they didn't understand hungering, thirsting, being in the presence of God.

Do you know how much we miss? It breaks my heart because I've missed it so many times, when I hunger after things of power and promises and I don't want to be in his presence, I miss what God wants to do in me and through me. You want to have faith, you want to believe for answered prayer like we heard from Matt, I've got a hunger for his presence. I was talking to Matt today at lunch and one of the things I love about him, when he talks and we talk strategy about church and this and that happening, you know, it gets to a heart, he comes, he goes, 'I was praying one day, I was seeking God and God challenged me about this and said, let that go and do this,' and you know what, that's my story, I can have every strategy under the sun, I can work hard, promises, push, it's in his presence that I'm changed, it's in his presence that he shows me things, it's in his presence that God unlocks the doors of relation, it was in his presence that God spoke to me about my future wife, it was in his presence, it was in his presence that God showed me about our daughter, it was in his presence God showed me that this is the place and the family, the church family that God had called me to be in, it's in his presence friends, all of the promises of God are yes and amen, but they will happen in his presence, you know what all you need to do, you know all you need to do to be a mighty man or woman of God, it's hunger for his presence, you don't need to be some Bible college guru, you don't need to be some mighty man or woman of faith as you see it, just be someone who hungers after the presence of God, because he'll speak to you in his presence, he'll challenge you to surrender things in his presence and you go but I've got to pray for this and I gotta pray for this and where's this and you get all disillusioned and go, let it go and go back to the one who loves you, without him brothers and sisters I would have nothing, I couldn't serve God, I couldn't have faith, I couldn't love others. In his presence is what I long for, presence over power, presence over power, you haven't come to a physical mountain, says in Hebrews 12, but you have come to Jesus. You've come to Jesus, that's all he asks, that's what being a Christian is, I've come to Jesus.

Many years ago now, it was a moment that no one else remembers or knows about or really wasn't an important moment, I was out somewhere in it was a forest somewhere and I was going for a walk and Ella happened to be with me and Narelle was somewhere else and I was just, Ella was a toddler and she was going around and I found a little spot for her to play and I just put some music on and I just started wandering in this little area and just praying. As worship was on I just started to seek God and his presence, I didn't have prayer requests, I just said, 'God, I just want your presence, I just want to spend time with you, I want to be like Moses, I want to be like Joshua who went and spoke to you like a friend and just loved you because that is my destiny. That is what I long for, that's where I want to be and I just let myself embrace it and I was there and I was in the presence of God and it was just beautiful and I started to cry, not because I was upset but because I was just loving the prayer, going, 'This is what I was born for Lord, is to be near you, just let me have this Lord,' and little Ella came along, she was playing, doing her little thing. She saw me sitting there, I was crying, she goes, 'Daddy, what's wrong, what's wrong?' I said, just looked at her and I said nothing's wrong, I said, 'Dad just loves Jesus and I've just been with Jesus.' I just gave her a hug and she gave me a hug back and off she went and played again and see for everyone else there's a nothing moment. Ella can't remember that, I'll never forget it, I'll never forget it, the moments of my life that I will never forget are the ones in the presence of God and the same is true for you because you were born for his presence. he doesn't demand that you follow him, he doesn't demand that you want his presence but he invites you and in his presence there is joy. In his presence there is peace, in his presence there is acceptance, in his presence there is meaning for your life. Some of us have got so many disappointments and lost dreams and things but in his presence, in his presence you give him your cares and your children and their futures and you say, 'Here it is Lord,' and in his presence he speaks to you about his promises and his power but you put them in their context and say, 'They do not become more important than the presence of my Jesus."

You know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about just loving him. Jesus said to a church in Revelation, he said you've lost your first love, he said you've gotten caught up with everything that I give you and can give you and he made it more important than just loving me. So here's what we're gonna do tonight because we called this presence on the peninsula because the Lord spoke into my heart, he spoke into our team's heart we're called to be a church, yes of power, yes that sees the promises of God come to pass but we're called to be a people of his presence.

So I don't want to impress people, I want to just live in his presence and I want to live and do life with people who love the presence of God, then we'll love him with all our hearts, then we'll love people, then we'll see lives changed and yes you will see the promises of God come to pass but when they're not, I've always got his presence and that is all I need, that's all I need. Is that true of your life?

And some of us, this is what we're gonna do, we're gonna have some minutes to worship the Lord and the band's gonna sing this, I think it's, as we sing I'm gonna invite you to do what you need to do, we're gonna pray towards the end, we're gonna pray for God's promises, we're gonna pray for his power, God's answer prayers and those things, they're important but more important, what do you think God wants more? Does he want you to seek him for his promises to come to pass in your life and for answered prayer or does he want you to say Lord I love you and here's my life? I think we know the answer, I know the answer my daughter, she can come and ask me for stuff but when she says I love you, I want to spend time with you, that's what we're gonna do right now, we're gonna, as we sing this song, I'm gonna open this altar, maybe you want to come and bow, maybe you want to bow, maybe you want to close your eyes, whatever you want to do, maybe some of you say I need to repent before God because I've been hungering after promises, I haven't been close to him, some of us just need to say Lord I'm gonna take this moment to, maybe you want to stand and lift your hands, whatever we're gonna do right now, we're gonna, the next few minutes we're gonna worship the Lord and then we're gonna pray for people at the end, for God's power and his promises to come to pass but his presence, that's what we need more, is that okay? So you might want to bow your heads, close your eyes, you might want to stand in worship, come to the front, kneel down, it's presence on the peninsula, his presence is what we need, so Lord we're gonna take this moment right now, we're gonna turn this place into a place of worship, we're gonna turn our hearts towards you Lord, we're gonna be like Moses that walked into the tent of meeting and see God's asking people, will you walk into the tent of meeting right now, will you be like Joshua, walk in and spend time in my presence and let me fill you.

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