Trust Beyond Understanding

Good morning, church. How we doing this morning? >> Come on. God is so good and worthy. So, let's stand together and give him worship this morning and the praise he deserves. Come on. This is my story. I'll testify the blessings on blessings you put on my life. When I stop you, fear turns to worship, tears to praise. Chains of depression, broken by grace. Cannot stop remembering how good you've been. Here we go. You've been so so so so good to me. You've been so so so so good to me. Yeah. The enemy's weapons fall to the ground. Armies of heaven always surround how you carry my cross. You call me by name. You love me like I was. But you wouldn't leave me that way. Was dead now I live. Yeah, that's what you did. >> Yeah. You've been so so so so so good to me. You've been so so so so good to me. From morning to night, the lows and the highs. I look back on my life and all that I see is you've been so so so so good to me. Yeah. You've been so good. When I say God is good. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say all the time, you say God is good. When I say God is good, you say all the time. When I say all the time, you say God is good. When I say God is good, you say all the time. >> I say all the time. You say God is good. But I say God is good. You say all the time. And I say all the time. You say God is good. >> So so so so good to me. You have you been so so so so good to me. The lows and the highs. I look back on my life and all that I see through morning tonight. The lows and the highs. I look back on my life and all that I see is you've been so so so so good to me. So good. So good. You've been so so so so so good to me. You've been so so so so good to me. >> So good. So good. So good. >> So so so so good to me. >> Yeah. You so so so so good. You're worthy. >> You're so good, God. >> You go before us. When it looks like I'm surrounded by the enemy and it feels like hope is far beyond my reach. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours, >> sir. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. The battle is yours, Lord. The battle is yours. Yes, it's yours. >> When the seas agree that they should rage against me, >> and the storm pours it wrath upon my head. There's a name that's sure to save is never failing. Jesus, my salvation and my shield. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. Always yours. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. It's always yours. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. It's always yours. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. It's always yours. All we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name. And the enemy runs away. All we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name and the enemy runs away. All we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name. And the enemy runs away. All we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name and the enemy runs away. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. Always yours. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. It's always yours. All we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name. And the enemy runs away. I know. I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. You say >> the battle is yours. Always yours. >> I know the battle. I know the battle. I know the battle. The battle is yours. always. All we have to do, all we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name. And the enemy runs away. All we have to do is start singing. All we have to do is start praising your name. And the enemy runs away. All you have to do is sing. Oh Jesus. Come on. So we have to do is start sing. All we have to do is start praising your name. And the enmy runs away. All we have to do is stop sing. >> All we have to do is stop praising your name. And the enmy runs away. I could sing your name for all my life and still find more to love each Jesus be the name ever on my lips. Sweeter every time that I call on it. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name makes me cry. Holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Oh Jesus, you're worthy. You have been the friend to never left. I won't forget your faithfulness. Jesus be the name ever on my lips. >> Sweeter every time that I call on it. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's something about your name that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name. There's just something about your name >> that makes me cry holy. There is no other name. There is no other name. There is no other name. Jesus, you're worthy. Yeah. Oh, you're worthy, Lord. And this morning we give you praise. Oh, you're worthy of all we are. No, we can't give you. Holy is who you are. You are Jesus. Your name is like the morning light. The one the darkness can deny the resurrection and the life. Jesus. Jesus. Your name can save. Your name can heal. Your name can make the storm be still. You never fail. You never will. Jesus. Jesus the bread of life broken for us. The wounds in the world one and last and still to come. Jesus. Jesus the king who overwhelmed the great. The Lord who will forever reign. The name above all other names. Jesus. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Oh Jesus be the name. The gas on the glory. Oh Jesus. You're worthy, Lord Jesus. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. The cast of the glory. Oh Jesus, we give you praise. We give you praise. We give you praise. Come on, church. Give him praise right now. He's worthy. Lift up your song in this place. Lift up your song in this place. You're worthy of everything, Lord. You're worthy, Lord. Come right now, Holy Spirit. We invite you in this place. Come right now, Holy Spirit. Come and have your way. >> The one who made the stars. >> Jesus. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. >> Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. >> The ceiling in your name. >> The ceiling in your name. >> The ceiling in your name. It makes me cry holy. There's freom in your name. Freedom in your name. There's freedom in your name. It makes me cry holy. There's salvation in your name. >> Salvation in your name. >> Salvation in your name. It makes me cry holy. So Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. >> Jesus be the name that gets all the glory. >> Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name. Jesus be the name that gets all the glory be the name Lord over our lives. Jesus. Who thought I'd find you know his place? Who thought you'd meet me in the crowd? Who knew you'd make it off my mistakes? Nothing like I thought you were. You better. What a good What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. I thought you'd show for affection. What kind of God looks for the lost? They say it's over for the sinner, but you said no it's not. No, it's not. You say, "No, it's not. No, it's not." What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. Who you are. What a God. What a God. Oh, what a God you are that I get to serve you. And if the highest place I reach is at your feet, then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, then I've seen it all. Your love has changed my life. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. If the highest place I reach is at your feet, then I've done it all. If the best thing that I see is your glory. Then I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life. Forever satisfied. You were my one thing. Your one word is the only thing you speak. Can I burn it all? If I feel your heart and never see your hands, I still have it all. No treasure of this life could ever satisfy. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my What a god. What a god. What a god. What a god. What a god. What a god. What a god. What a god. In the highest in the highest place I reaches. inside your feet. Then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory. Then I've seen it all. Your love will save my life. Forever satisfied. You are my everything. My word is the only thing you see that I've heard it all. Feel your heart and never see your hand. I still have it all. No treasure of this life could ever satisfy. You are my everything. You are my everything. You are my God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. What a God. Yeah. So if the highest place reaches at your feet, then I've done it all. If the best thing that I've seen is your glory, >> then I've seen it all. Your love has saved my life forever. You are my >> one word is the only thing. In one word is the only thing you speak. >> Then I've heard it all. If I feel your heart and never see your hand, I still have it all. >> No treasure, >> no treasure of this life. Could ever sisfy. You are my everything. Oh, you are my everything. I worship you. >> You are my >> Oh, you are my everything. >> You are my everything. >> You are my everything. >> You are my everything. >> Be my everything. Be my everything. I give you my whole heart again. Take over me. Be my everything. Be my everything. I'll choose to live for you again. I choose to step out of that boat. I choose to run into your world to the world again and again. Oh, be my everything. Oh, be my everything. No matter what I face, you are there. No matter the battle before me, you are there. No matter. You go before me. You go before me. Every battle I fight in your strength. Your strength. Your strength. So this is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how >> I find my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how >> well this is how this fight. How do we fight on our knees and pray before you? >> This is how I find my battles. This is how I find my battles. This is how I find my battle. This is how This is how I find my battle. This is how I find my battle. This is how I find my battle. This is how Oh, this is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. This is how it may look like. >> This is how I fight my battles. This is how my heart is. This is how >> It may look like It may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. >> It may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. >> May look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. It may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded. >> Come on, let's declare it. >> It may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. Yeah. It may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. Oh, it may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you. Yeah. Surrounded by your love and you go for me. So let's remind the devil. This is how I fight my battles. >> This is how I fight my battles. >> This is how I fight my battles. This is >> This is how I fight my battles. >> This is how I fight my battles. >> It's all about praise. >> It's all about praise. >> We praise through our battle. >> This is our fight, my battle. We praise our God. This is our fight. This is how this is my >> You deserve all the glory, Lord. You deserve the glory and the honor. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we lift your holy name. You deserve the glory and the earth. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we lift your holy name. You are great. You've been miracles so great. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you. You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you. Turn singing. There is no one else like you. You deserve the glory and the honor. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we lift your holy name. You deserve the glory and the honor. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we are great. You are great. Lift it up. Sing. You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you. There's no one. There is no one else like you. You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you. Let's sing it one more time, church. Oh, you deserve the glory and the honor. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we lift your holy name. You deserve the glory and be honor, Lord, and be honor. Lord, we lift our hands in worship as we lift your holy name. You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you are. You are great. You do miracles so great. There is no one else like you. There is you are you are you are you are great. You do miracles so great. Yes Lord. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you. You are great. You do miracles so great. But there is no one else like you. There is no one else like you. There is no one like you, Lord. No one else like you. There is no one else like you. You are great. You do so great. There is no one else like you. There is no one else like you. We will be taking our communion this morning. Please, if you do not have a communion port, just signify by raising up your hand and someone will get it to you. We take our communion in remembrance of the blood of Jesus that was shed for us and that by the blood of Jesus that our sins are forgiven and that we are alive in Christ. This morning I'll be reading from the book of Matthew. Matthew 26 from verse 26. I read, "And as they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, and broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, "Take Eat this is my body. >> Let's take the bread and let's eat. Then he took the cup and he gave thanks and he gave it to them saying, "Drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Let's drink. This morning as we have partaken in the communion, I just want us to pray and speak upon our lives that the blood of Jesus will speak over us as a family. I want us to declare over our lives, over our us as a church, that the blood of Jesus will speak for us that everything we do, the blood of Jesus will speak for us. that life will come into us, into our lives, into everything we do, everything we put our hands to do. That as God has commanded for us to do this in remembrance of him, in remembrance of the efficacy in the blood of Jesus, in the remembrance of the sacrifice, that indeed we will live in that remembrance. remembering that indeed that Jesus died for us. And because of that, we have come into a new covenant, a covenant of life, a covenant of life, a covenant of life. In the name of Jesus, I want us to speak life upon us. Speak life upon your businesses. Speak life upon your family. Speak life upon your children. Father, we thank you. We come into reality of who you are and who the what the blood of Jesus represents for us. WE SPEAK THAT THE BLOOD of Jesus will would show forth for us in the name of Jesus. As a church, AS AN ALIVE FAMILY, WE CALL FORTH THAT THE BLOOD OF Jesus will speak for us. Father, we thank you. We thank you for the opportunity to partake in this, to eat of your body and to drink of your blood. Lord, we give you praise. Father, we thank you. We thank you because we walk in the reality of what you've done for us and we partake of this covenant. Father, we give you thanks. In Jesus name we have prayed. >> Amen. >> I just want you. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will I just want you. >> Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you. Nothing else and nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you. Nothing else. >> I just want you. >> Nothing else. >> I just want you nothing else. >> I just I just want you. >> Nothing else. >> I just want you. I just want future else. Nothing else will do. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you. Nothing else. >> Nothing else. >> Nothing else will do. >> Oh, you're worthy of my praise. Oh, we just want you. >> We want your fire. We just want your fire. >> Nothing else >> in our lives. Nothing else, nothing else will do. Cuz I just want you. >> Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. Oh God, just want Jesus, Lord. Nothing else. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. I just want you. Nothing else. Yes, Lord. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. >> I just want you. >> Oh Lord Jesus, nothing else. We want you Lord. Nothing else. Nothing else will do. Lord, feel us, Lord. Nothing else. Nothing else for all of you, Lord. All of you, Lord Jesus. We are hungry for you, Aba Father. Nothing else. All we want is you. Oh, all we want is you, Lord Jesus. Because without you, without you, without you, Lord Jesus. All we want is you. Nothing else, nothing else will do. Nothing else can fill that space. Nothing else can fill that space. Aba Father, all we want, Lord Jesus, is you. All we want is you, Lord. All All we want, all we hunger for, ALL WE DREAM FOR, ALL we aspire for, all we want is you. All, all we want, all we want. Oh Lord, we worship you, Lord. We give you praise. All we want is you. Nothing else. Nothing else matters. Nothing else. Because if we have you, we have everything. If we have God, we have everything. Lord, WE WANT YOUR SPIRIT. WE WANT YOUR SPIRIT TO DWELL RICHLY IN US. WE WANT YOUR SPIRIT TO DWELL RICHLY in us. We hunger for you. We want you, LORD JESUS, TO DWELL RICHLY in our hearts. OH, WE WANT YOU TO DAILY, DAILY, DAILY, daily showing up, DAILY SHOWING UP, DAILY SHOWING UP. LORD, we want you, LORD. WE WANT YOU. WE WANT your spirit not to depart from us. We hunger for you. WE HUNGER FOR YOU. OUR HEARTS ARE YEARNING. OUR HEARTS ARE YEARNING for you, Lord Jesus. LET YOUR HEART OPEN TO be filled. Open your heart to be filled by God this morning. The presence of God is in the house. OPEN YOUR HEART to be filled by God. There is NOTHING ELSE WE WANT. NOTHING ELSE WE WANT. Nothing else we want but you, Lord Jesus. Nothing else we want but you, our father. Nothing else we want. Oh, open up your HEART TO BE FILLED BY God this morning. Hey Lord Jesus, we want nothing. Nothing else. Nothing else. All but you. All but you. All but you. Lord, we give you praise. Father, we thank you for your sweet spirit. We open up our SPIRIT MAN TO BE IMPACTED by you. We open up our spirit man to be impacted by you, Lord. Yes, our father, we are ready. We receive. We receive. We receive. We want nothing. Nothing more but you. We hunger for you. We thirst for you. We want you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Oh Lord, we are grateful. We thank you that each each time we come into your presence, you show forth. You show forth with your peace. You show forth with that peace. We thank you for your presence. The presence of God is in the house. And if indeed you're believing God to show up in your life, if you're believing to have to have a closer relationship with God, if you're believing to encounter God, if you're believing to to to to go into a different level in the knowledge of who he is, God is here in the house. If you're believing to to to encounter him on a different level, ON A PERSONAL LEVEL, you're believing to know God on a personal level, not just congregational. He's here. He's here. Just reach out. He's here. He is here. Just reach out to him. He is here. Oh, he says, "OPEN UP YOUR HEART." HE SAYS, "I KNOCK. I KNOCK. I KNOCK AT THE DOOR." GOD is knocking at your heart. He's knocking at your heart. Open up. Open up. He's here. God says he's refining hearts and he's building relationships. He's refining hearts and building relationships. He's refining hearts and he's building relationships. He is refining hearts and he is building relationships. He's refining hearts and he's building relationships. Draw me close to you. Never let me go. >> Lay it all down again. >> Help me, Roslin. Help me. You are my desire. >> Nothing else can take your place. See the warmth of your >> Help me find my way. >> You You're all I want. >> You're all I ever need. >> Yes, Lord. You're help. You're all I ever needed. >> You're all I want. >> Help me know you want. Help me know. You're all I ever needed. >> You're all I want. >> Father Lord, we thank you for your presence. Father, we thank you. We bow our knees, Aba, Father, to thank you. Lord, we give you praise. Father, we give you honor. Father, we thank you for this morning because indeed you said you are building relationships and you're refining hearts. Father, we thank you, Lord. We bless you, Father. Father, we give you thanks. We thank you for taking out time to come and impact on us. We do not take this for granted. Aba Father, we don't take your presence for granted. Lord, we thank you, Lord. We worship you, Father. We give you praise, Lord. We give you thanks. We bow before you. We bow and worship you. We thank you, Lord Jesus. In Jesus' name, we have worshiped. Amen. Amen. You're welcome to church. It's so hard drawing out of that, but we need to move up in the service. We need to move up in the service. I will just be calling Addi shortly to come forward. He has a little word for us. Praise God. I'll try to maintain this as short as possible so I don't get you know tearing. on Sunday. Was it on Sunday after the camp? I was with pastor Joe and um Jono and we were talking about being a good father. Then we so we spoke about lots of things and we talk we talked about different things but one thing was that throughout the journey to Cisel we kept talking about my father and relationship we had. I didn't know that, you know, that would be the last day that my father would spend on earth. And we came back and Joe just told me to do some things and be a good father myself and that was all. So, for some reason, my wife kept pressing me to call my father that day, but I was like, "Ah, no, I'll do it later. No, I'll do it later." But she went ahead, she did a video call, so we spoke and we all laughed. That was it. on Monday morning 9:30 the news came it was difficult but uh I couldn't understand I spoke to someone yesterday hail and heart here and he asked me to send him the names I mean the birthday dates of my kids so he will keep them I said I'll do it later now why am I saying is for some of us we have a lot of things we keep in mind and we say we'll do it later but no one is assured of tomorrow whatever we need to do make steps make right with God we need to do it now or tomorrow might be too late that's just on the side note I just want to thank the church for everything they did, all the prayers, all the support from the leadership, Pastor Phil and Pastor Joe. Thank you very much. uh and everyone who supported in my while I was there my wife kept calling me told me lots of people called her and people reached out to help her and all that and the names are too numerous to mention from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of my family I just want to say a big thank you that in the time of the confusion you came you helped and you went far in seeing that everyone was comfortable in my absence. I really appreciate everything that was done for me and my family, all the prayers. I just pray that God will bless you all and continue to keep us safe in good health. Thank you very much. We thank God for a successful journey going back home to Nigeria to bury dad. We thank God for taking you safely and bringing you safely. Yes, we're so grateful for that. And we also thank God for a successful burial ceremony of daddy. We love you, Addy and Roslin. We love you. We love you so much. We love your family so much. We love you. We love you. We'll be taking our offerings, our titan offerings. We have um a QR code up here which you could use to give to God. Um if it's your first time in the house, it's what we do. We believe in giving to God, but it's not you're not compelled to do that. Please, please, we have our notices um on the church app so we could all see it and be updated of what we have happening this week. Children, are you ready to go to children's church? Yep. Come on, guys. You excited? Yeah. Ready to go? Yeah. Not really. This morning, join me as we welcome Sarah for the word. I'm excited to hear from Sarah this morning. Yes. Good morning. How are we doing church? Are we good? >> You can answer. Are we good? Hey, good. Right, I'm gonna waffle because uh John's got my notes. He's multitasking. Great. Well, I love it how the worship has led us in to what I want to speak about today. So, I'm going to jump straight on in and I want to look at trust beyond understanding. Trust beyond understanding. Who thinks trusting is always easy? Anyone want to put their hands up? I don't think it's always easy. Sometimes it's hard to trust in someone or something. We get hurt, don't we? We get let down. We can get betrayed by systems, processes, people might be unintentional, but we experience those things. And is anyone with me when they think, you know what, I'll just trust on myself. Anyone think, you know what, I've got this. I' I I can do this. I can sort it. I don't need other people. I don't need other things. I can do it. I've certainly had that thought in my life on a number of occasions. We get bombarded by information, don't we? In today's world, whether that's through news, whether that's through social media channels, whether that's just through gossip or whatever it might be, we get a whole load of information hurled at us every single day. And sometimes we might want to put our trust in that for whatever reason. We might think, well, actually, maybe that makes a bit of sense. Maybe I'm going to put my trust in that theory or that idea or that potential solution for whatever it might be. We might put our trust in things like money or governments or maybe people that we look up to. Even if they're not people we know, but people we see online, celebrities or people in the public eye, we might take on board some of the things they're saying, some of the ways they're behaving because actually I can relate to that. So, I think I'm going to, you know, align myself to that and maybe put my trust in that. But whatever we feel, whatever we go through, whatever we think we might want to trust in, there's someone who ultimately we need to be putting our trust in, and that's God. Ultimately, we need to be putting our trust in God. And we're going to spend just a bit of time looking at a um two verses in the Bible that we might be familiar with. They're quite popular verses that get mentioned a lot. Some of you might even be working it out already about which book and where I'm heading. But I want to look in the book of Proverbs. Yeah. Where am I going, Ruth? >> I want to look at Proverbs chapter 3, verse five and verse six. 67. Yeah. Not quite 67. 56 doesn't really work, does it? Yeah. 67. Actually, that might come in handy a bit later. 67. Okay. So, I'm going to read this in the New King James Version. You can follow it on the screen behind me. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. And the Bible's got loads of different um versions and translations. And I just want to read to you how it's phrased um in the message version. And we can't go through lots of different versions today, but sometimes I love just looking at a couple of verses and seeing what different translations and how they've interpreted it because sometimes it gives you a a new idea and a new perspective on what it's talking about. And uh yeah, and that's partly why I want us to look at this as well because it just phrases it slightly differently. So in the message version, exactly the same section. Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don't try to figure out everything on your own. I am speaking to myself, Sarah, but all of you as well. Don't try and figure it out on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do. Everywhere you go, he's the one who will keep you on track. He's the one that will keep you on track. It doesn't say your partner. It doesn't say your family member. It doesn't say your best friend. It doesn't say your neighbor. It doesn't say that influencer. It doesn't say social media. It doesn't say that theory. It doesn't say that power. It doesn't say that government or that influence. It doesn't say any of that. It says he, God, is the one that will keep you on track. And there is so much that we could delve into in this and so much that I'm excited about, but I am going to try and whip through this. Are you ready? >> We are going to through this. I'm going to be bold and brave and say I'm going to finish on time. I mean, that's hard enough when I, you know, on on a good day, but I'm looking at the time now. BUT WHO'S TRUSTING IN GOD THAT I CAN FINISH ON TIME? >> HEY, COME ON. I'm bold. I'm feeling brave. Come on, God. We can do this. So, I'm going to break it down and I'm just going to scratch the surface on some little bits of hopefully what we can take from this passage today and apply to our own lives. So, firstly, trust in the Lord. Trust in the Lord. I've already said sometimes that's not easy. I get that. I've had times in my life where I didn't want to trust anyone. No thanks. I can do this on my own. I've been hurt enough and let down enough. I've got this. So trust can be really difficult when we're facing different situations, different struggles, different circumstances, whatever it might be, decisions, it can be really hard. But God says, "Trust in the Lord." You know, this book, the Bible, is jam-packed of evidence of people putting their trust in God. This encourages us. That's one of the reasons God wants us to read the Bible, read the word, because when we read it, we our faith increases because we think, "Hang on a minute. God did that for them. He can do that for me today." It is jam-packed of stories of people, ordinary people putting their trust in God. We can encourage one another by sharing stories and testimonies of when we've put our trust in God and we've seen him answer. When we've seen a result, we can encourage one another and that helps us increase our faith and put our trust in God. But who knows trust is hard when it defies human logic. When it goes against human logic. Yeah. Who knows? I find trust really hard when it doesn't make sense. When it makes zero sense in the natural. I'm like, hang on a minute. That makes no sense. I've shared this story before and so I'm not going to go into all of the details, but years ago I was in a job that I absolutely loved, but I had to make a decision. There were job cuts and I had to make a decision of whether to stay in the job but on reduced hours or whether to go and be made redundant. So the human logic would say what what would the human logic say? stay and have some money or go into I don't know what. >> The human logic would say, "Well, stay where you are, Sarah. It makes sense. Why don't I just stay here because I'm going to get some money, not all of the money, but I'm going to get some of the money. Surely that makes no sense. Surely that makes more sense than going to I don't know what. Yeah. Not for Joe. Okay. There's always one. and you >> Yeah, there we go. SO, YOU GUYS THERE, MY HUMAN LOGIC WAS LIKE, WELL, I'm gonna Surely it makes sense to stay because there's some income. I've got bills to pay. Surely it makes sense. You know what God's logic was? >> Go. God's logic was you've got to leave, girly. >> Uh, what now? So, I don't think I heard that. >> Hang on. YOU GOT TO GO. SORRY, GOD. Lion's gone dead. Can't hear. I'm getting silly. Don't worry. Not long. God's logic was, "You've got to go." But God, I've got nothing to go to. Yeah, still go. But I love this job. Yeah, still go. But what am I going to do in my life? Do I do something completely different? Yeah, still go. God said, "Go." So, I went. And it was honestly one of the scariest things I've done from a trusting in God and faith perspective because it literally felt like I was stepping off a cliff into darkness because I had absolutely no idea what came next. Now, if I hadn't have listened to that voice, I might have stayed because I couldn't see what was going to happen in the coming weeks or the months. I couldn't even see what would happen in years to come because of that decision. I could just see the here and the now. This is all I could see. So, the human logic, well, was surely it makes sense to stay. But God sees all of this. And if there wasn't a wall here, I'd keep going. He sees all of that. So, he's telling me to go because he knew what was coming in the next couple of months. Because he knew what was coming in the next few years. And I can honestly tell you, I look back, and this was 16 years ago. Today, there are still positive consequences of things that are happening in my life that trace back to that decision. There are honestly things that are happening in my life right now that trace back to 16 years ago when I had a decision of to stay or to go. We've got to trust in God because he sees the big picture. He sees all of it. He sees from the beginning to the end. He knows all of the lives of the people that have gone before us. He knows every single detail about the people living on this planet right now, about 7 billion people. And he knows all of the details and the life about everyone who's yet to even be born. I don't even know what cookie I might eat after this. Hint, hint. Do you get it? I I don't know what's going to happen. And so, but God does because he sees all of that exactly at all at the same time. So, when he gives you an instruction and a direction, it's not from just seeing this, IT'S FROM SEEING THIS. And that's why we can trust in him. That is why we can trust in the Lord. Okay, I need to roll it on. So, we trust in the Lord with all our hearts. With all of our hearts. And what that's getting at is that everything within us, we are trusting in him with our thoughts, with our dreams, with our hopes, with our fears, with our worries, with the decisions in our lives. It's everything that's within us. Our will, we are trusting it in God. One example I want to just touch on briefly from the Bible was to do with Abraham. And God told Abraham, so Abraham is around right at the beginning of of the um in the Bible in Genesis. And in those days, what they would do would be to build an altar and to then sacrifice a lamb as an offering to God. That was custom in those days. That's what people would do. Okay. But God said to Abraham one day, "I want you to sacrifice your son Isaac." Again, I'd be a little bit tempted to Sorry, God. Not sure I heard that. This is what it says in the book of Genesis in chapter 22 verses 2 and three. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the region of Mariah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will show you. Early the next morning, Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. Now, it doesn't say what Abraham was thinking when he heard God, how he was even feeling at such a thing, but it says right in the text after God told him what to do, it goes straight into early the next morning, Abraham got up and off he went. I mean, that's pretty huge trust, isn't it? You can answer me. Somebody said to you, "Take your loved one, whether that's a child or someone else, go over to the top of household heath." It's the highest local point I could think of. Um, build an altar and sacrifice your child. Oh, okay. Off I go. Come on. I mean, that is trusting God, isn't it? On a huge scale. I mean, you all might be there, but I'm thinking, wowzers. That is huge. But that is the kind of trust that God wants us to have in him because he's got all things in his hands. And if you don't know the end of that story, after Isaac has been tied to the altar and Abraham's about to lift up a knife over him, an angel from heaven cries out and says, "Stop." I mean that's leaving it pretty 11th hour you know but that's what happens but that is trusting in God to know that he has got all things in his hands that is trusting WITH ALL OF OUR HEART. And what an example Abraham gives to us. What a huge example of trust. So we're to trust in God with all of our hearts. And thirdly, lean not on your own understanding. Now, sometimes I think my logic's pretty good. Just saying. But actually, it's not a patch on God's logic. And it's hard, isn't it? Sometimes we want to be in control. Anyone with me like being in control? Likes to know what's going to happen when it's going to happen. Yeah, absolutely. I'm totally with you. But sometimes we have to come away from our logic and lean on the logic of God. That's a bit frightening sometimes, isn't it? But we can lean and trust in God's logic. And by lean, I mean full on leaning. Lean on him. Don't just sort of Come on. Just just a little lean. Yeah, I'm leaning on God's logic. Leaning on God's logic, but I've also got one foot in my logic. Come on. You know, you know that's what we're like. That's what I'm like anyway. Yeah. Yeah. I'm all in, God. I'm trusting you. Oh dear. It's the heat, I think, going to my head. I'm wrapping up, don't worry. But leaning in, and I'm not going to fully lean on this because I'll topple it over. But imagine a bean bag. Will you lean in? Fully lean in to his logic because he says this. This is one of my absolute favorite Bible verses in the book of Isaiah, chapter 55, vers 8 and N. Look at that. Feb. My thoughts, this is God speaking. My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts and my ways are far beyond anything that you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. We don't need to work it all out. We don't need to solve it and sort it and try and make a plan. We don't need to do that because the reality is we never will because God's way of working and God's LOGIC IS IN A WHOLE different level to anything that we could get to. So if it's just down to us, we're going to be operating over here. If I had stayed in my job, if I had thought, I'm going to ignore what God's telling me to do and I'm going to stay in my job. I don't know what the outcome would have been. And I'm not saying it would have been an awful one, but man alive, I look back over 16 years and I can see things that are happening and opportunities that have opened up and all sorts of things because I left that place. It meant God could do those things and work those things in our my life, which is amazing. But we've got to trust him. We've got to lean on his logic and not our logic or the logic that the world tells us or the logic that social media tells us or the logic that our friends tell us or the logic that we just want to create ourselves because we think well we can create our own logic and that's good enough. We've got to lean not on our understanding but on God's understanding because he has got everything in his hands. He's rooting for us. He's cheering us on and it's for a lifetime. It's not just well maybe for a few minutes, maybe for a few years I'll be interested. You know, it's forever that God's rooting for us, cheering us on. He wants to lead us into good things, not bad things. Now, it doesn't mean we don't experience the hurt and the pain of life because we can't escape that. Just because we love him and know him doesn't mean we're then excluded from things in life affecting us. But it means that we can journey through life and do things knowing that we have got a God in heaven. A God who holds the whole universe in his hands on our side. Holding us up. NEVER LETTING US GO. NEVER CHANGING HIS WORD. NEVER DROPPING US a little bit. NEVER JUST KIND OF CASTING us to one side. Never thinking, "Oh, I'm done with you. See you later." Never unintentionally hurting us or upsetting us. BUT WE'VE GOT A GOD ALONGSIDE US GOING, "I'M ROOTING for you. I'M CHEERING FOR YOU. I WANT THE BEST FOR YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE MY SON. BECAUSE YOU'RE MY DAUGHTER. IF YOU LEAN ON ME AND TRUST IN ME, SAYS GOD, I SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS. I SHALL take you forward. I don't WANT TO LET YOU GO. I'M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU." God says, "I am here TO PROTECT YOU, TO BE YOUR RESTORER, TO BE YOUR PROVIDER, TO BE YOUR HEALER, TO BE YOUR MIRACLE WORKER, to be your LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS." AND SO MANY MORE THINGS GOD SAYS TO US IN THIS BOOK OF who he is. And he wants and can be all of those things and more to us. But we HAVE TO PUT OUR LOGIC TO ONE SIDE. WE HAVE TO LET GO of control. We have to let go of the things that might be influencing us that aren't on him. And we need to lean INTO GOD AND WE NEED TO TRUST IN HIM AND WE CAN GO FORWARD BECAUSE HE GOES BEFORE US. WE'VE ALREADY SAID THAT THIS morning in the worship. HE GOES BEFORE US. HE GOES AHEAD OF US. HE KNOWS WHAT OUR TOMORROW IS. WE don't know our tomorrow. AS ADDIE SAID, WE DON'T KNOW, BUT GOD KNOWS OUR TOMORROW. GOD KNOWS OUR NEXT WEEK and our next month AND OUR NEXT YEAR. SO WHEN he speaks to us, when he gives us direction, WHEN HE GIVES US ENCOURAGEMENT, WHEN HE'S SHAPING US, when he's growing us, when he's inputting into us and he's saying, "I want you to do this, MY CHILD, BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO GO HERE and I want you to do that." WE CAN TRUST IN THAT WORD because it's A GOD WHO SEES ALL THINGS. HE SEES ALL THINGS and he's got us. HE'S ON OUR SIDE. SO WE CAN TRUST IN HIM AND WE CAN TAKE THAT STEP. IF HE SAYS GO, WE CAN GO. >> We can trust in him. We can lean on his understanding, HIS LOGIC, HIS WAY OF WORKING. It doesn't look like how you and I would work. THIS DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HOW you and I would work. THIS DOESN'T LOOK LIKE THIS BOOK DOESN'T LOOK LIKE HOW THE WORLD WOULD WORK. SEAS PARTING. I MEAN, MAN ALIVE, WHAT'S THAT ABOUT? SEAS PARTING. FOOD RAINING DOWN FROM HEAVEN TO SUSTAIN A WHOLE NATION AS THEY WALK AROUND the wilderness. DANIEL BEING CHUCKED INTO THE lion's den because he was trusting in God. BY THE WAY, BEING CHUCKED INTO THE LION'S DEN, spending an entire night there and coming out unharmed the next morning. THAT'S NOT WHAT THE WORLD SAYS. BUT THIS BOOK IS JAM-PACKED OF HOW GOD OPERATES AND HE'S ON A WHOLE DIFFERENT LEVEL. And so when WE THINK ABOUT THOSE WORDS, TRUSTING IN HIM, THAT IS WHO we can put our trust in because he is faithful. He is constant. He is true. He is pure. He doesn't falter. We do, but he doesn't falter. So we can trust in him. We can lean not in our own understanding. In all of our ways, we can acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. Time is gone. But he will direct our paths. He will get us from A to B. Paths as in meaning in our life of where we're heading, where we're going. If it's left to us, A to B might be A to C. Then it might be over to D. Then it might be back to A again. Then, whoa, I'm over at S. Are you getting my random pctoral image here? Yeah. We get led astray, don't we? Or we think we can do it on our own or Oh, we get distracted. Squirrel. I GET DISTRACTED. OH, what was that? And I'm not trying to make light of these things. I'm I'm rushing because of time. I'm not trying to make light of these things because It's not easy. It really isn't easy sometimes. But when it says about God directing our paths, Jonah, you ought to come up because I'll just keep waffling until everyone's finally left and got a coffee. Mine's a coffee, milk, no sugar. I'm not making light of those things, but paths. It doesn't mean life is easy. Like I've already said, it means we still experience those ups and downs and round and rounds and and all of that. We don't get away from that. But it does mean we stay in the direction of heading of where God wants us to go. Whereas when we're doing it on our own or we're putting our trust and faith in other things, whether that's ourself or other things, like I've said, we kind of bit like a pinball machine. We're all over the place. We're making decisions in our lives. Let's give them to God. Acknowledge him in all your ways. Sorry, I've missed a point. That's the point before. But acknowledge him. That means putting him central to your life. If you're thinking about what GCSE options you want to do, where do you want to go to college? What do you want to study? What friends do I want in my life that are good influences? How can I get involved in serving at church? Where should I work? Shall I take this job or that job? Should I stay? Should I go 67? That's where that came in a little bit. Anyway, do you get what I mean? Every decision in our lives, the big, the small, shall I go out there and speak to that person and tell them about Jesus? God is interested in it all. And he if we acknowledge him and put him central, he guides us and directs us. So as I wrap up, let's let's put our trust in God because he has got it all, guys. And in a time of instability that we face in our world right now, when things are up and down and round and round and topsyturvy sometimes and so many things going on in our world right now, we have an anchor that we can fully lean on. I don't mean just a little bit, but we can fully lean into God. Whether that's because of stuff impacting us personally or maybe stuff on a bigger scale that we we get worried about, we can fully lean on God and trust in him. And we might be holding on to things that means we we're too scared. We're too worried to lean onto him. We can give those things to God and say, "God, I don't I want to let go of this because I want to trust in you. I want to lean on you and follow after you." And even if we feel like there aren't things like that that are holding us back, we think, "Yeah, I'm trusting in God. Yeah, that's great. But there is always more that we can be leaning on him and trusting in him for and believing in him. So why don't we stand? I'm just going to pray and then we're going to finish. He is a God as we sung this morning that has been so so so. I think there's one more so good to me. And every time we sing that song, the line in there, I look back over my life. I look back over my life and I can see that he has been so so good to me because that's who he is. That's his nature. His nature isn't to hurt us or to let us down. His nature is to love us, to comfort us, to grow us and develop us and shape us, to take us into things that we would never dream of. That's his nature. And so he gives us what might seem such a simple instruction in these verses of trusting in him, but let's trust in him because he has got it all sorted. So I'm going to pray. Father, I thank you that we can trust in you, God. We can absolutely 100% confidently trust in you. And God, it isn't always easy. It isn't always easy. But God, I pray that you help us lean into you. God, I just think of those this morning that might just be holding on to things that means it stops them leaning and trusting onto you. And God, you know what those things are and those experiences are. And God, I pray that even in these moments that you can bring healing to those situations. That you can bring comfort and bring peace and assurance to those people who just need to feel that and receive that from you this morning. because God, you want us to let go of those things and move on into following and trusting in you. So, Father, I pray particularly for those this morning that just need to be letting go of stuff. I pray that they can give that to you and that you would help them move on into trusting into you. And father, for all of us, wherever we find ourselves in the ability to trust or where our faith level is, God, I pray that we would all receive a fresh outpouring that fills us with faith and with confidence to lean back that bit more or a whole load more onto you because you are so worthy. We can have so much confidence that you have got it all in control. So we trust in the Lord with all of our hearts. We lean not on our understanding, but we acknowledge you in all of your ways and you shall direct our paths. Amen. Amen. Let's let's worship. Amen. I trust in God, my savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God, my savior. The one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God. My savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God. My savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trusted him. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. I sought the Lord and he heard and he answered. That's why I trust him. That's why I trust in God. My savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God in my savior who will never fail. >> He will never fail. >> Oh, I trust in God. I got the joy of the Lord deep down inside of my soul. And I can hide it no more. I got to praise you. I got the joy of the Lord deep down inside of my soul and I can hide in no more. I got to praise the one who broke my chains and bought my freedom. What else can I say? Thank you, Jesus, cuz you're just that good, just that faithful, and you're just that kind. I'm so grateful that you save my life like you said you would. So with my hands up, I had a plans and then a faith on fire. Singing and dancing. Cuz you save my life like you said you would. Cuz you just cuz you're just that good. Oh, you're just that good. You put a song in my heart. I sing with all that I've got and tell the world who you are. I'm going to praise you. You put a song in my heart. I sing with all that I've got and tell the world who you are. I'm going to praise the one who broke my chains and for my freedom. What else can I say? Thank you, Jesus. cuz he's just that good, just that faithful, and he's just that kind. I'm so grateful that you save my life like you said you would. So when my hands are high, heart and face on fire, singing and dancing, cuz you save my life like you said you would. Cuz you just cuz you're just that good. >> Yes, you're just that good. You're the one who broke my chains and bought my freom. What else can I say but thank you, Jesus. You're the one who broke my chains and bought my freom. What else can I say of you, Jesus? Cuz you're just that good, just that faithful, and you're just that God. I'm so grateful that you save my life like you said. So with my heads up, my heart on fire, singing and dancing cuz you save my life like you said you would. cuz you just you just that you just you just that you just come on a sh Thank you Jesus. Hey church, it's been great to worship with you. >> Wasn't that a great message from Sarah? >> I trust in God. Hey, well, if you're new here, we'd love to meet you next door over a coffee. And hey, church, we'll see you next week.