Freshman year of college, I had to take a, a, a Gened English lit class, and so everyone had to take this class. And so I had, and they gave the freshman like the early morning class. And so, uh, we had a professor who, he was actually a really good professor, but he was real strict on attendance. And so if you missed so many, you would, it would start to dock your grade. And so I missed enough of those classes where I had to be at every one for the remainder of the semester. And so I showed up one day to class, and the professor was not there. And there was a whole group of us that were in that category. So we didn't know like how long, well, think about this, like how long would you wait for the professor to get there before you think, nope, he's not coming, I'm out. Right? Uh, some are like, yeah, I wouldn't stay that long. Well, I needed to for the grade, and so, and, a, a large number of us had to do that. And so we're waiting, we're looking around, like 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and the professor doesn't show initially. And so then, um, I did what this might surprise you, some of you, that I was a little bit of a class clown. Um, and some of you are shaking your head like, no, that's That's on par with who he is. Um, so, I was a good student, but I like to, I like to have fun. And so, um, so there was no professor, and so I decided to stand up and pretend to be the professor because I had memorized his mannerisms and his phrases. And so I started doing my impersonation of the professor to the class. And so I start teaching the class, and they start laughing, and then they started laughing a lot more. And I was like, oh man, they're into this. This is great, right? And so I, I'm working the set, right? And I'm teaching. But the reason they were laughing is because mid- impersonation, the professor walked into the room. So they weren't laughing at my impersonation, they were laughing at his reaction. So he's behind me, and he just sat there like this, watching my impersonation of him. And so then he turns the corner, and he looks at me, and rather than replacing me up front, he just sits down in the back row. And he goes, please continue. And so I had everyone open up the chapter that I had not read, and I just, and he made me teach the rest of the class, um, to which I made a fool of myself and I was like, well played, sir, well played. OK. Why do I share that? Well, when we were waiting for the professor to show up, I struggled just to wait, and so I wanted to do something. And so I got up in, in his place. And as silly as that story was, I think oftentimes as believers, we do that with God. Like we're waiting for God, we're waiting for an answer. Maybe we pray, we don't hear from him, we're reading, we don't see anything, uh, we're, we have a struggle or a battle, and, and God just feels distant. Well, the human thing to do is to try to replace God with something controllable. But what I want to encourage you to do today is that when God feels distant, don't replace him, reach for Him. When God feels distant, not if, but when God feels distant, don't replace God. Instead, double down and actually reach for God. Seek Him with your all your heart, soul, mind and strength, because there's a difference. So we're in the book of Exodus. Last week, we studied Exodus chapter 20 in which God shared the 10 Commandments with Moses. And we, and we discussed that the 10 Commandments don't save people, they shape people. We're over the next 10 chapters, from chapter 21 to 31, God not only gives them commands, but also starts to shape their life. And so he establishes rules for justice and care for others. And then in Exodus 24, he officially makes the Mosaic covenant with his people. And to which the people replied in Exodus 24:7, he says, all the Lord has spoken, we will do, we will be obedient. So in Exodus 24, the people of God say, we will obey you. OK, hang on to that because they don't last very long. And so, then Moses goes back up to the mountain. And so from Exodus chapter 25 to 31, he is receiving instruction. To build something known as the Tabernacle. So I encourage you to come back next week. We're gonna talk about how the tabernacle, the place where God dwells. He actually said in Exodus 25:8, he said, let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst. And so there's this building that they're gonna have to house the presence of God and to shape the worship of God. And so come back next week. We're gonna talk about that, how the tabernacle relates to our worship today. But for today's, today's message, understand that Moses is back on the mountain. For 40 days and 40 nights. Now, picture. Being an Israelite. OK, there's about 2 to 3 million of them at this point. And if you've been with them for any length of time. They've seen and survived the 10 plagues that God brought up on Egypt. They see God save them out of Egypt, the world power at that time, they followed a pillar of fire, like which way do we go, God? Oh, the pillar of fire, walk that way. They then see God split the Red Sea. They walk on dry ground. He eliminates the Egyptian army. God in the wilderness provides manna or food for them. They hear the voice of God. They have all these incredible miracles, miracles, miracles. And now they haven't seen Moses for a little over a month. And they're like, where did he go? Where is God? And then just a month's time, they try to replace God with an idol that they can control. So this is where we pick up our story. And before we, let me ask you this question. How long would you wait before you replace God? How long will you keep praying before you get the answer that you're seeking? Because as bad as it seems with the people of Israel, I think we're just the same. Right. Let's, let's see what they did and what they replaced God with. So Exodus chapter 32, verse 1, normally I'm teaching out of the ESV. I like the storytelling aspect of the NIV today, so we're switching it up for this Sunday. But, um, so let's read through it together. Verse 1, when the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, and Aaron is his brother, says, come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him. I think about kids like, where's mom or dad? Like where like they think like, or if you're in the car, and you're going like, are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Like the people of God are asking this question. OK. Verse 2, so Aaron answered them, Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons, and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me. And so all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. And so he took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. And they said, these are your gods, Israel, who you brought, brought you out of Egypt. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord. So this is weird mixing here. They're not rejecting God. It's God plus something else. And so they're like, hey, now with this idol, we're gonna worship God. This feels really weird, but let's just understand what happens. So verse 6. So the next day, the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterwards, they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in every, in, in revelry. So they partied. They ate, they drank, they got drunk, they were sleeping around. They were doing things that were blatantly dishonoring God at the base of the mountain where Moses is on behalf of them speaking. So while God was giving Moses the plans to dwell amongst his people, his people are blatantly rebelling and breaking the commandments. They just got a couple chapters before. Now that seems crazy. They saw the plagues, they saw a pillar of fire, they saw the splitting of the Red Sea. They're eating manna that only comes from a miracle of God, and yet, as soon as there's a gap, as soon as there's something missing, they replace it with something lesser. Now why a calf? That feels like a weird animal, right? For my mind, I went back to my teenage days. I cannot help but think this, uh, you tell me, there's nothing more Midwestern than this. You ready? Uh, so when I was a teenager, I worked at a place called Young's Jersey Dairy. So it's a dairy farm that turned into a restaurant. It got popular, so they started adding family entertainment cause it's the Midwest and then we got cornfields. They had a corn maze, they had all those things. And so they added like putt putt and a batting cage and driving range, kind of like what Cracker Jacks used to be out here. And so, I, I'm not making this up, so I worked at that part of the Jersey's dairy, and so they called it Utters and Putters. I really wish I would have kept the work shirts for that. Um, didn't look as great as I thought it would on a resume. You know, you're applying for a business job. I see here you spent 2 years at Udders and Putters. Doesn't work out. OK. Uh, well, Young's Jersey Dairy, the icon was a cow, and so actually to celebrate so many years being in business, they actually had these giant life-size like ceramic plastic cows all over the campus, and they, people would paint them and decorate them, and it was a whole community thing and it was great. Um, so when I think golden calf, I think of udders and putters, right? And that seems ridiculous and it's unrelated, but I'm gonna tell you, it's, it's not much better, OK? Why a calf? Well, the calf actually represents an Egyptian god. Um, named Apis. And so this Apis was shaped by a bull, but they form it into a calf to represent how people in Egypt used to worship. So they weren't rejecting God. It was God plus something else. And so they form this idol, which again breaks commandments 1 and 2. No gods before me, don't make any idols, and they're days removed while Moses is still on the mountain talking to God. And they're like, nope, let's do this thing that we can control. And the other thing is, one, it, it, first, it models the Egyptian worship. It's, it, they make idols, they make statues, right? It resembles Apis, the, the bull god, but the bull seems kind of intimidating. So we'll, so we'll make it a little less intimidating, right? And so they make it a calf. And so I think they make a calf because it is, it is not so like it, it's, you're not afraid of it, right? And I think When it comes to faith and religion, we like things that we think we can control and are safe. Right. See, sometimes we want idols that give us the illusion of control without the cost of surrender. Right? They melted the gold, they were forming something. They had an altar, there were sacrifices, but in reality, it really didn't cost them anything. How do we know that? Because then they partied, slept with who they want, did what they want, they were getting drunk. All the things they were living in a way that completely dishonored God. But they had this lowercase g God, something that came in that they thought, oh, this is worship. This is what we know. This is what we have. So I don't know where Moses is. I don't know where God is. But until then, we're gonna come back to what we know. No, you don't see outside of udders and putters, and usually, you don't see a lot of golden calves anywhere. Um. But I think we have a lot of modern day golden calves. In which We feel distant from God. Like maybe you placed your faith in God and you're on fire for God, and you were sharing your faith, and you were reading, and every time you open your Bible, you're like, wow. But then your job gets challenged and someone breaks your heart in a relationship, or you get sick or you're struggling or you read your Bible or you pray and you don't hear an answer back. And so now God feels distant. It doesn't feel like it felt when you first got saved. It doesn't feel like it felt maybe a year or two ago. And so now you're left, what do I do? And we go back to what we know. And we replace God, maybe not with a golden calf, but we will replace God with A career with pursuit of money. With pursuit of pleasure, with, with lust, with drink, with drug. With overproductivity, right? Workaholism. Well, if I just work harder, if I just do this, if I just fill in this gap, and we try to replace God with something of the world. Why? Because we think we can control it, and it feels safer to us. Are you tracking with me? So the golden calf feels weird, but it's really not. We just have very different calves today. Where do you go when you're overwhelmed? What do you do when you're stressed? Is it doom scrolling? Is it politics? Is it sports? Is it materialism? I is it something that's trying to numb how you feel and to numb the pain? Are you trying to ignore it? There's so many things that we put in the place of God, but none of which are healthy. And as crazy as it was that they did this after all that God has done, can't we say the same, if not more, after all that God has done? We're so quick to replace them, aren't we? So what happens? Well, God actually gets mad. And he actually says in here that he burns with anger. And he, and, and God and Moses almost have this parenting conversation that I think if, if you have kids for any length of time, you understand. And he, and God actually says to Moses, the people that you brought out from Egypt are corrupt. Have you ever done that? Like, you come home, one parent is out of the room or out of the house, and you come home, and they're all flustered like your kids are misbehaving. You got that, like God has this, and he even makes this threat like, hey, I'm just gonna start. Over. Well, they know the story of Noah, right? So that freaks Moses out. Now, Moses was timid to speak to God in the early days. Now he's got a personal connection with God. And so Moses intercedes on man's behalf and says, no, no, God, remember your covenant. Remember your people, remember your goodness. You were the one who brought him out. And so please relent. And so God relents. It's setting up the stage where there is a mediator between man and God. OK. And Moses comes down and he's got the words of God inscribed on these stone tablets. And he's gonna come down to this majestic entry for the people, right? But oh, he's gonna get just as angry as God does. Have you ever seen that where one parent is mad, he's like, no, it's, I'm sure it's not bad. I'm sure it's not bad. And then the second parent comes into the room, he's like, Are you kidding me? Right? It's like they, they feel it too. And so here's what happens. Check this out here in verse 19 and 20. And this is oddly specific of what Moses does. But just, just check this out. So verse 19. So when Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned. And he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them into pieces at the foot of the mountain. So like you get the word of God and you're coming down in this moment. And he sees and that God has put, he goes, Are you kidding me? Like this smashing, like you can just picture yourself in this place. This is really weird, specific, but just here's what he does. Verse 20. And he took the calf the people had made, and he burned it in the fire. And then he ground it into a powder and scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it. Was that not engraved on one of your coffee cups this morning? You didn't see that, you didn't see that verse on Instagram, right? No, that's not like a love God, love people kind of verse, is it? Wait, what? He burned the calf to the ground, ground it into powder, and made the people drink it. Oh, you want an idol, I'll give you an idol, right? On a side note, that is why I don't drink decaf coffee. I'm sorry, that was bad, that was bad, that was bad. It, some of you were explaining that joke to your neighbor, but um, yeah, it was bad. OK. But think about Moses. He's saying, really, you want a God? You want a God like that can be burned to the ground? Are you kidding me? And so he goes, and then God doesn't stop there because there is judgment. OK. And so it continues on, and now there's about 3 million Israelites, and he sends the Levites throughout the camp and those who are openly rebelling against God, he says to kill them. I don't like that verse. But he did. And it says that he killed 3000 people that day. Whoa, that's not that nice fluffy guy that I like. Why would God kill 3000 people? OK, a few thoughts real quick on this. Is that one. God will not be mocked. Don't miss that. OK. And that justice will be had. And so if you're openly mocking God with how you speak, how you live, understand that the judgment of God is coming, like he will not be mocked, OK? 2, understand this too, that there's 3 million people, 3000 people get killed. And, and we think of killing as harsh, but actually it makes a lot of sense because what do you do if you have a tumor in your body? You, you take it out. If there is cancer in your body, you got to kill it. Why? Before it kills the whole body, right? So whether it's radiation, chemo, surgery, when there is cancerous cells in the body, you gotta treat it harshly and directly before it infiltrates the whole body. In the same way, we have Moses saying we got to treat this thing before it infiltrates everybody. And then 11 other note here, and this is so cool. I hadn't really thought about this much until recently. I'm not saying it's a 1 to 1, but I'm just gonna say what it is, and you can make connections, but check this out. So you have a spiritual covenant with God, right? Comes down and people are disobeying God, and the end result was that 3000 people were brought to death. OK? Fast forward to the New Testament. Acts chapter 2, New Covenant. Right? The Jesus ascends, he says, be patient and obey, and I'm gonna send the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit comes down, the people obey, they preach the Word. What happens the very first time the Word of God is preached? 3000 people were saved. So in the old covenant, And the law in and of itself, people respond with disobedience, and 3000 people were brought to death. And the new covenant, the Holy Spirit comes down, people obey the Word of God is preached, and 3000 people were brought to life. And so you see that God is moving. Well, we get to chapter 33. Um, well, let's say this verse here in verse 30. So the next day, after all this happens, Moses said to the people, you have committed a great sin. But now I will go up to the Lord, and perhaps I can make atonement for your sin. And so he has another conversation with God, and God says, fine, you wanna, you want this world without me, you can go to the promised land, but I'm not going. Verses 4 to 7, then the 4 to 6, the people mourn, they repent, and they say, God, we messed up. OK, we, we need you in our lives. And then Moses really establishes this place called the Tent of Meeting before the tabernacle was set up. And so what we see here is the setup for where there's man sinful, they need a mediator between man and God. And then there is uh atonement or sacrifice needed to for our mistakes to restore the relationship with God. So it's setting up the sacrificial priest system that ultimately would point to Jesus. But for right now, we just see that Moses meets with God in this tent of meeting. And he's having a conversation with God. And we pick up our story here in verse 14. And the and the Lord replied, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. And then Moses said, If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. I, I love this teaching because to think about it, he's saying, God, if you're not in it, I don't want it. You know what that tells me? It tells me that you can actually do things apart from the power and presence of God. You can try to run a business without the presence of God. You can try to parent and have a relationship without the presence of God. You can actually do ministry, apart from the power of the presence of God. And what Moses is saying is what I wanna say for our ministry as well is like, I don't want that. Like, are you just living your life, trying to chase success, trying to chase this or trying to do things in your own power and strength, and then inviting God along with you? Or you just submitting yourself before the authority of God and saying, God, I want you. The answer is yes. Now tell me, give me the question. Because the presence of God is more important than the plans of man. And I can tell you, in years of ministry, it's a trap that we fall into, myself included, that you get so busy with the to do's, right? The setup, the email, the messaging, the planning, the details, it's the notes, it's the message, it's the structure, it's the check- in. It's the like, we do all the things, and we got so busy doing all the things that we missed the very purpose of the things. In the New Testament, Jesus is having dinner. And Mary is at the feet of Jesus, and Martha is running around, doing all the needed things for the house. And who gets scolded? Martha, it's not that Martha was doing bad things. It's that Martha was missing the presence of God. And I wanna be a church that says, God, if you're not going, then I don't wanna go. And that we want to seek your presence more than anything. That we're seeking God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and that we're seeking his promise, his presence, his power, and that through that presence, then we can go be the kind of spouse that we need to be, be the kind of parent that we need to be, go after, create the business, go after those things. None of those things in and of themselves are bad. But if you try to do that apart from the power of God, you're gonna miss it. Bless you. So we continue on verse 16. Moses continues, he says, How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me from your people, from all the other people on the face of the earth? And then the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing that you have asked because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. And Moses doesn't stop there. Like that'd be, I, I would hang on to that verse. I, I would Instagram that verse, right, not the other one. But right, like he knows me by name. Pleased with me? But Moses doesn't stop there. The very next verse, then Moses goes, now show me your glory. He's like, I want more. Not more stuff, more things, more they said, I want more of you, God. Now, glory is an interesting word. There's a Hebrew word there, kvad, which means like it means honor, but also means like a heaviness or substance or weight. Right, does God have weight in your life? In the New Testament, there is a, the Greek word for glorious doxa, which means reputation or opinion. You kind of combine Old Testament, New Testament, you see that the glory of God is the heavy opinion or reputation of who he is. Right, that's why it says in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whether you eat or drink. They're all to the glory of God. Ephesians 1, when it talks about God the Father who chose us, Jesus, who redeems us, the Holy Spirit who seals it. All three sections, they're in Ephesians 1, you can check for yourselves at the end of those sections, says for the praise of His glory. To make God known, to make God obvious. When was the time that you were in awe? Of God. Was it a sunrise? Was it a sunset? Was it holding your little one for the first time? I think of a time on a family trip to Hawaii. I think of because they were in the news there where Maui had flooding, but I remember we were one of the times we went there and there's like a mountain volcano. I, I can't pronounce words, so I'm not going to mispronounce that one, but it's like, you know, those Hawaiian names have like 10 syllables in them. But, and uh, so there's this, this volcano mountain that's there in the center of the island. It's over 10,000 ft high. And so you go up there and you could go see the sunset, you can go for the sunrise, but come on. Am I gonna get up that way anyway, anyway, so we go like sunset it's a lot better. Um, and so we go up there and, and I didn't even think about it. It's freezing, which makes sense because you're above 10,000 ft and it's windy, but it's so cool. You get up there and you literally watch the sun set, not just on the horizon, but first through the clouds. You're higher than the clouds. And when the sun went down, it was beautiful, it was majestic, and you feel small. What was amazing was the stars came out. And there at over 10,000 ft above all the city lights that were possible, I saw more stars in a few minutes than I've ever seen in my entire life. And in that moment, you know what I thought? I'm pretty awesome. No, I didn't think that. Because when you see a just a glimpse of tininess of God, you are amazed at who God is and how small you really are, right? When Moses asked God for this glimpse of his glory. God says, you can't handle that. If you, if you see my perfection, my holiness, my glory, you're gonna die. But what I'm gonna give you is just a little glimpse, just a little taste. And so I'm gonna place you in the cleft of a rock. I'm gonna place my hand over you. And when I pass, you get just the tail end of it. And just the tail end of that was enough to literally change the radiance of his face so that when he interacts with the people of God, they ask him to put a veil on his face. Because just the tiniest moment and glimpse of the glory of God would change his life forever. And I truly believe this, that if you just have an encounter with God, just the smallest glimpse of who God is, you are not gonna stand before him and be like, yeah, I'm awesome. You're gonna fall face to the ground and be like, God, whatever you need, whatever you want, I'm yours. And so notice the contrast between these two chapters. When God was distant, the Israelites replaced him with something controllable, with something lesser, with something human, with something so that they could live, drink, sleep with whoever they want, do whatever they want. Moses, it breaks his heart, says, I don't want the world. I don't even want a good plan to take the promised land if you're not going. And so God, I don't want the golden calf calf. I want your glory. And so he chooses glory. Over the idol So as believers today, we have to remember, when God feels distant, don't replace him. Reach for Him. But here's what's crazy. As good as it was for Moses, as bad as it was for those people, we actually have more glory available to you and I today than Moses ever did. Moses is actually envious of us. How do I know that? Check this out in the New Testament. John chapter one, Jesus comes onto the scene. It says here in verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory. Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Now, typically, when this verse is preached, it talks about how Jesus came full of grace and truth. And that's an accurate way to describe this verse, right? We need grace, we need truth. If you have just grace and no truth, right? You're gonna live in a way in liberty. If you have truth and no grace, you're gonna live in a way of legalism. But don't miss this. Grace and truth are meant to describe the manifestation and the visual representation of the very glory of God. Does God have weight in your life? And with how you live, are you glorifying God? In other words, with how you live, are you pointing people to God? Are you making him obvious? Or are you trying to glorify self? It's not just here we see this. Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 to 3. It says, therefore, holy brothers who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus. The apostle and high priest of our confession, who is faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses was also faithful in all of God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of what? More glory than Moses. As much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. He says, you think Moses is great? Jesus is the greater Moses, and gives us direct access to him. Paul's writing a series of letters to the church in Corinth. Corinth was kind of seen as like a Vegas kind of area where people to corinthesize, was to live sexually promiscuous and to and to sleep with who you want, when you want, how you want. And so he's writing to a very pagan culture, but to a church who's trying to live out their faith, and he writes these words and 2 Corinthians chapter 3. I encourage you to read the whole chapter, but let me just highlight a few verses to you, starting in verse 3. He says, and to show you that you, the people, the church, you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone. So what is he referencing there? Moses, the Mosaic law, he's saying, you've not been written on tablets of stone, but on human hearts. Your life, your heart is the tablet. You are the letter, you are the story now. You are the temple of God, carrying the presence of His Spirit in him. Verse 4, such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in and of ourselves. He's like, like, don't, don't get, don't start bragging here. It's not you. To claim anything coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter of the Spirit, uh, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. Now, if the ministry of death, carved into letters of stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses' face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? And cut down here verse 17. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. For we all with unveiled face, beholding the very glory of God, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. God has glory. He is perfect. He is holy. He should have heavy weight and honor in your life, that when we love God and love others, we glorify Him or we make God obvious to thee. Unknowing world And so we have this incredible picture. So let me ask you, when God feels distance, when you are struggling, when you have questions, where do you go? I want to encourage you, don't replace him. Reach for him Reach for him. Don't choose the golden calf or whatever your version is, but reach and double down and seek his presence and his glory. So thinking through, let me ask you. It's really 3 things. Number 1. Can you recognize your golden calf? What is the thing that you turn to? When you feel stressed or overwhelmed. Is it distraction? Is it drink? Is it busyness? What are you hanging on to? What are you grabbing hold of? Where, where are you trying to find your comfort and control when you're not hearing from God? 2. And I want to challenge you to rebuild the tent of meeting. Rebuild the tent of meaning. Moses had a place where he met one on one with God. It says also in that chapter that God spoke to him as a friend. The beauty of the New Testament and the power of the Holy Spirit is that you can meet with God anywhere, anytime, but you have to choose that. You have to choose to have intentional meeting time with him. Because when you do that. What that's gonna help you do is a 3rd thing, which is to reprioritize God's presence. Are you trying to live this life apart from the presence of God? I don't want to be a church that just does thing after thing, service after service apart from him. That more than ministry for God, I wanna remember my heart and life is to God. And I want to glorify him and I wanna experience who he is and I wanna just experience his presence. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna pray in just a moment. I'm gonna invite you to stand. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna open up the front. And uh anywhere along this front here, if you wanna come and just seek the presence of God, you can do that also from your seats, you can do that standing. But I'm gonna come down front and I'm just praying, just, uh, just, just asking God to meet us here. Asking God for our church to be a church known by encountering the presence of God. I wanna invite you to join me. And you gotta, if you're walking through something right now, we're gonna have prayer partners that are gonna be here that can be praying with you and for you. If there's something you wanna repent of or confess of, this is a time to have that real moment with God, that whether it's praying for your family, if it's praying for your life, if it's praying for that next job, if it's praying for whatever that thing is, I want you to give that to God, and not just seek answers, but seek Him. And that we're gonna choose God over everything. And I'm excited for Easter. I'm excited to do all the things. I'm excited for all the services. But I don't wanna get so caught up in the doing that I miss connecting with the God who wants to connect with you. Will you pray with me? Dear Heavenly Father, help us not to replace you with lesser things. But God, help us to just seek your presence. To seek your glory. Because Lord, where your spirit is, there is freedom. Convict us of sin. God encouraged us for ministry. But in all those things, God, more than ministry, more than next steps, more than the job, I pray that we would seek you. May we be a church that is known for seeking your presence today. We love you, God. It's in your son's name we pray. Amen.