Skip to content 5. A Great Expectation Feb 24 · 38 min ...more
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Beth Jones is a Bible teacher and founder of The Basics With Beth, a non-profit Christian teaching ministry dedicated to helping people learn the Bible basics.
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0:00 Hi, guys. I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to the basics with Beth where learning God's word is a joy. And I just wanna say we are so honored to be with you right here on0:12 pray dot com. In every message, we will do our best to teach you the bible basics in such a way that it strengthens your faith foundation. In0:23 addition, I want to empower and equip you so that you have confidence to share these Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with your heart. If you'd0:35 like to know more about our ministry, just go to the basics with beth dot com and get all the scoop. With all of that said, now let's jump into today's message.0:48 Good morning, everybody. Welcome to church. Awesome to see you guys this morning through the screens. I know it's funny to say that because the reality is is I can't see you. But you know1:00 what? It's fun to pretend, but it's so good to be in the room. It's so good to be with you. It's so awesome to be able to share this morning. I've got a message on my heart that I believe is gonna encourage you. It's1:11 gonna challenge you. It's gonna uplift you. And, you know, my prayer is that this message would stir your faith. It'd stir your faith to believe for more, to believe God for more in your life. It's a message about1:22 expectation. It's a message about faith. It's a message about who God is, what he can do, what he wants to do in you, through you, and for you. You know, so I'm stirred up. I hope you are as1:34 well. Hope you're ready to to to listen, but hope you're ready to take notes. I hope that this message wouldn't just speak to right now, but it would speak to your week ahead. It'd speak to the weeks ahead. And so I1:46 love to pray to that end. But before I pray, I'd love just to also say thank you to my mom and dad, to pastors Jeff and Beth. You guys are amazing. What an honor it1:58 is to be able to share in the share this morning, but what an honor it is to sit under your leadership. Like, you guys are absolutely amazing. Church, you're blessed with incredible pastors. So why don't we put our hands2:09 together for Jeff and Beth? You guys are amazing. Pastors, Jeff and Beth. Mom and dad, you're awesome. But hey, why don't we pray for this morning and, jump into the message?2:21 Jesus, we thank you for this morning. We thank you, God, for what you are doing in us, through us. God, pray that this time would be a blessing to those who are listening. God, I pray that you would speak, you would have2:32 your way. In the name of Jesus, everyone said, amen. Amen. Well, like I said, this message is all about having expectation. It's about those who are bold enough to2:44 take God at his word. Here's a question for you. What would you do? What would you dare to fight for, believe for, and contend for in life if you knew it had God's2:56 hand all over it? What would you believe God for? What would you go after? What would you contend for if you knew it had God's hand of blessing all over it?3:07 See, this morning the title of the message is this. It's a great expectation. A great expectation. Where is your expectation? Where is your3:19 expect I don't know about you, but have you ever come across the phrase? Maybe you've said it out loud. Maybe you've heard it said. You've bitten off more than you can3:31 chew. You know the phrase. Right? People use it literally. People use it as a figure of speech to say that you've taken on more than you're able. Or how about this? How about this phrase? Have you ever heard of the3:42 phrase that you've gotten more than you bargained for? Know the phrase. Right? You're expecting 1 thing, but end up getting something completely different. Have you heard it? Have you said it? Do you3:54 know what it means? See, the reality is is life's a lot like this sometimes. Sometimes life is like this. We've actually get more than we bargained for, or we've bitten off more than we can chew. Here's a4:06 few examples. So putting your hand up to say, hey, I'll help you move. Yeah. Great. You need some help with your yard work? Oh, I'm your guy. Let's do it. But then rocking up and getting there and realizing, oh my gosh,4:18 like, there's actually so much to do. You thought it was gonna be a couple hours. But it turns out to be like a full day or 2 days of work. See, sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. We've gotten more than we4:29 bargained for. Or how about this, raising a family. Raising a family. Like, I've got an incredible 4 month old daughter who's amazing, who's awesome, Florence. She's incredible, but you know what? She's a handful4:40 sometimes. In some ways, she's a bit more than we bargained for, but in the cutest and most amazing way. What about this? Giving your teenager the car for the first time. Oh, man. I don't know about you.4:52 I mean, I'm not a father of a teenager. It's down the track for me. But as a kid, as a teenager myself, I remember my dad would let us take his Chevy Suburban out for a spin. And, you5:04 know, that's trust. That's trust. Putting that those keys in a 16 year old's hand, it's trust. I remember 1 time he let us go take the car to the East Coast. So we went to New York and, with5:16 a few friends and to Maine as well, and we had the best time. But you know what? The reality is is I brought that car back with a few more bumps, a few more scratches, a few more basically5:28 decorations. You see, sometimes we expect 1 thing. My dad expected the car to be brought back in a good condition, but the reality is is I brought it back a little bit different to the way they picked it up.5:40 But what I'm saying is that sometimes we get more than we bargain for in life. Or how about this. Right? Taking on too big of a project at work. Have you been there? You've said, oh,5:52 I'll help you out. Oh, we can do this. But then not feeling like you have the resource, the time, the energy, the people to actually make that happen. What about this 1? Last example is6:04 taking on too big of a bite. Like literally, like literally taking too big of a bite. Like I remember as a kid vividly, it's kind of funny, but it's actually not funny, but it sort of is funny. Eric, my brother, he he6:16 took too big of a bite, and it was a sandwich or a piece of steak or something, and he had to get the Heimlich maneuver done to him. I vividly remember it. It's like etched in my brain. My brother getting the Heimlich6:26 maneuver done to him is etched in my brain forever. You see, he took too big of a bite, but the reality is in life, we find opportunities where we expect 1 thing, but we end up getting something6:38 completely different. That's what I wanna talk about today is this whole idea of expectation. You see the bible's full of examples like this as well. The bible is full of chances or6:50 circumstances and situations where people gotten something they didn't expect. You see the disciples. Right? Jesus says to them, come follow me. You know what? The7:01 disciples, they probably didn't know what was on the other side of their yes. Right? They didn't know what was on the other side of it. You see Mary, the mother of Jesus, you know, behold you will give birth to a7:13 son. You shall name him Jesus. She didn't know what was on the other side of that. Surely she had an idea, but maybe she didn't know it to the extent of what that would be, what the reality of that yes7:25 would be. You see the boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish. You see when when his mom packed that lunch or when he packed that lunch and brought it to, you know, out to where he was gonna go, he he didn't expect to run into some7:37 disciples and run into Jesus and have his meal, his lunch, feed 5000 people. Like, he didn't know what to expect. You see David's relationship, another example, David's relationship with Saul, with King7:49 Saul. You see, he took the internship with Saul. He said, yeah, I'll I'll come alongside and you'll be my leader. But the reality is is he had to run for his life. You see, he didn't know what was on the other side of8:01 his yes, what was on the other side of his ex of of of of his ministry. Last example is apostle Paul. The apostle Paul saying yes to ministry. You see, he was knocked off8:13 his horse on the road to Damascus. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he turns and he comes to follow after Jesus, but he didn't know what was on the other side of it. There would be hardship. There would be8:25 trial. There'd be churches built. He would write half more than half the New Testament. The apostle Paul. You see, sometimes we expect things in life, but it turns out differently than we had8:36 realized. Maybe you've heard yourself say this, oh, that turned out differently than I thought. Oh, I wasn't expecting that. Oh, wow. That just took a turn for the best. Or jeez, that took a turn8:48 for the worst. You see, the bottom line is this, most of the time, we expect things to go a certain way. Most of the time, we expect things will turn out9:00 a specific way. If I was to tell you this, if I was to tell you that I got stitches at my first piano lesson, would that surprise you? I mean, it would surprise me, but it's true. You see, me and my sister9:12 Annie, we decided to do piano lessons. And when I say we decided, what I mean is my parents decided. No. I'm just kidding. No. We decided. We decided to do, piano lessons. And us together, we we decided, hey, let's do9:24 it. Annie was gonna go first. So we got there to the piano teacher's house. Annie went first. So I said, this is a great opportunity to hang out with, the piano teacher's son, who I thought was just awesome.9:36 He had a yo yo collection. Like, how cool is that? Right? Like, as a kid, I'm like, this guy's got a yo yo collection. He's awesome. And so we hung out. We we we jumped on the the bikes. We we went ahead and went for9:48 for a ride. So I'm going down this hill. It's a pretty steep hill. I wasn't sure what was on the other side of the hill, but lo and behold, a bush, a tree was on the other side, and so I'm I'm going down. I don't know9:59 how to stop. I can't figure it out. I'm basically just lost control of the bike, the mountain bike, and I'm just going straight into this tree, and a stick goes straight into my face. See, I didn't expect to10:10 end up in the hospital at my first piano lesson. Like, talk about embarrassing. Talk about embarrassing. Okay. Does anyone in the room show of hands. Does anyone in the10:22 room, love CrossFit or love working out? Okay. Yeah. There's a few. There's a few. I hope there's a few because I can't really actually see you, but I hope that a few people said yes. But the reality, you guys are you10:32 guys are a different breed completely. Like, you CrossFit people are are a different breed. You know, you wanna do a workout, go crazy hard, and then run like 5 miles afterwards. Like, what's going10:44 on? Like, I I I don't I don't I don't get it. I don't get it. But I wanted to do it with a friend. I I go ahead, and I was like, oh, yeah. You know what? I'm gonna do some CrossFit. I'll do some CrossFit with you guys.10:55 And I went out to to the session, and we do the session, and, it goes okay. I mean, I can barely do push ups. I can barely do pull ups. You know? I'm the guy that has to use, like, the11:07 bands, you know, to help me do the pull up. Talk about embarrassing again. And so I'm I'm struggling through this, this workout, and, we we get there. We get to the end. I'm like, I've made11:19 it. And then he looks at me and he said, hey. Do you wanna do a lap around the building? You wanna do a lap around the building? Few few laps? I'm like, ugh. I guess. Let's do it. And so we did. We we ran around the11:29 building a few times. Let's just say I basically collapsed, saw my lunch again, and I got got proper sick. And, I will never do CrossFit again in my entire life. You see, I didn't know what I11:41 was getting myself into. Another example is camping. Camping. Who loves to go camping? Kelsey and I, we love camping. And when I say we love camping, what I mean is we've gone twice and we loved11:53 it. You see Kelsey had this plan, this plan to take me camping. She books the site, we get all of our gear, we make it down this crazy long hill, we get to the campsite, we're already exhausted, it tested our12:05 marriage, but we made it. We made it. And then lo and behold, a few hours later, a storm starts a brewing. And we look up with the little reception that we have on our cell12:16 phones. It turns out a superstorm was coming to Sydney. Now a superstorm is hail, rain, wind, lightning, thunder. Like, it's12:28 a superstorm. It's a storm, but it's superstorm. And so we spent the rest of the night running between the bathroom setup and our shelter. You see, we didn't know what we were12:40 getting ourselves into. Last last example is this is, again, my brother my brother and I, we went out to go climbing. You know, I absolutely love climbing. You know, just12:52 like camping, I love climbing. And when I say I love climbing, I've gone twice, and it was awesome. And, Eric and I, we went out we went out and climbed at at at the Blue Mountains in Australia. 1 of our friends took us13:03 out, and that was a great experience. Like, honestly, it was awesome. And so we do the first couple routes. We loved it. Had a great time. We're learning the ropes, literally. And we're just basically doing doing our13:14 routes, doing our thing, and, we had a great time. It was it was awesome. Took a few, like, looks. Once we made it to the top, was like, wow. I climbed a mountain. I'm awesome. It was great, but then when I13:25 went back down and my friend said to us, he said, hey. Do you guys wanna try lead climbing? And I'm like, what's yeah. Sure. We can try it. And basically, lead climbing is where you take all of your equipment with you.13:36 You have all these clips, these hooks that go into the mountain, and basically, you make your way up the route, and if you fall, you have a greater distance of falling between clip and13:48 clip. And so it's a bit more dangerous, a bit more risky, a bit more scary. So you don't wanna be the 1 leading. You wanna be experienced to do that. And so I'm like, yeah, sure. Let's let's give it a shot. And so of13:59 course, Eric crushes it, and so he he goes first, and he smashes it, like completely nails it. He's like basically like a climber now, and I'm like dude you're awesome, and I'm sitting down there a bit14:10 nervous, a bit bit a bit scared, but I go ahead and I'm I'm next, and so I jump on and I jump onto the route and, I'm do it and I have this excitement in me but I'm also nervous. And so14:22 I go to do my first clip and somebody across the way looks at me and says this, you're doing it wrong. Do you wanna get hurt? Don't do that. And I'm like,14:34 what do you I basically froze. I froze in the mountain, scuffled my way back down, tail between my legs, embarrassed, again, not super sports savvy. But14:46 you know what? Like, the the reality is is I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I share those examples to say yet again that sometimes in life, we find ourselves expecting 1 thing, but getting14:58 something completely different. Have you ever found yourself in a situation like that before? It reminds me of my first year of, of bible school.15:10 A friend of mine said this. He said, I don't know what to expect, but I'm expecting. I don't know what to expect, but I'm expecting. How about you? What what15:22 would you say your expectation is? Can I remind us, church? Can I remind us, Valley Family Church, that we can put our confident expectation in Jesus Christ? We can put our expectation in God.15:34 You know, his word does not return void. We can put our hope, our confident expectation in Jesus. And today, this morning, what I wanna encourage you and challenge us in is that we can put15:46 our confidence and our expectation in Christ. He is rock solid. You see, expectation, what is it? Expectation is this. It's more in God,15:58 and there's more for your life. So there's more in God. There's more for you to discover about God. There's more of God, but there's more for your life. It's an expectation that God wants to do exceedingly,16:10 abundantly, above all that we could ask, think, or imagine. You see, when I say that, when I say that the message is about expectation, I'm sure there's a few of you right now who have just checked out,16:22 who have maybe just been like, oh, expectation? Really? But here's the thing. I'm not talking about an empty expectation. This morning, I'm not talking about an empty expectation. I'm not talking about an16:34 entitled expectation. I'm not talking about a self centered, me focused expectation. No. I'm talking about a sturdy hope. A sturdy hope in16:45 God. A trust in who he is. A trust in who he is for your life, for your marriage, for your family, for your endeavors, for your convictions. You know, a conviction that God is16:57 true to his word. That's what I'm talking about. I'm not talking about an empty expectation. I'm talking about a true to God's word, that God is true to his word and true to his promise.17:09 You see, expectation is this. Expectation is confident hope. It's having confident hope in God. You see Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 verse 1 says this. It says, now faith is17:21 the confidence in what we hope for. Faith is the assurance about what we do not see. You see, it's the confidence in what we hope for, the assurance of what we don't see. You17:33 see expectation is that. It's confident hope. You know the bible is full of examples of people who had this confident hope and did great things for God. Great things in God. You see Joshua.17:45 Joshua in the old testament, you know, he had confident hope that the walls of Jericho would fall. You see Elisha. Elisha had confident hope. Elisha and the widow had confident17:56 hope that the jars of oil that they needed to fill would keep filling up. You see Moses in the Old Testament, he had confident hope and expectation, faith that the Red18:08 Sea would part as he was chased down. You see Peter, when he, walked out of that that boat, when he's walked on water, you know, Jesus said to him, come. Come.18:20 It's me. Come. Peter had confident hope and expectation that when he took that first step, that he wouldn't sink. You see the friends of the paralytic man in the in in the New Testament, in the gospels, the friends of18:32 the paralytic man, they had confident hope and expectation. You know what? That if they brought their friend to Jesus, that he would be healed. You see, David David expected, had confident hope, sturdy18:43 faith in God that when he, threw those stones at Goliath, that he would be defeated. And ultimately, Jesus expected Lazarus to come out of the grave. But you know what? He18:55 had confident hope in who his father was that he that his stone would 1 day roll away as well. See, the bible's full of examples of people who had this confident hope. You know what? You and19:07 I you and I can have that same confident hope and expectation in who our God is. Amen? Amen. Well, here's some questions. Here's some questions to get us thinking.19:20 Questions to get you and I thinking when it comes to expectation and putting our confident hope in God. Number 1 is this. If you write notes, number 1. Who or what stands in the19:31 way to a fulfilled life? Who or what stands in the way to a fulfilled life? Ask yourself that question. Number 2. What19:43 could be on the other side of your expectation? Think about that. What could be on the other side of that yes? What could be on the other side of you having a confident, sturdy hope in who God19:54 is around a certain area in your life? What could be on the other side of it? Number 3, if there were no limits, if there were no limits, what would you dare to believe God for? What would you dare20:06 to believe God for? And number 4, what would you go after, fight for, or contend for if you knew it had God's promise all over it?20:20 You see the reality is is maybe this. Maybe what would ignite in you if you took a fresh look at expectation again, this morning, let's take a fresh look. Let's take a fresh look at20:32 expectation. Not just, oh, yeah. It's expectation. I I understand. No. Let's take a fresh look at expectation. What would ignite in you if we took a fresh look at expectation?20:44 Would there be a boldness on the inside? Would a boldness on the inside stir if you look at expectation in a new way? How about courage? Would courage under fire, would that rise up20:56 within you? Would there be courage rising up within you? What about this? What about a sturdy confidence in God? A sturdy confidence within. Inner peace. Peace for your21:08 soul. You see guys, truth the truth is is you and I expect things every day. It's just part of life. You know, we expect the weather to turn good. We expect21:19 we're expecting at the arrival of a baby. You see, we're expecting that we'll meet someone significant. You know what? When we when when we put on the faucet, when we put on the shower, guess what? We expect that21:31 water will come down. You see, we expect things every day. It's simple. Simple things. You know, we also expect that when we press order on Uber Eats, guess what? We expect21:43 that it comes not only to not only it comes, but it comes to the right address. You see, every day we're expecting something. We're expecting something. So what21:55 would be some hallmarks? What would be some hallmarks of somebody who lived with this expectation? Who lived with a godly confident hope? What would be hallmarks? You see hallmarks22:07 are defined as this. Hallmarks are a distinguishing characteristic, trait, or feature. You know, Christians, as Christ followers, as people of God, there should be some things22:18 that separate us from others. There should be some hallmarks, distinguishing characteristics of our lives. So what would those be when it comes to expectation? A few things for you22:30 to jot down. Number 1 is there'd be a robust faith. A robust faith towards all that's ahead. Number 2 is there'd be rope there'd be a peace of heart when faced with22:42 opposition. I believe that if we had this confident hope, this sturdy trust, this ability to come to God with expectation that he will do, that there would be a steadfast22:54 hope over the years. That when we looked across our years, when we looked across our lives, we'd say, oh, yeah. God was faithful. God was faithful, and this is how this is how he was faithful. There'd be a steadfast23:06 hope across the years. I think another hallmark would be this. It'd be inner joy in all seasons. Is that no matter what comes against us, sure, things can come. Sure, things can23:18 be difficult, but there's an inner joy that's that that's that's separate. There's an inner joy within us in all seasons. And I think as well there'd be an assurance of heart that not only God not only23:29 can, but he will. Not only that God can, but he will come through. You see, we just had an incredible journey, with with with Florence, our daughter, and23:41 she's incredible. And it's been an amazing season, an amazing journey of finding out we're pregnant and and then and then the road to delivery. You see, if I could sum up that road to23:53 delivery, that journey of 9 months, it'd be in 2 words. It'd be great anticipation. Great anticipation. There's this longing in my heart to meet this little 1.24:05 Great anticipation. And what we had to do is we had to get ourselves ready. We had to get ourselves ready for this arrival. You see we had to pack our bags, we had to get24:17 ready, and we had to drive to the hospital, and Kelsey delivered Florence, and now we have our daughter of 4 months. You see, but expectation isn't just this lofty thing. We24:29 actually had to do a few things when it comes to getting ready for this arrival. There was great anticipation, but you know what? There's some things that we had to do as well. With the time that we have left, I'd love24:40 for us to look at 3 things. 3 things. Can you say 3 things? 3 things. Yes. That probably didn't work, but you know what? It's all good. But, yeah, we are gonna look at 324:52 things. 3 things that God would have us do when it comes to living a life of confident hope, expectation in who God is. Is that alright?25:04 You with us? Hopefully, I'm just stirring your heart a bit to to say, oh, yeah. You're right. I can have confident hope. I can have confident hope in who God is. And so here we go. We're gonna look at 3 things. The first25:16 1 is this. The first thing to do when it comes to getting ourselves in a place of expectation for what God can and will do is this. Number 1, is we're gonna need to ready our hearts.25:28 Ready your heart. You see Joshua Joshua 3 5 says this. It says, Joshua told the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do do25:40 amazing things among you. You see to consecrate. To consecrate is this, it's to sanctify. It's to prepare. It's to dedicate. It's to be hallowed, which means to25:52 be holy. It's to be sanctified and to be separate. You see, to consecrate, Joshua said to them, get ready. Ready your hearts. Consecrate your heart.26:04 You see the Israelites, they were about to cross the Jordan River, and Joshua told them to do 2 things. Firstly, he put the Ark of the Covenant before them, which was the sign of God's presence going before them. And26:16 secondly, he said, prepare yourselves. Get yourselves ready. Get yourselves ready. Again, when it came to Florence, when it came to our our daughter being born, we had to get the hospital bag26:28 ready. Right? Like we couldn't just rock up and the doctors would would would have everything sorted. No. We had to get our bag ready so that at any moment's notice we could go to the hospital. You know, had to26:39 prepare ourselves to get ready. Church, can I encourage you? Can I can I can I remind us? Let's ready our hearts for what God's gonna do. You see, after they did this, God did amazing26:51 things before Joshua. What would it look like if you and I took time to ready ourselves, consecrate our hearts, turn towards God, turn our hearts towards God off our27:03 circumstance, off the things that maybe distract us, and turn our hearts towards God. Ready ourselves That's the first thing when it comes to living this life of confident and hope and27:14 expectation. So number 1 is ready your heart. Number 2. Number 2 is this, resolve to trust. Resolve to trust. You see resolve is this. It's27:26 a firm determination. A firm determination. You see, we gotta have a firm determination, a decision in our hearts that we will trust. Again, it's not27:38 gonna be easy. It's not always gonna be exactly what we want to do. But when we make a firm determination within that we're gonna trust, that we're gonna trust God, man, there's awesome things on the other side of that.27:50 You see climbing, going back going back to that climbing story of me and my brother. You see, I had a trust in my harness. I had a trust in my equipment. And I had a trust in my partner. You see that trust, that28:02 ability to lean into that trust enabled me to go further, farther on that route. You see, if I didn't trust, if I didn't have confidence in my harness, if I didn't have28:14 confidence in my gear, and I didn't have confidence in my partner, I wouldn't be able to do it. I wouldn't have gone as far. You see, when we lean into trust, we go further. When we lean28:26 into trust in who in a God who loves us, we can move forward in life. You see Proverbs 3 5 says this. Proverbs 3 5, trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean28:37 not on your own understanding. In all of your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. I love how the passion translation puts this. It says this. It says,28:49 trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart, rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision29:01 you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go. And Isaiah 55 11 puts it this way,29:13 so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.29:26 Let me remind us that we can put our trust, our confidence, and our expectation in God. But can we make a firm determination, a firm determination that we will trust in God? You see, he29:38 doesn't return void. His word, his promise, it doesn't come back empty. He is worthy of our trust. Let's make a determination within us we're gonna turn towards God. We're gonna ready29:49 ourselves, but then we're gonna resolve to trust. And number 3 is this. Number 3, if you're taking notes, number 3, run after it. Run after it. Take that step of30:01 faith. So the first 1 is ready your heart. The second is resolve to trust. But the third is run after it. Run after it. Take that step of faith. You see second Corinthians 5 7 says this. It says, for we live30:13 by faith, not by sight. You see, we're distinguished individuals, you and I. Us as the body of Christ, we are distinguished people. We live by faith, not by sight. Talk about30:25 hallmarks. The hallmarks of a Christian is a life of faith. Amen? The life of faith. We live by faith, not by sight. Amen. In Romans 8, Romans 8 says this. It says, what then shall we30:37 say in response to these things? If God is for us, who could be against us? Come on. Go after it. Maybe maybe during this message, something's come to your mind, something's come to your heart, and you're saying, oh, you30:49 know what? I can trust God for that. I can trust God for that marriage. I can trust God for that that that endeavor, that work endeavor. Oh, I can trust God with this business idea. Go after it. Can I remind us to31:01 run after the things of God? He is with you. He is backing you. He is for you. You know, when we ready ourselves and when we resolve to trust, we're able to run after it, to take31:13 that step of faith. You see, Peter, when he walked out of that when he stepped out of that boat, when he walked on water, he had to step out in faith. He had to run after31:24 it and go for it. Amen? Amen. I hope this is stirring you. I hope this is challenging you. I hope this is, just bringing you bring rising your faith in who our31:36 God is. Amen? Let me ask you those questions again from before. Who or what stands in the way to a fulfilled life?31:48 What could be on the other side of your expectation? If there were no limits, what would you dare to believe God for? Come on. What would you dare to believe God for? If there32:00 were no limits, if nothing could hold you back, what would you dare to believe God for? What would you go after, fight for, or contend for if you knew if you32:12 knew that it had God's hand all over it. Maybe on the other side of that is a is a testimony. I believe it is. I believe there's a testimony on the other side of that.32:24 Maybe it's a marriage. It's a marriage that not not only thrives, but is an example to many. Maybe it's a job or it's a calling that not only fulfills, you know, the bills, but32:35 actually, it's where your purpose your purpose is attached to it. That there would be a purpose attached to the calling and the job that you actually go after. What could be on32:47 the other side of that? See I think another thing could be on the other side is a testimony. Testimony that completely turns around the negative report or the disappointing news that you've received. You know, what's on32:58 the other side of that confident hope, that expectation? I think it's a testimony. Reversing the disappointing news that maybe you've just received. I think on the other side of that as well is direction. Direction that33:10 brings clarity to the questions that have plagued your soul for so long. Now maybe you're sitting there and you're thinking, oh, I've got all these questions. Oh, man. I just need clarity. Hey, you can put your trust33:22 in God. Put your trust in him and watch him make your paths straight. Trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Lean not on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make33:34 your paths straight. Maybe on the other side of this expectation, this confident hope in God is salvation. Salvation for family. Salvation for people you've been believing God for this33:45 whole time. Or maybe this, maybe it's refreshing friendship and relationships that your soul was hungry for. And God wants to put people in your life. Maybe you can believe God that33:57 he will bring people into your life. You know, I feel this morning that the Holy Spirit would say that he wants to bring people into your life that will be a refreshment for you. You see church, I hope this34:09 has encouraged you. I hope this has challenged you. I hope this has uplifted you because the reality is is that God loves you. God cares for you. God's got a plan and a purpose for your life. And we can put our trust and34:21 our confidence in who he is. Amen? We can put our trust and our confidence in his word. You know, when we ready our hearts, when we resolve to trust, and we run after it, I think what we can see34:33 on the other side of that expectation is testimony and story of God being faithful. Amen? Amen. Well, I'd love to pray for you to cap34:44 off the message and have a chance to just pray that God will be with you and for you when it comes to this whole idea of living with confident hope and expectation in34:56 Jesus. So let me pray for you. Jesus, we thank you for this morning. Thank you for these amazing people, God. Thank you that you have a plan and a purpose for each and every 1 of us. God, help us to remind35:08 ourselves in you. Remind ourselves of we can put our trust in you. In Jesus' name, God, would you go before us? Would you be with us this week? In Jesus' name, and everything we put our hand to, would we be35:20 would it be blessed or to have your presence with us? In Jesus' name, we thank you for it. We ask you for it. Amen. Amen. Amen. Awesome. What I love to pray for is just 1 more group of35:31 people. It's those of you who maybe have yet not yet had the chance to meet Jesus or those of you who maybe at some point started a relationship with Jesus, but today you wanna make a fresh commitment to who he35:43 is. So I'd love to pray for you if that's you. If you say, Luke, you know, when you pray for people to meet Jesus, would you include me? You know, the truth is is Jesus loves you. He's got a plan for you. He's got a35:54 purpose for you. He died for you. He loves you. He wants relationship with you. And we know what we can do? What we can do is we can make a decision today to turn towards Jesus.36:06 Pray a simple prayer, which I'll lead you in in a moment, and turn towards Jesus and say, you know what? I'm giving you my life from today. Starting a relationship with you. You know the cool thing is is you're part of36:18 an you're part of an amazing church. And so you're not gonna do this journey alone. You've got people. Look around. You've got people here to do this journey with you, to do this life of faith in Christ36:29 together. But today, we're gonna make a decision to follow after Jesus. So if that's you, you say, hey, include me in this prayer. I'd love to pray for you. And, hey, so why don't we make this prayer, but all of us are36:41 gonna pray this together. So I'm gonna pray, and you're gonna pray after me. And so if that's you, you say, Luke, would you pray with me? Would you pray? Would you include me in this prayer? Then why don't you pray this36:52 prayer from the bottom of your heart? We're all gonna pray it together. Amen? Awesome. Well, let's pray. Say, Jesus, today I give you my life. Mold37:03 me, shape me, and make me into the person you've created me to be. Today is a new day. I'm following after you.37:15 Be Lord of my life. I am a Christian. In the name of Jesus, everyone said, amen. Amen. Awesome. Well, hey,37:27 so much appreciation for having me and my wife and our daughter Florence with you this morning. It's pretty amazing to be able to do this across the screen. I so wish we were there in37:39 person. Honestly, I wish I could just come and see each and every single 1 of you. But hey, just know our hearts are with you, we love you, and we can't wait to see you on the other side. So be blessed and thanks so37:50 much.37:52 Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you were encouraged. Be sure to hit the follow button so you can binge on all the bible basics throughout the week and stay38:04 encouraged in your faith. And don't forget to share these messages with your friends. If you'd like more information about our ministry, you can always go to the basics with beth dot com. That's the38:15 basics with beth dot com. It's been great to be with you, and I will look forward to seeing you next time right here on pray dot com.
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