(01:03):
Well, good morning, Church. M, I am excited to be on stage this morning, uh, with our brand new middle school associate, Brandon Bowers. He's been with us, uh, for four weeks now. Um, excited to have him on the stage with us, uh, and for you to get to know him a little bit. We're gonna spend just a moment at the beginning of this time together. Just kinda giving a chance for him to introduce himself, you get to know him a little bit. Uh, he came on four weeks ago, which was literally like the week before we left for Kenya. And so I'd been talking to him for quite some time prior to this, uh, but I was in the office about three days and I said, "I'll see you in three weeks." Uh, so what a great way to bring somebody on, but it was been a, a very sweet time together.

(01:46):
And so I'd love to get a chance to introduce him to you this morning. And so Brandon, I'ma ask you to do me a favor. Uh, tell us a little bit about yourself, maybe tell us, um, where you're from, a few things about what you like to do maybe outside of church.

(01:58):
Yeah, great question. So I actually grew up in a military household and so my dad was in the Air Force, uh, was born in Seoul, South Korea and then moved to Germany, Valdosta, Georgia, actually, where I spent a few years, uh, maybe some Valdosta people. Uh, so Georgia's kinda home. And so, uh, also moved to Washington DC, um, Shreveport, Louisiana, Virginia Beach. And then I went to college at Liberty University, Go Flames, uh, and then moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where I did some ministry there and then moved here about a month ago. Um, and so I love sports, played college lacrosse at Liberty, actually. Um, and so my dad grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. So, uh, maybe I'm not too liked in this room for being a Carolina Panthers fan. Um, but, uh, I've adopted the, the Atlanta Braves and so maybe I get some love for that.

(02:46):
But, um, yeah, no, love sports, love watching sports, love hanging out with friends and, and just having a good time, love nature. So, uh, that's a little bit about me, but, uh, yeah, I've been here for about a month and it's been so fun. Um, so hopefully I get to build some roots here.

(03:01):
Good. Any other Liberty graduates in the room today? Like one. There you go. There you go. One, one. They, they're pretty excited about being Liberty Graduates, so you know. <laugh> I got a couple on my team and I'm like, "Liberty graduates go flames." It's like it's, it's like roll tide kind of thing, Alabama people. Uh, they gotta finish with that. So, uh, but yeah, we are blessed. They do produce a lot of amazing, uh, ministry leaders and so we're excited to have, uh, him with us. My microphone almost just fell to the floor. Look at there. Um, but I would love for him to also just tell you a little bit about his story, um, a little bit about his faith, about how God has called him into ministry. So would you mind, uh, just taking a moment and sharing a little bit of that as well?

(03:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I grew up Catholic and so, uh, believed in God, heard the name of Jesus, knew he died on the cross from my sins. Uh, could only tell you that sins are things that you're not supposed to do. Um, and I fell into that category, but didn't really know what that meant. Um, and so that was my whole, whole life growing up through early childhood, middle school, and then even high school. I went to church on Sundays, um, and then fell in love with football and lacrosse and so started playing travel ball and so church kind of faded away as I got older and then transferred to a private boarding school, uh, in a little small town called Saluda, Virginia. And so I went there to play, um, lacrosse and football, do a little bit academics. Um, and so I did that and then COVID hit and COVID was a hard time for a lot of us.

(04:26):
Uh, as a 17, 16, 17 year old kid, I just went on my phone and I scrolled and it was a great time. Um, and so I did that. But then I would find videos of Jesus and I would like it. I'd find another video and I'd like it. I'd be like, "Oh, I'm a Christian. I know what that is. " And eventually after about a month, my whole feed was videos of Jesus. Uh, people preaching the gospel, I'm like, "That's different than what I heard growing up." So I go and Google, "Who is Jesus? What is Christianity?" Different denominations. Uh, it was me, YouTube, looking up church, uh, and Google. And then I bought my first Bible in the fall of 2020 and opened up to the Book of John and I was just trying to figure it out. And my number one dream growing up was playing division one college across.

(05:04):
Uh, and I got that opportunity to, to play, um, at a school nearby, home, for ride division one scholarship. Uh, it was the most empty I ever felt. And I remember thinking, "There has to be more to life than just this. " Uh, and so I kept seeking God, uh, and through that, uh, what I thought was everything I wanted in life, uh, I was just empty, dealt with some mental health battles and, and stuff like that back then. Um, but eventually went to Liberty University to play lacrosse. Uh, just felt talking in my heart that, "Hey, I need to go here and hurt the gospel for the very first time on August 25th, 2021. Uh, and so right there in that moment gave my life to the Lord. Three months later, God would call me into ministry, uh, and I'd pick up the phone and I'd say, Oh, God's calling.

(05:47):
Now's a really good time as he's calling me into ministry, maybe I'll set up my voicemail. And, uh, I'm, that's not for me. Um, and thought, uh, man, God, why would you wanna use me? Uh, and remember thinking that. And eight months goes by and eventually I'm like, okay, Lord, if you want me to do this, I'll do it. Uh, and I, I could tell you, honestly, there's nothing I'd rather do with my life than to serve the next generation to make the name of Jesus known and to see young people follow him with all his heart. And so that's a little bit of my story. Uh, my call to ministry, uh, and I love it. There's nothing else I'd rather do.

(06:20):
Yeah. So as I introduced him, I told you he's gonna be working with middle school students and a lot of times whenever you tell someone you work with middle school students, people go, "Ah, bless you. Such a special calling." <laugh> I, like, I got that for years. So I get it. My wife's a middle school teacher. We've got some middle school teachers in the room. You've probably heard that as well. Like, that's a very special calling kind of thing. So, so it's a great question to ask you this next one is, is what is it about midd school students though? What is it about midd school students that God's given you such a passion, uh, for serving in that lane?

(06:47):
Yeah. Great question. Uh, so I think the biggest thing that comes to mind, uh, is they're so moldable, which is like a high, it's, it's an honor, but it's also kind of like, okay, like, let me make sure we're teaching the right stuff. Mm-hmm. Um, because whatever you teach them, they'll soak it up like a sponge. And so you gotta make sure it's rooted in the scripture. You gotta make sure it's rooted in truth. Um, but you gotta make sure that you're setting them up for success in their high school days and college and early young adulthood where your middle school days are, are ch- like super imperative, informative to the person you're gonna end up being. And so my hope, prayer and dream is that in our middle school days with our students, we can actually build the pillars of the faith and we can answer questions like, who is Jesus?

(07:29):
Uh, why do I trust scripture or why should I trust scripture? What does the word say about this issue and this issue and this issue? So that way when you get to high school, okay, they go, "No, I remember this actually in my middle school days. This is truth. This is what God says. This is what I need to believe when in, in, in an age in high school and early college where there is gonna be temptation, where there's gonna be, um, offerings from the world of like, maybe you should try this. " My whole prayer and dream is that they could look back in their middle school days and say, "No, no, no, no, no. This is truth. This is what formed me, uh, and this is what God has called me to do, but more importantly, this is who God called me to be.

(08:05):
" So that's why I love middle school.

(08:07):
That's so good, man. Uh, so this past week, some of you may know this and some of you may not, uh, we spent a week with middle school actually down in Orlando, Florida, uh, doing, uh, missions and camp. It's a event called Collide that we've been doing for a couple of years, about 10 years now we've been doing this event. Um, and this was Brandon's first trip with us. Yeah. It's like, "Hey, here you go. " Um, and so he got to jump in, got to lead, got to be a part of this. Some of these pictures showed just a little bit. But what we do is we do missions in the morning where we're serving in the community, homeless shelters, all different kind of places. And then at night, we do just kind of this camp worship experience at night, that's, which is why it's called Collide.

(08:45):
It's the two opportunities colliding together. Um, and in the midst of that, we took 104 students to go into serve and to do a lot of that. Uh, but he had the opportunity just to get to see some of our students and our leaders, uh, jump into that. So as you got that and as you kind of got to know some of the students and leaders, uh, Brandon, what was something that really encouraged you and made you excited about serving here at Bernekry?

(09:06):
Yeah. Another great question. I would say this is the biggest thing. Um, first of all, everyone have a middle school student here who went on the tr- There you go. That's awesome. I'll say this, um, you're doing a great job. <laugh> I'm so encouraged your, our students not only said, stepped to the plate and, and swung the bat and hit a home run and serving, uh, where we went to a, a homeless ministry where we had an opportunity to serve unsheltered people and one of those things that this ministry offers is free showers. And so they'd go in, they'd get a clean, uh, hot shower and then they'd get out. But between each rotation, uh, they said, "Hey, would you, would you wash the shower? Would you clean it? " Uh, and so man, they put glo- gloves on, scrubbing down with a sponge and soap and rinse it down with water and I'm like, "Man, this is like pretty, like, this is real s- like ministry.

(09:55):
Like we're getting in it. " And there was an abundance of students where there was a line for students to clean these showers- mm-hmm. ... where they said, "No, I wanna do this. I wanna lean in. I'm here for a reason. I wanna do this. " That encouraged me, but what encouraged me even more is like, yes, serving's important, I love it, like, and we should do it. But what stood out more to me was that Jesus has been incorporated in every piece of the puzzle in their life where not only in serving where they put it on maybe a, a hat to say, "No, I wanna serve." They didn't do that. They said, "No, Jesus is in every part of my life."

(10:26):
And I remember even before bed, um, one of our students, Adrian Amos, um, he prayed for the whole room and just said, "God, thank you for today. Thank you for a sweet day. Thank you for an opportunity." And no one told him to pray, but he just started doing it. When we're getting ready in the morning or, or we're getting ready for bed, students are singing worship songs as they're getting ready. And it's like, man, Jesus has not only gotten to their heart of salvation, he's not only gotten to their heart of service and going out and being in the hands of it to Jesus, but they're in every corner, every piece of the puzzle, every part of the pie in their life, he's overall of it. And so I was so encouraged to see that, that they're not only here at the, "Hey, I wanna serve," but they're here saying, "Jesus is ruling over every part of my life and every second I wanna worship him." That was so encouraging to see,

(11:08):
Good. Hey, church, thank you so much for supporting our students for allowing them to go and serve. You've seen this summer has been a pretty amazing summer of not just students but children's ministry as well and our family ministries all the way around where you, because of your investment in them and serving on Sunday mornings in different areas, uh, you've been a huge part of that encouragement that he has seen already of students just getting it. They get it for children getting it and going, "Hey, you know what, this is what God's called me to do. " But man, we are at an amazing church. We're at Bern Hickory, it is not your normal church. It's a church that loves their staff, that loves their, uh, their people and, and takes care of us. And, and so one of the things I wanna ask, uh, Brandon as well is as a church body, as a church family, how is, what is one way that, that this church can be praying for you as you begin this new season of ministry?

(11:55):
No, I love that question. Um, as God, anytime God wants to do something good, which is all the time, the enemy wants to do something bad with it. And so I would just, I would so appreciate your prayers, uh, in protection, in protection that the Lord would be with me that first and foremost, I would cling of the cross, um, daily before anything I ever do for God would it actually just be an overflow of who God's called me to be, and that's his son. Uh, and in that, that our middle school students would see that, um, not only in me, but our whole staff, our team, our volunteers, you as parents, that we would be able to partner together well and say, "How do we raise a generation who loves Jesus?" Not only in serving, not only on mission trips, spend their daily lives, when they get to high school, on their sports teams, in their classrooms, when they go to college and into young adulthood in the workforce, would they say, "Jesus rules over my life, and I want nothing to do other than make his name known." And so, man, it's an honor to partner with y'all.

(12:49):
Um, I just pray that, that we'd be in this for the long haul, uh, for the next five, 10, 15, 20 years, or however the Lord would have here, um, and that we would see a generation raised up to say, "I love Jesus and I want to make his name known."

(13:01):
Amen. When you guys give it up for Brandon, thank him for being on the stage with us this morning. You're going to get multiple more opportunities to, uh, especially if you have a middle schooler or one that's entering into our middle school ministry, our student ministry, uh, to get to know him, uh, to get to, to meet him and, and see where God is going to be using him, uh, for the years ahead as well. So, uh, this morning I get the opportunity to step straight into, uh, the first message of the summer series that we're doing, uh, and it's entitled The Verse That Changed My Life. This is a series that you're gonna get a glimpse of just getting a chance to hear from pastors that hit the stage this summer, a verse that maybe is a memory verse, maybe it's a verse that's absolutely, uh, been a huge impact in who they are as a pastor, as a, as a communicator, as what God has called them to.

(13:52):
And so I get the opportunity to open that up. This week, we'll open it up. Uh, next week, uh, as it was said earlier, will be, uh, a celebration time. It'll be a time that we celebrate, um, and we honor and then the week after that we'll kick right back into this series. So, uh, excited to get to start this off and to get to share a verse, uh, that truly just is all of my calling. It is a part of everything that I do. It's the reason I'm in ministry today. It's the reason I do what I do. Um, I, I remember all the way back when I was in ninth grade when I fully surrendered my life to Jesus and I, and I understood what God was calling me to do and I didn't fully understand it. Just so you know, when I, when I, I wasn't raised in a home full of pastors, I, I wasn't raised in a home that even understood what it meant to be called into ministry.

(14:38):
Uh, I wasn't even sure what it meant to be called even. Uh, it was just one of those things like I wasn't thinking occupational, I wasn't thinking any of that nature, uh, at that time. But in ninth grade, uh, when I had that opportunity to fully surrender and fully just understand and start to develop those moments, uh, this was a verse that really stepped out to me. But at the same time, when I started understanding the calling, I remember so much of looking at God and going, "Lord, you got the wrong person. I'm not the right person for this. " Now I'm an extroverted heart, but what I've learned about being an extroverted person is this. Extroverts get their energy from being around people. Doesn't mean you get your energy from being in front of people. Now, yes, a lot of us have a tendency to be able to step in front of people because of that personality, but at the same time, realistically, we, we pull our energy from being around people and being in crowds.

(15:24):
And so I was not a person that liked to get in front of people, but I loved to be in crowds with people. I enjoyed that moment. So I understood that there was a reason for that personality in me, but I was able to give God every excuse reasonable when it came to understanding that God had called me to ministry. I was like, "Lord, you know I don't like getting on the stage. You know, I don't like stepping in front of people. I'll do anything else you want. I'll serve. I'll work hard." And they were legitimate like answers for me, reasons for me not to do what I do today. And it was all because of fear, fear that kind of stepped in, fear that would constantly tell me that I'm not worthy to do what I'm doing. I shouldn't be doing what I'm doing.

(16:01):
I don't even know what it means to do what I'm gonna be doing. I don't understand that. I'm not sure where you're calling me to do that, but God, I, I've gotta, there's gotta be another way, right? And it was in that calling, in that moment that God gave me Isaiah 41 in verse 10. If you've been around me for any moment of time, you understand, that is a verse that means the world to me. And it is a verse that literally I quote to myself every time before I step on a stage. It is a verse before I step out and do any kind of ministry. Even this past week when, uh, one of the guys came up to me at the homeless shelter and said, "Hey, can you lead a Bible study in five minutes?" I was like, "Sure. Don't know what that means, don't know where we're going, but sure, I'll lead a Bible study in five minutes." And that verse is popping in my head going, "Hey, we're good to go.

(16:44):
Let's do this, right?" But let me read Isaiah 41:10 to you, and then we're gonna dive into a little bit of it today and just kinda unpack this verse. It says this in Isaiah 41 in verse 10. It says, "So do not fear for I am with you. " This is God speaking, "Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." So when we first look at this verse that's very easy to take that verse and just apply it directly, uh, to us that is speaking directly to us. But I think we need to look at the context of that scripture as well. The context of that scripture is it is written to God's chosen people. It is written to Israel. If you look at chapters 40 all the way through 55, it is written in a time that God's people are going through some difficult times, right?

(17:38):
At this time in scripture, these chapters look at times where Judah was, was experiencing exile in Babylon. You see that God's people are facing uncertainty, there's suffering, there's displacement and there are questions of God abandoning them. Like this is a season in their life where they're going, "God, I'm not sure what's going on. I'm not even sure if you're with me anymore." And this is kind of in the earlier part of before some of that happens. And so what we learned very quickly about this verse that I want all of us to get the context of before we step into and start digging into it is this, that the response that God gives us, the answer that God gave them at that moment was this, "You are my chosen people. I've not abandoned you. Exhale will not be the end of your story and I will sustain and preserve you.

(18:27):
" Those are things that he's basically setting it up for when he says this verse to them. What it doesn't say is this, and we have to be very careful that when we read scripture and we take one verse of scripture, that we don't look at that scripture and go, "Oh, this is what it means." And so what it doesn't mean is that God's gonna remove every problem, right? When we read the verse we like to do not fear, I'm with you. Oh, God's gonna take away all my problems. He's gonna take all that away, that God's gonna make everything easy for me, right? If I just say this verse, all my fears are gonna go away, I'm never gonna be afraid. And if I'm afraid, that means I don't have enough faith, right? Like that's what that's gona mean, or nothing bad is ever gonna happen to me as a believer.

(19:05):
That is not what this verse is saying. And so I want us to look at the context of that and understand that what this verse is saying is, it is saying literally, "God, I am present." See, the promise was God's presence and hardship. That's the promise that we see in this verse in its context is that before the exile, before all the chaos, before everything happens, the hardship, God says, "I'm with you. I want you to know that. " And so from the very beginning of the scripture, before we can even get into what it is the meet and the truth that's found in this verse, we have to understand that the promise was God's presence in the hardship. But most of us think courage means not being afraid, right? Most of us think that, that we're not supposed to step in those moments, that courage is the absence of fear.

(19:57):
But can I tell you, courage is obedience in the presence of fear. That is what courage is. And today I want us to understand as we open this scripture up and we learn the truths that God has given us this morning, that we understand that God wants to move in every one of us today. So let's do that. First one is this. I want you to understand about Isaiah 41 of verse 10 is this, fear is real. It's real.

(20:27):
Not once in scripture does God pretend otherwise. Does he not pretend that in Isaiah 41s: 10, he says, "So do not fear." Right from the very beginning, he doesn't say, "Don't be a, stop being afraid, toughen up, get over it. " I get it. Some of us were raised in a generation that was exactly how we were to, to be. Like, like, like, suck it up, kid, toughen up. Don't worry about it. Don't let that con- you know, kind of stuff. That's not what God is saying here. He's not saying that, hey, he's not commanding that, that, that there is no fear. He's acknowledging that there is a reality of fear. So each one of us understand fear is a real thing. It is something that each one of us are going to face. There is going to be uncertainty for the Israeli people exile was coming, enemies were surrounding them.

(21:12):
God never minimized their fear. What he did say was this, is I'm with you. It's real.

(21:20):
See, in this room today, we represent multiple generations. Students have a tendency to fear rejection, which I think is adults we do too, but it's the primary fear for students is rejection. Parents fear for their children, right? We constantly have that fear that maybe something's gonna happen to them so we're the protector, we're the provider, which is our calling. It's our understanding as a parent, young adults fear failure. Like they finish school and they're like, "What's, what's my next step? What if I don't get that job? What if I, what if I don't do ... " And it's a constant fear of failure. What if I mess up? And that's why there's that, that lull kind of moment in young adults. If you're a young adult in the room, you understand what I'm saying. There's that season of just kind of struggle. You're like, "Okay, I got my degree, but no one's hiring me.

(22:08):
" Oh, wait, I, I'm not in a relationship yet, but I really wanna be in one. And there's that fear of what if I fail at this thing of being an adult, right? Like no one teaches us exactly how to be adults, just happens, right? <laugh> Like, no one taught me how to be a dad. I, I messed up a lot, right? I did a lot of things I shouldn't do. Like don't pick your kid up and when there's a fan over your head, okay? <laugh> Key things you just don't do, okay? They don't put that in a book. I should write a book on things not to do. I would do really well. As older adults, we fear sickness and loss, sickness and loss. But as believers, we fear obedience. We fear obedience when the cost is unknown, because we don't know what it's gona cost us.

(22:54):
And see, the f- the issue isn't whether fear exists or not. The issue isn't, is this a real thing? The issue is whether fear will be our master. That's what I want us to understand this morning, that it's real, that it is something that you and I are all gonna deal with. It was something I dealt with that I deal with regularly every time before I step on a stage, which is why I use this verse every time before, because I, I, I always fear simple things like, "Am I gonna wear the right outfit? Am I wearing the same outfit the last time I spoke? I don't really know. A- a- are people gona think when I'm wearing a stupid?" I, these things go through my head in the morning. I promise you, are those the right shoes to go with the outfit? I mean, I'm like, I, I actually shouldn't care, but for some reason that's a fear there.

(23:40):
What if I, my introductory is always the biggest thing I fear the most. How am I gonna get this thing started, right? If I can get the engine started, we're good to go. But what if I say something stupid at the very beginning? Are people gonna laugh at my jokes? Are they not gonna laugh at my jokes? Am I the only one that thinks I'm funny? Uh, or what? You know, all that kind of stuff, okay? But those fears are real, man, they're real things that each one of us ... Can I tell you something about fear? Fear is a terrible competence. It's a terrible compass because it always points away from obedience. For me, I understand that if I don't step into those moments that I'll never be obedient. For you and I in this room, there are moments that we have allowed our fear to control us and we've not stepped into acts of obedience because of those things.

(24:23):
All throughout scripture, fear told Moses not to speak. Fear told Peter to stay in the boat. Fear told the spies not to enter the promised land. Fear told Jonah to run.

(24:36):
Awful compass will never point us in the direction of God's will. Will never lead us to where God desires us to be. Fear always ans- whispers the same message. Play it safe. Stay comfortable, protect yourself. Which is the reason why so many of us will continue to sit in our moments of uncertainty. But the prince, what I want you to understand here is this, the answer to fear isn't the removal of uncertainty. It's the presence of God, which is why in scripture we see some amazing things happening. Craig Rochelle says it this way. "The thing you fear most may be the very thing God wants to use most. "See, a lot of us are afraid to use our talents for God's glory because we're afraid of what others will think, but it brings us into the second truth. God's presence is greater than my fear.

(25:36):
God's presence is greater than my fear. In Isaiah 41-10, it says," Do not fear for I am with you. "God says straight away," I'm with you. "This is the heart of this verse. God doesn't first offer answers. He offers himself. From the very beginning of this, he offers himself going, " Hey, I am with you. No matter what you step into, no matter where you're going, no matter what the outcome is, I am with you. "There is something about presence of a parent that changes fear, right? Like for all of us who have kids, we understand that kids are just innately afraid of the dark. So many of us are too as well. Let's just be honest with ourself. But kids especially are afraid of the dark. Now, I may have enhanced that in my kids because again, I was not always the best at, uh, doing the right things as a dad, right?

(26:25):
Like I remember when my, my oldest was young, probably three or four years old, and I was like, " Hey, buddy, you got to go to your room, go there, get something. "And, and I set it up. Like, I, this is an awful dad moment, okay? It just was. I'm gonna share this with you. I'm confessing it to you. And I remember, I had two of my, my friends over at the house, my wife's sitting there, uh, my son, he finally faces his fear and is gonna take the corner to go down the hall. It wasn't a big house, living room, bedrooms on this side, master on the other side. And I'm like, " Hey buddy, I need you to go to your room and get this. "The minute he turns to the corner, what do I do? I make this awful sound that absolutely terrifies him, like this weird, like, ghostly sound.

(26:59):
He comes screaming, running from that space, right? Like I'm sitting here going, " Awful idea. Don't recommend that for your kid. I'm pretty sure I enhanced his fear of darkness from that moment. Uh, my other kid, you would have thought I'd have learned from that mistake in my life. I didn't because my youngest son I did something very similar to. Um, uh, he was, he was downstairs and we have some, some cameras in certain areas of our house and I can drop into those cameras and I can talk in those cameras, right? And so my son runs downstairs. I have this on a video. It sits on my phone. We watch it occasionally because we're awful people, um, and we love to laugh at things like that. Uh, but my, the funny part is he, he laughs about it now and the moment he was not laughing.

(27:37):
Um, but he goes downstairs, gets a piece of paper. I see him on the camera. I drop it in the camera like, "What are you doing?" He screams, "Bloody murder, because he's the only one downstairs. Lights are on, but he didn't expect a voice to come through, come screaming and yelling. I, I, I'm really upset with myself at this point in time. I'm jumping up going, " It's okay, buddy. It's okay. I'm like, awful dad moment, right? Write it in a book, uh, kind of moment, right? But I remember those things and I probably enhance those moments. But what I've learned as a parent is this, that when my kid is stepping into something of uncomfort, that if I walk with them, it doesn't take the fear away, but it allows them to step into it more confidently, right? Like my kid is more willing to step into that room of darkness when I'm holding their hand and when I walk into the room with them.

(28:25):
They're much more likely to jump into the deep end when I'm in the deep end with them to catch them. It's the same thing we see in scripture here. God's presence is greater than my fear. The fact that God is present, the fact that God is there holding our hand in the midst of ... See, mo- most of us forget that. We think we're alone. We're not alone. If you are a Christ follower, you are not alone. He literally says, "Do not fear, I am with you. " See, God's presence is one of the greatest blessings believers possess. The fact that God is with us, that God is present isn't symbolic. It is real. It is a thing that the God of the universe who created it all, who breathed life into creation, who came down out of heaven to lay himself up on a cross for us.

(29:19):
He says, literally, "I am with you.

(29:24):
I, I may not take your fear away. I may not, but I will walk into that fear with you. I will walk into that place with you. I will step into there. I will prepare you for that. " For me, that was me. See, my fear of public speaking didn't go away overnight. It still comes up all the time. My claim to fame is that God started to create, um, my ability to step on stage not long after my, my call to ministry. Um, when I was in, in high school, I was, I was a wrestler baseball guy. I was that kind of guy that's what I loved to do, wasn't great at it. But I loved to play it. I was really good at juggling baseballs because that's where I sat most of the time. <laugh>

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But, uh, especially the one hand, you know, got really good at that one. It's a, that's not my name to claim. Uh, but my name to claim was that, that I, I was kind of felt this calling to try out for play. I wasn't a theater person, wasn't that. Um, I was like, okay, not my thing, but I, I'll do it, whatever. Um, so I thought I was gona try out for this play and I thought, okay, well, I'm an athlete. I'm a little arrogant probably in myself at this moment. I'm like, I'll probably get like the main part. Like you just kind of go into that as an, as an athlete thinking that's exactly who you're gonna be. Um, and so I remember going in there and I didn't get the main part. Um, I got the part as a door. <laugh>

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That was me. I literally held a board in front of my face and I would go, "Eh." <laugh> I did that for Luke Bryan, uh, who's now a professional country singer. That's my name to fame is that I was the door that opened it up for him, uh, into his, his rest of his life making what he does, okay? Uh, but I remember he was obviously the main character for reasons that should be, uh, because it was a musical. I can't sing, he can. Um, and so that was my job. And that was literally the start of me getting on a stage in front of people was being a door. I held a board in front of my face and I opened the door when he knocked on it and I shut the door when he did. You could probably find it on YouTube if you look up Luke somewhere, uh, there's a video, it's funny.

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Uh, but it was one of those things that, that, uh, that's literally where I started in that moment. But it was in those moments that I didn't realize that God was just preparing my heart to step into those hard times, those hard times. See, God's been doing that in some of your lives already. He's been making you the door. He's been putting you in places that you're absolutely terrified. But he says, "Do not fear I'm with you. Do not fear I'm with you. I've got you. I'm here with you. " Romans eight and verse 31 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" He literally says, "Hey, I get him. You are afraid. There is moments that you know you're supposed to step into your office and you're supposed to live boldly for Jesus. You're supposed to step into your household and you don't know how to lead your family, but God has called you to lead your family.

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God has called you to be the spiritual leader. God has called you to be the wife, the child, the whatever that God has called you to be. He has called you to be the athlete on that field that is going to proclaim the name of Jesus and you're afraid to do that. But he's given you the talent. He's given you the gifts to do that. And he says, I'm with you. If I'm with you, who can be against you? For example, Moses, when he comes to the burning bush, he says," I can't speak, Lord. "Which basically means I, I don't really know how to speak the language. I don't really know how to speak to him directly. I, I, I don't even have that ability to do that. Could you send somebody else valid reason for Moses? But God doesn't answer you're a great speaker.

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He doesn't look at him saying," No, no, no. Moses, you're a phenomenal communicator. "What he says in Exodus three and verse 12, he says," I'll be with you. "That's what he says. He doesn't say," I'm gonna take your fear away. "He says," What I'm gona promise you is this, is that matter, no matter what you step into, I will be with you. "See, God's answer to fear is rarely more confidence in yourself. It's deeper confidence in him.

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When we rely on the king, when we hold his hand, we can step into the darknes. We can jump into the deep end because our Father is with us. The third truth we see in the scripture is this God's calling requires faith, not feelings. Faith, not feelings. Back to Isaiah 41:10, says," So do not fear for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. "If you look at that word dismayed, it means overwhelmed or discouraged. And God is reminding the people of Israel. He says," I am your God. I'm your God. Believe in me. Trust me. "See, the premise I want you to understand is this. Identity precedes obedience.

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Identifying identity precedes it. See, belonging to God brings about bravery and confidence. Understanding that we serve a king that says," I'm with you. I am your God. "Gives us the ability to step into the hardships, the uncertainties, the difficulties, the things that make us nervous. And so when you share your faith, it's not that you're not gonna long, no longer be nervous. No, there's still gonna be times of nervousness. It's not that you're necessarily always gonna serve with more confidence, because many people are waiting for those things to disappear before they're gonna be obedient. Many of us are like, " Hey, I, I, I need to get this straight first and then I'll face it. "You know, let me get this in line first. Let me practice sharing my faith a little more before I step out and do it. A students say it all the time, like, " Hey, I, I don't really know how to do this, so I'm gonna, I'm not gonna do that just yet.

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As adults, we do it too. Like, I'm just not sure. What if I, what if I do it wrong? You know the only way to share your faith wrong is not to share your faith at all.

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That's the only way. But so many of us are like, "You know what? I need to wait for this fear to disappear before I can be obedient. I need, I need to be obedient. I'm gonna, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna wait on my giving. I'm gonna wait on my obedience. I'm gonna wait on leading. I'm gonna wait on teaching. I'm gonna wait on serving. I'm gonna wait on going on that mission trip. I'm gonna wait on doing all those things. But here's the thing I need you to understand. If you wait until you're fearless to obey God, you'll spend your life waiting.

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You will spend your life waiting. So don't wait. Understand the fact that God is with you. He says, Do not be disc- discouraged, do not be dismayed. He says," I am your God. I'm here. "And one of the things I've learned in the, over the years is that sometimes our biggest obstacle isn't standing in front of us. It, it is us when it comes to being obedient. See, life has a way of putting obstacles in our path that make us feel a little overwhelmed. And when this happens, my natural instincts is to be a problem solver. I've learned in my marriage that sometimes I just need to listen. I don't need to fix my wife's problems. Sometimes she just needs me to listen. But I'm naturally a problem solver. I naturally wanna dig in and just fix it. And, and sometimes I'm like, " I've got the answer.

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Let me fix that. Uh, I, I can do this.

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"But knowing the truth and actually living the truth are two different things. And man, I wanna encourage you to understand that when he says," I am with you, I am your God. "He's saying," Hey, I need you to understand I've got this. "A great example of this is Peter when he steps out of the boat. When he steps out of the boat and he starts to walk to Jesus, right? Yo have to know. I, I, I cannot believe with any of my heart to believe that when Peter finally had the courage to step out of that boat, that there wasn't a fear of what if this doesn't work? You know? I, I don't care who you are. There's gotta be a moment. But it wasn't the what if this doesn't work. He put his eyes on Jesus and he stepped out doing the uncertainty, not a feeling because in, in his feelings, he was sitting here going, " I'm not walking on water.

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That's a storm right there. There's water that's going crazy. And in his head, in his natural head, he's gotta be going, "This may not work out, but I'm going for it, right?" And he steps out and he walks toward Jesus, but I want you to understand something and see something here. The example that we see as long as he had his eyes fixed on Jesus, he was walking to water. He was walking towards Jesus, but here's the beauty of it all. Here's the craziness of it all. The minute he took his eyes off of Jesus and looked back at the fear, looked back at the problem, the fear was still there. It was still absolutely present. I've got to believe that every step was another step of, oh my goodness, this may not work. Oh my goodness, this may not work. But he kept walking, kept stepping, kept walking to the Savior.

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But the minute he took his eyes off of what happened, he started to sink. He put his eyes back on the fear, back on the storm, he started singing. But here's the beauty. Jesus was present. The minute he started to sink in the midst of his fear, Jesus picks him back up, doesn't carry him back to the boat, walks him back to the boat.

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It would have been easy for him just to pick him up and carry him, but he didn't. He allowed him to continue to walk in that fear. He allowed him to walk hand in hand with him in that fear because he said," I'm your God. I'm here for you. You may be consumed with your fear. You may be consumed with those things. It may be a diagnosis. It may be a financial pressure. It may be an uncertainty. It may be a criticism. It may be a fear of failure. And before long, if you're not careful, you're going to be so focused on that storm and not the savior.

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But here's the principle I want you to understand. Surrender is not giving up. Surrender is trusting God's power more than my own. So for some of us today, we just need to surrender. Go, God, you're my God. And God, I'm surrendering. I, I don't know how this is gonna end. I don't know what's gonna happen in the midst of this uncertainty, but what I do know is I'm about to walk on water. What I do know is I'm gonna step out and I'm gonna be obedient even when it doesn't make sense because you've called me to this. I will not fear. I will not fear for I am with you.

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See, fear grows when I focus on what I can't control. Faith grows when I focus on the God who is already in control. Then my last truth is this. God's strength meets us where we are weak. Isaiah 41:10, it says, "So do not fear for I'm with you. Do not be us made for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. And I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." So you notice the repetition that's in this verse that God gives three promises in this verse. He starts out and he says, "I will strengthen you. " Hey, I, I will strengthen you when it is uncertain for what you must do. God says, "I'm preparing you. I've prepared you. I put you on a stage as a door to prepare you to step on a stage one day, to be able to share the gospel, to be able to encourage people and challenge people.

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I put you there for a reason. I'm preparing you for that. I will strengthen you. Now, strength takes time, but I'm gonna keep strengthening you. I'm gonna keep working in you. I'm gona keep putting you in those situations as long as you're obedient. But not only that, I'm gonna help you while you're doing it. When you step into that moment that you're like, oh my goodness, what am I doing? Why am I having this conversation with this person? Why am I stepping into this moment in this area of my life? Why am I taking this promotion? Why am I making this move? Why am I doing these things? Why am I stepping out in faith and going on this trip? I'm afraid Planes. I don't know. Why am I doing what I'm doing? Because he says I will help you while you're doing it. But then the beautiful thing he says, I will uphold you.

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When you feel like you can't continue, when you feel like you're starting to sink in the water, when you feel like, God, I've stepped out and I'm in exile and I feel like I've been abandoned, he goes, "No, you have not. I am present. I am your God. I am with you and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand just like I will hold my kids hand when I step in darkness. My Father will hold my hand and he will uphold me in the midst of my fear.

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He will uphold me for his glory." See, think about that moment for just a second. God never intended for us to carry the weight of life on our own shoulders. Often we try to. We pray, but then we worry. We ask God to lead, but then we grab the steering wheel back. We say we trust him, but then we spend all our energy trying to control the situation. And there's been countless times I've caught myself doing this. There's countless times you and I do this as well. Josh McDowell says this. God never asked us to do what he's not promised to empower us to do.

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God has given you the strength. God has said, I will uphold you. God has said I am with you. God has said I am your God. He says, "Fear is real. I get it, but I'll carry you through it. He came out of heaven. See, the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah 41:10 is Jesus. Jesus entered our fearful world. He experienced suffering on our behalf. He faced the cross for you and I. And then he made the promise. Matthew 28:20, I am with you always to the end of ages. So what do you fear? What fear is standing between you and obedience today? What is it that you know God's been calling you to do?

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He's been challenging you to do, but you've stopped and not been willing to do. You've run. What is it that's stopping you? Can I help you with one last principle? See, the absence of fear is not the goal of Christian life. Obedient faith in the presence of furious. Let's c- call you to be obedient today. It's not an absence of fear. It's obedience. What's stopping you from going out into this world today and telling someone about Jesus? From being the leader in your house, from being the spiritual person in your school, in your workplace, where he's placed you and talented you and gifted you with. What's stopping you? Do not fear for I'm with you. Do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you and I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. May you live that verse today.

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