The Rock Of Life

We're going to go to Deuteronomy chapter 32 for a verse of Scripture today. Appreciate everyone who did set your clock forward. It's good to see you. In 10 minutes, there may be a few people arriving to church. We won't point them out. We will welcome them in, and we'll be glad that they're here. They missed worship service, but they can still come in for the preaching.

Deuteronomy 32, verse number one: "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as rain drops on a tender herb, and as showers on the grass. For I proclaim the name of the Lord. Ascribe greatness to our God. He is the Rock. His work is perfect. For all of His ways are justice. A God of truth and without injustice. Righteous and upright is He." He is the Rock. He is the Rock. I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, the Rock is not Dwayne Johnson. Long before he ever came about, there was the real Rock.

I want to preach for just a few minutes today: The Rock of Life. God, I love You so very much. I'm so thankful, Lord, that You were here with us today. God, for the next few minutes, I pray that You would anoint our hearts and our minds to receive Your word, that You would accomplish Your purpose and Your plan today in every life that is here. In Jesus' name we pray, and amen.

Now, question: have you noticed that the world we're living in is changing at a crazy pace? Yeah. Have you noticed that? I mean, just — right, I mean, you would have to have been sequestered somewhere, and surrounded by concrete, and have been there for a number of years, to not realize that the world we're living in — is — is changing. And it's such a crazy fast pace. But we can even get a little bit more personal about it. Have you noticed that your body's changing? Yeah. The number of hairs on your head, or the ones that are missing. Maybe the number of wrinkles in your face. Maybe the number of missing neurons in your brain. People make billions of dollars telling you that you control it, that you can reverse it, that you can Botox it, regain it, liposuction it, advertise it, moisturize it, pasteurize it, cryogenically freeze it. But ladies and gentlemen, I got news for you: it's a one-way street. Time is a terrible beautician.

So how do you cope with a changing world? How does one deal with it? You didn't get to vote on it. Sometimes you like the change, but oftentimes you don't. Some people willingly embrace. They like new things. How many people like the new things in the room? Raise your hand. Yeah, I like that. How many would be what they would call early adopters? Something new comes out, I usually jump on board. I want to see it, especially when it comes to technology. I'm in. Now, how many of you go kicking and screaming into a new change? Go ahead and raise your hand. Yeah, some of you were like, you know, there was nothing wrong with the flip phone. Hi, Gary. Gary just recently got rid of his flip phone, because Verizon said they can no longer support the device. Y'all give Gary a hand. He has a smart phone now. He's going to show it off. Look at it right there.

So how do you cope? Sometimes it's tough. Sometimes there's loss involved. Sometimes there's morning. Sometimes you got to go put the phone in the Smithsonian. I want to say for this message: the only way to navigate a changing world is to hold on to an unchanging God. The only way to really navigate in a changing world is to hold on to an unchanging God, when you have to deal with radically changing times, and not get crushed by them. Let's get very clear on what is timeless. And what I want to look at today in this message is — it's important for you and I as individuals, it — for us to get an understanding as a church, where we are living in a rapidly changing world, where lots of things are being changed, lots of things are being canceled: there is one thing that can never be canceled, and one thing that does not change — that is our Jesus Christ. You see, if the church gets muddy and confused about the anchor that we hold on to, if we're not settled in our life, then when wind blows — and trust me, ladies and gentlemen, the wind is blowing — we will topple over. That's why we have to be sure that we understand what we're building our life on. Sometimes it's good to go back and revisit the foundation, and make sure that it is there, that there's no cracks in it, when it comes to our faith. So what we're going to do, if nothing else, is just get real clear today on what it is. What are the things? What is the stuff that must not, will not change? And where I want to start with, from the very beginning, is let you know this: that the character of God does not change. The character of our God does not change. And that's really good news. You ever been around a moody person? Now, don't point fingers, okay? You know, one minute they're up, next minute they're down, and you're just trying to figure out how to relate to them, because you don't know. Now, it may not be anybody in your house, but maybe you work with a moody person. Maybe when you go in, you're a little bit anxious, because you know that their mood sets the tone for the day. I read a little story about a husband who is dealing with a moody wife, who decided to buy her a mood ring. You remember when he had mood rings? Yeah. He decided to buy a mood ring and give it to her as a gift. That way, he could pay attention to the color that the ring was, so that he would know what kind of mood he was dealing with. So the wife's writing the story, and says: we discovered that when the ring was green, I was in a good mood. And we discovered, when I was in a bad mood, it left a red mark on his forehead. So that's some handy information to know.

Do you know what the number one question is that employees oftentimes ask the administrative assistant before they go in to see the boss? What mood's he in? What mood is she in? Why? Because we want to know: if I want to go in and try to make my pitch, if I'm going to go and ask for a raise, if I'm going to go in and make this complaint, I want to know what kind of mood are they in. Because if it's not a good mood, I will wait. I will wait. Do I have a better chance? If you have a moody friend, or if when you were a child you had a parent who struggled with mood swings, and maybe even violent ones — some of you even know that pain. It can be brutal. Every human being on earth, our personalities have the ability to go up or down, happy or sad. All of us at times are not as in good a mood as we were in other moods. And sometimes that — that really plays a role into our relationships. Friends will let you down. Neighbors will move away. Bosses even come in angry and upset. But I want you to know, ladies and gentlemen: our God does not change. And in a changing world, our God doesn't change. In fact, the Bible says this, in the book of James, chapter 1, verse 17: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." It's not just that He doesn't vary. There's not even a hint that He's going to budge from where He is. Not even a shadow that God's going to change His mind at all. But you — but that's something that I can count on in my life. God never has a bad day. God never wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. When you pray, you never need to worry about catching God in a bad mood, because God doesn't change. It doesn't mean that He's distant, or frozen, or somehow far away or unmovable. It means that His character is absolutely rock solid, consistent. And you can bank on those things. You can build your life on those things. He is faithful. He never changes. He was faithful to Abraham. He was faithful to Moses. He was faithful to David. He was faithful to Esther. Faithful to Ruth. God has never failed a single human being. And guess what? You're not going to be the first one. He has never failed one person, and He's not going to start today. He's not going to fail you. You may think He is, but God sees the beginning from the end. And there are some things that make absolutely no sense to us, but God does not make a mistake, and God doesn't change.

I have lived long enough, in my 45 trips around the sun. I have lived long enough for God to understand this: not everything goes the way I expect it to go, but everything has worked together for good in my life. I'm going to say that again. Not everything in my life has went the way I expected it to go, but everything in my life has worked together for good, for my benefit. There are things that I went through that I did not understand, and I didn't sign up for. I never would have ever subscribed to those things. But I can see now, back in my life, that God had never left me. He never failed me. He never gave up on me. There were times I walked away from God. There was times I gave up on Him. There was times when I threw my hands up and said: I don't want to do this no more. But every time I looked, I found that my God was right where I left Him. Our God's holiness never changes. Whether we like it or not, God hates sin as much today as He did from the very beginning. He has not changed His mind. Human standards fluctuate. We people think things are right or are wrong. Often times our opinions don't line up with what thus saith the word of God. God never says: well, go ahead, get mad and angry at your kids today, and yell at them. God never tells you: it's okay, go ahead and hoard all your possessions. God never says: it's all right to have those dirty thoughts that are in your mind. Nobody else knows — knows what's going on. I don't think it's a big deal. God never does that. But God said this to the prophet, in Malachi 3, verse 6: "For I am the Lord. I change not." My holiness never changes. My faithfulness never changes. God's wisdom never changes. His power never changes. His ability to work things out in your life never changes.

If you want to spend some time stretching your mind for just a minute, think about the richness and the vastness of God, in His mind. He is always holy. He is infinitely wise. And His character never changes. He spoke this world into existence, and it is. He said: let there be light. And there has been light that's been continuing to shine from that moment to this. He expanded and spoke the heavens into existence, and it is ever expanding itself, because He didn't say stop. When He sets things in motion, they stay in motion, until God says stop. So whatever He is doing in your life, He will see it through. Matter of fact, His word says: what He has begun in you, He will see it through unto the end. I don't care what you're facing. I don't care the mistake you made. If God said He's going to do it, He's going to do it. It's against His very nature to not be what He says He is. He's the foundation on which people who follow Him, who love Him, have been able to handle changes for thousands of years.

What we're facing today in our world, this isn't new. This isn't the first time that we've had to go through this, as a human race. This isn't some kind of brand new concept from the enemy, to try to come and combat what the church is doing. This is the same lies that have been told from the day that everything got set in motion. The enemy hasn't changed his approach. He's going to do whatever he can to convince you that you're on the losing side. But I'm here to tell you, that's a lie. Because God is still alive. He is still omniscient. He is still omnipotent. He is still everywhere at all times. He is still powerful. He is still alive. He is still sitting on the throne. He is still good. He is still faithful. Regardless of what you think in the moment, your thoughts don't change God. Your opinion doesn't change God. Your circumstances does not change God. We can survive and cancel culture, if we hold on to an unchanging God. If you hang on to the Rock.

There are things going on, ladies and gentlemen, that does not make sense to me. But as Solomon said, there's nothing new under the sun. I don't get what's going on today. It doesn't make logical sense to me. Common sense is not that common anymore. We cannot simply erase the past, regardless of our opinion of it. Regardless of what we think. Regardless of how ashamed we are of it, you can't erase it. It's in the past. If we had the ability to erase the past, we would offer a lot better about all the regret we carry around with us. That's an impossibility. Just because you hide things, burn things, bury things, tear down things, does not mean it didn't happen.

Jesus is the hope of the world. That never changes. Jesus is the only hope we have that never changes. Hebrews 13 8: "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." Anyone not aware of the fact that we have seemingly lost our minds and society, that we have somehow convinced ourselves that if we remove all that could ever, or ever has, offended, and create a perfect environment, to bring priests to everyone, is a simple fool's errand. Politics come, and politics go. Leaders rise, and leaders fall. Administrations are arrived, and administrations depart. And sometimes they do better, and sometimes they do worse. But no politician is the hope of the world. Politics are not going to save us. The government is not going to save us. They can't do anything to alter the course of eternity. But there is One who step from eternity into time. There is One who said: I will bridge the gap that you can't bridge. I will walk from where I am, right into the middle of your problems. I'll meet you with what you're going through, and let you know that if you'll trust in Me, I'll march you out of this. Jesus is the hope of the world. Therefore, we never allow politics to come into the church. This will always be a Jesus church, and that must never change. I don't care if you're an elephant or a donkey. It doesn't matter to me. God covered your sins. Yes. Whether you're an elephant or a donkey, God covered your sins. Doesn't matter to me. Blue or red, black or white, yellow, green — it doesn't matter. You're all precious in His sight, each and every one. I don't care what political lines you fall under. I don't care what it is that you've even dealt with in your past, and the mistakes that you made. I'm here to tell you: it doesn't matter. Our God doesn't change, and He hasn't changed His mind about you. He loved you from the beginning. You may have been rejected by others, but God will never reject you. He loved you from the beginning. You may not have been loved by anybody else, but God has always loved you. You are not a mistake. He doesn't label you anything other than His child. I'm going to say that again. He doesn't label you any other way but His beloved, His child, His bride, His church. He loved you so much, He died to prove His love for you.

Jesus is Lord, and His lordship is the hope of the world. Therefore, we do not put our confidence in any particular set of circumstances — political, economical, physical health, or anything — because human circumstances are always going to change. They always have, and they always will. We've have enough recorded history, ladies and gentlemen. We have enough proof to show you that no perfect environment ever existed outside of the garden. Once sin entered, it has been a fall, and a fall, ladies and gentlemen, it will always be, until He comes back and takes us home with Him. I'm going to say that again. A fall is what happened, in a fall as all there will ever be, until He comes back and takes us home. We're living in a fallen, in a broken world. Yes, we have to do our very best to live in this world. But I'm telling you: my hope is not in this world. My hope is not who's in the White House. My hope is not what the government may do. My hope isn't in the economy coming back. My hope isn't in any of those things. My hope is not here. My hope lies beyond the blue. It's on the other side. My hope is in the fact that I have understood what this word says. And He told me that if I live according to His commandments, He's coming back to take me home. I hope you hope more. I pray that you have more hope than what's in this place — not here on earth. There — this — this is temporary. This isn't — this isn't what the best is. If this is it, none of this makes any sense. There's got to be something more than this. We have good days, sure, but it's still brokenness. Brokenness all around. And just because you may be having a good day, the person sitting in front of you, behind you, or beside you is probably having a bad one. Why? Brokenness. Circumstances ebb and flow all the time. If I wait for them to get right, before I live with joy and confidence, I will never live with joy and confidence.

But the Bible proclaims this truth: that Jesus is Lord. He is our hope. He is our leader. He is our Savior. He is our teacher. He is our God. He is our forgiver. He is our friend. We have nothing else to offer us hope in this world. We have Him. He is the hope of the world, and that will never change.

The authority of the word of God will never change. Though in today's world, this is suspect. In today's world, we are putting human intellect and wisdom on the same playing field with God's world — God's word. It's a very dangerous place to be. This supersedes, this trumps anything that any human might say. This is His forever settled word. If you're going to build a life, ladies and gentlemen, and you want to have success in this life — not success by the world's definition; when I mean success, I mean success in managing to live and survive in this world without your hope being extinguished — you can build on this. You can build right here on this. It's important for us to understand the authority of the word of God. The prophets Isaiah said, in Isaiah 48: "The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever." There's something about the thoughts of God, the truth proclaimed, and the eternity that is wrapped up in it.

The information is not the same as wisdom. We are bombarded with information, and starving for wisdom. We have more facts than we know what to do with, but we don't know what they mean. It's not for a lack of information. We got more than we can process and possibly try to comprehend in our minds. In fact, most of us are dealing with an overwhelming amount of information we can't process. How do you put them together? Three thousand plus books get published every day. Do you think you can possibly keep up reading all that? But there is this one book, written by dozens of authors, over hundreds of years, and it's sold more, broadly read more wildly, has stimulated more scholarship and study, has influenced more people, has changed more lives than any other that has ever been written. It is validated more. We have more proof for its existence. We have more copies that have been found than anything else in this world. We have more manuscripts that validate that there is not been any errors through the transcriptions, through the years, more than any other piece of literature that has ever been created, a hundred times over, to validate it. Yet we still will call it into question, and hang our hat on what one person said, on one sheet of paper, 400 years ago. It speaks of our existence. It speaks to the great — the great questions in life, to the why we are here, to the who God is, into what God has done, to what makes us human beings do good, and where we are headed. It speaks with power. It speaks with clarity, and an influence that simply has no rival.

Now, of course, you have to read it in order to understand it. And to really understand it, you have to be filled with His Spirit, because it is the living word of God. John chapter 1, verse 1, says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." You cannot separate God from His word. It's an impossibility. When you read His word, you are reading His thoughts. You're understanding His personalities. You may be saying: well, Pastor Kevin, there's some pretty rough stuff in there, some things I don't understand. You're right, there is. The book is controversial. It's controversial for a reason. It's controversial on purpose. That's controversial for you to understand who He is, and how He feels, to understand better the brokenness of humanity, and what He has done, the great lengths He has went to, to bring us back into right relationship. It's a book about broken man and broken women. It's a brutal — it's a book about imperfect people, that a perfect God chooses to use. He doesn't always look for the brightest and the best, but instead He chooses to take the ones that are the outcasts, and the misfits, and the ones that are misfortuned, and the ones that don't have it all together. The hawk, the lame, the blind, the withered, the lepers. He'll take them all, every one. He takes the ones that says they're not good for anything, and He says: that's the exact one that I was looking for. That ought to be some good hope to somebody in this room today, for me to tell you that God's not looking for you to be perfect. God's looking for you to be willing. He's not looking for you to have it all together. He's just simply asking: can you be obedient?

The Bible has a way of opening our eyes, and convicting our hearts. It pierces. It's a two-edged sword that comes in and understands the thoughts and the intents of your heart. So often, while so many struggle with it, it's not because it's difficult to read, because oftentimes it's hard to accept — not what God has done, what He points out inside of us. It's our authority. It's what we turn to. It's the rock. When life brings a storm, when things don't make sense, I'll go back to the word. When my life spins out of control, I go back to the word. When people don't treat me kindly, I'll go back to the word. When my life seems to be turned upside down, I'll go back to the word. Why? Because it comforts me. It guides me. It directs me. It instructs me. It gives me life. He breathes into me what I need. It shows me what route I'm to take, the steps that I should have. It orders them perfectly, according to His plan. To understand God, I have to read His word. But without reading the word of God, oftentimes I have no idea who He is. That's why so many people have very interesting interpretations of God. They say they have a relationship with Him, yet they've never read His word. And to those individuals, it's often interesting to me, the form that God takes to them, the things that God is to them.

In a changing world, what will not, and what must not change, is our commitment to His unchanging word. We have to study it, to delight in it, to think about it, to wrestle with the hard questions. But most of all, to be obedient to it. The Bible is our authority, and that will not change. Oftentimes we read, and those who were closest to God would say things like: I need it like I need food. Your word is like the air that I breathe. To have such devotion and commitment to it — no wonder those individuals were called great, who were titled men after His own heart.

God is our rock. The Word was God, therefore His word is our rock. The power that is in the word does not change. But we can't stop with the word of God alone. We can't stop just with His character alone. Because I'm going to tell you something else that does not change, ladies and gentlemen. And this may be the most powerful thing I'll say in this message. Because if we get a hold of this concept — if we truly get a hold of this concept — it not only changes who you and I are, but it has the ability to change our world. The power of prayer does not change.

Human communication has changed a lot. It has. If you think about where we are today, and how we communicate — for those of us who grew up where there was no cell phone, when I was in high school, I remember when phones first come out. I remember my dad — my dad was in business. I remember his first phone. It came in a briefcase. I remember being 16. I got a phone at 16 for my car. It was called a bag phone, aptly titled, because it was in a bag. You didn't carry it out of the car, because you looked like some kind of goofball toting this bag around. Plus, you had to plug it in the cigarette lighter. Some of you don't even know what that means when I say cigarette lighter. But you think about where we are now. You think about how we communicate now. You think about what we do now. And in a lot of ways, I'm happy, and I'm — I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful that I can — I can pick this up, and I can open up my phone, and in just a matter of a few seconds, I can be FaceTiming with someone on the other side of the world. Trust me, when I was in Madagascar a few years ago, after a few weeks away from my lovely bride — I just wanted to see your face. Oh yes, it's nice to talk to her through the — through the communications of the phone. But it was really nice when all of a sudden her face popped up. We have the ability in our hands to do so much good. But it also brings with it so much bad. Got to be careful how we balance these things out.

You know, when cobit first hit and the quarantine first shut down, for a little while it was kind of nice. I think most people were like: man, we got to kind of pause for a little bit. You've heard me talk about this a little bit. For my wife and I, we were like: thank You, Jesus. We were running ragged, going through that dedication weekend. We had a few weeks just trying to catch our breath. It was kind of nice. Now, for my wife, she would still be in quarantine right now. She likes that. She likes the solitude. But I like to get out. I like to talk to people. I like to communicate. But staying home — and that was kind of nice. And then all of a sudden, a word we use a lot now, that if I had to ask you, you know, 14, 15 months ago: what is Zoom? You would have said: well, that's when you get the camera on the thing, you zoom in. Now, who would have wished they'd have bought a little stocking Zoom? Yeah. Now we're — now we're Zooming each other. We're got all these conference calls. Everything's there. But after a while, reality begins to set in. And you're home, and you're alone. And eventually you run out of things to read, and things to watch, and things to do. And you're reminded of how much you need to be connected. How much we need each other.

Here's why this matters, ladies and gentlemen. Did you know that loneliness has reached an epidemic proportion? That even before COVID, it was bad. But covet has — it has made it even worse. One out of every four Americans says they're always lonely, or lacking friends. One out of four. One out of four. 50 of people in a survey were asked, and they said that no one really knows them at all. In fact, researchers have found that this increased loneliness in our culture, especially among young people, has led to an increased sense of life that is meaningless and devoid of purpose. As a parent, obviously, I've spent some time researching this, and studying out myself, the effect of social media, the effect of phones and loneliness, how that I can better help my own children. Do you know that the younger you are, the more likely you are to suffer from loneliness, and to not truly ever be present? Studies have shown that the rise of social media in young people's lives has led to an increase in loneliness, and an inability to hold a conversation, and to be present with others. And for the first time, we are seeing whole lives that are seen through the screen and on mobile devices, that every moment of their life has been documented, and that the reoccurring events pop up on their social media feeds, of: here's a memory from three years ago, here's a memory from five years ago, here's all these things that constantly come back up. The typical cell phone user touches their phone 2617 times every day. I said the typical, because the high goes up to five thousand times. When researchers ask teenagers and young adults why they're on their phones during meal times, when they're sitting at the table with other people, the number one answer is this: because my parents do it. I hope that stung a little bit, mom and dad. I hope that settles in there just a little bit, because they're watching everything we do.

I'm thankful — I'm thankful for what it brings into my life, in some ways. But in other ways, I despise what this has done to me: this feeling that I have to constantly be bound to it. Because it comes with an overwhelming sense that if I'm not checking in, I'm missing out. You see, if I'd have told those of us who remember days before these things — if I could have went to you and prophesied that you're going to hold a quarter pound chunk of metal in your pocket, that has the potential to utterly destroy you, to make you feel as worthless as you've ever been, like you have no use and no purpose, to control your every thoughts, to make you feel like you are not at all loved — you would have said: there's no way. Yet here we are. And there are so many people that spend their life bound to a piece of technology. Now, I'm not anti-phone. Obviously, that's my phone. I got one. But I'm telling you: we were meant to communicate. But that was not what we were meant to communicate with. We were designed for the purpose of communion with Him.

If you go back to the beginning, in the book of Genesis, He created man, because He desired to have a relationship. And in the morning and in the evening, He came walking to where they were. Why? So He could spend time with them. So He could talk to them. So He could be with them. So that they would choose to be with Him. That same option is still on the table, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, we live in a broken and a fallen world. Yes, we deal with stuff today that — that is constantly trying to pull our attention, and have distraction in our life. But it does not mean God's desire to commune with you is any less. In fact, we have more ways to be encouraged in prayer than we ever have. Yet for so many of us, we never give it a second thought. We may pay lip service over a meal, or some person that we work with, or family member comes up and says they're struggling with something, we'll say: oh, I'll help you pray with that. But the only thing that was ever mentioned was those very words out of your mouth. You never bring it up.

What's fascinating about our culture is how we can be alone in a crowd, because we've never learned to truly tune in to the very One who gives us a sense of purpose and meaning. Why does this go on? Is He hardwired us to be connected. The greatest form of communion is not on a cell phone, or a text message, or a conversation, ladies and gentlemen. It is prayer. It is instantaneous. It knows no physical boundaries. You don't have to worry about losing service, or if your battery runs out. You don't have to worry about if a storm comes in and knocks a tower out. None of that matters. Wherever you are, whatever you're going through, whatever the moment is, you have the ability to talk to God. Ephesians 6 and 8: "Praying always with all prayer, supplication of the Spirit, and watching there until, with all perseverance and supplication for all saints."

When we work, we work. But when we pray, God works. When we work, we work. But when we pray, God works. And you've heard it said this way before: prayer can do anything that God can do, and God can do everything. So why would you sell yourself short? And what I'm afraid is that there are so many people who have never fostered a right relationship with God. Instead, you treat Him no differently than you do any medication in your medicine cabinet: that when it's bad, I pray; but when it's good, what need do I have to pray, because it's good? And I ask you: is that a relationship? That sure doesn't seem like a relationship with me.

Oftentimes our relationship with God, it's shown to us in Scriptures as a marriage relationship. I love that woman right there. She's had my heart for a long time, man. I'm going to tell you right now: if I walked in the house, didn't say anything to her for a few minutes, she had dinner on the table — I just sat down, just ate, didn't say a word, just ate the food, got up, went in the front living room, kicked back in the recliner, closed my eyes — really wouldn't get that far, but just, you know, go with me for a minute. If it did, yeah, she would — she would have something to say, probably along the lines of: is there something wrong? Have you had a bad day? Have I done something? Why aren't you talking to me? Please tell me what's wrong. And I wonder how many times God has felt that exact same way, when He has showed up in your life, when He has answered your prayer, when He has been your provider, when He has been your waymaker, when He has been your redeemer, your Savior. I wonder how many times He's seen you walk right by, and He said: is something wrong? Have I done something to you? Are you mad at Me? Please tell me what's wrong. Why won't you talk to Me? How many times have I done that? I'm going to be honest: too many for me to number. Too many.

I settled some things in my life several years ago, that I was going to have a regular time of prayer with my God. I'd love to tell you that I pray multiple hours every day. But if I told you, that'd be an outright lie, because I don't. But I will tell you this: almost without fail, I carve out time every morning with Him, purposely. Why? Because I love Him. Because I love Him. Because I have found, when I — when I do that, He has revealed Himself to me in ways that have been beyond comprehension. There have been times when I've been struggling with stuff. I didn't know what else to do. I'll just pour myself out to God. And there have been times when everything in my life was so great, and it was so grand, and I couldn't wait to talk to Him about those things, too, because of the deepening relationship I have with Him.

This isn't just preacher talk. This isn't just: hey, Pastor Kevin's getting up there, and he's trying to encourage us and pray. I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, I — I don't believe — listen to me, I don't believe you'll make it to heaven if you don't learn to pray. How can you say that? He's a loving God. Yes, He is a loving God, who designed you to commune with Him. If you don't pray, you have no relationship. If you don't pray, you've had a few experiences, but you don't have a relationship. If you don't pray — say this in the Holy Ghost — if you don't pray, you treat Him no different than a prostitute, to handle a need in a moment of time, and when you're done, you walk away. I cannot underscore enough the importance of a prayer life.

Pray when you're afraid. Pray when you're grateful. Pray when I'm with people that I love. I pray when I'm alone. I pray when I need wisdom. I pray when something good happens. I pray when I'm grateful. I pray when I've done something brad, I need to be forgiven. I pray when I'm filled up and ready to worship. And I pray when I'm mad, and I'm angry. And I pray because sometimes I need somebody to talk to. I pray when I'm tempted. I pray when I need help. I pray when I need something to change. I pray because I go to the Rock. I go to my salvation. I go to my stronghold. Because I've lived in this life, and I will tell you, without fail, almost everybody in my life, at one time or another, has disappointed me, has led me down, has failed me in one way or another. But there has been One who has never left me, who has never failed me, who has never disappointed me, who's never turned their back on me, who's never walked away from me, who was always there any time I needed Him. Every time I cried out, I always felt Him right where I wanted Him to be.

I wasn't getting ready to end this message today. I want you to know: the mission of the church has not changed, regardless of what goes on around us, regardless of what this crazy world is trying to do, regardless of what — what culture is trying to do. The mission of the church hasn't changed. Matthew 28 19: "Go you therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world." These are Jesus's last words in the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 7 8. He said: "It's not for you know the times, nor the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. But you shall receive power, after the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, into Judea, and the Samara, and to utter most parts of the earth."

This is the mission that the church always has had, is to go. It's to go. Go make disciples. Go baptize. Go teach. Go obey what I've commanded you. Be a witness everywhere, and tell everybody about the Rock that's in your life. We are left with the word of God, and it testifies to this truth. It testifies to what I talk about today: the Rock of Life. Moses sang about the Rock. Samuel wrote about the Rock. David declared his God to be the Rock. Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied about the Rock. Obadiah instructed us to dwell in the cleft of the Rock. Jesus told Peter He was going to build His church on the Rock. Matthew 16: "And I also say unto you, that you are Peter, and on this Rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven." And it was this same Peter who stood up in Acts chapter two, this same Peter who stood up and preached a foundational apostolic church message, when he preached about the Rock, Jesus Christ. He said, in Acts 2, verse 37 — after he preached, they were convicted, they were pricked, and they said: what do I have to do? And he said in verse 38: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the mission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For this promise is unto you, and to your children, and all that are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call." It was the Rock that Jesus talked about. Peter, you're going to get up and preach the message that changes the world. And it was this message, it was this Rock, that turned the world upside down. And it was this same Rock, the apostolic — they're assuming — the apostle Paul talked about, in my last passage for you today, talking to the church at Corinth, when he said this, in First Corinthians 10, verse number one: "Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that our fathers were under the cloud, all passing through the sea, all were baptized into Moses and the cloud and the sea, and ate the same spiritual food, and all drink the same spiritual drink. For they drink of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ." It's the Rock of Life. It's what you can build on.

I know without a doubt in my mind that there are individuals in this room today who need to make a change, because you haven't anchored your life in Him. And because of that — because you have an anchor, then every wind that has come your way has blown you to and fro. Some — some you understand, and are full well uh — uh with knowledge of the truth, yet you did not apply it in your life. Some of you had no idea what the word of God said. No one ever took you. No one ever instructed you. There was never an opportunity. But it doesn't mean that God loves you any less. I'm telling you, the world we're living in isn't getting any better. Not if you keep waiting on something to happen. Man, I feel this strong in the Holy Ghost. If you keep waiting on something to happen that's going to level all this back out, you're going to wait in vain. Because things have been set in motion to usher in the last days. And there is going to be a revival that sweeps through. And I full well believe it has already been set in motion. What I'm afraid is that too many have foregone the relationship that they should have. And because of that, they're so caught up in everything else that's blowing in, that they're getting rocked off center. And they're getting lost and all the chaos and the noise of the day.

And listen to me, as I bring this to an end. Our God is known for a lot of things. He's a consuming fire. He's the Rock. He's — He's — He's the One who wears the victor's crown. He is all those things. But I'm going to tell you this from personal experience: when He speaks, He speaks and still small voices. He can easily be drowned out by the distraction and the noise of the day. And what I feel like is an all out right spiritual attack in North America — I do, I feel it's an outright attack in North America — is to distract with all the news, and all the noise, and all the rhetoric, and all the stuff, so that we don't pay attention to how the tides are turning in the spiritual world. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever, ladies and gentlemen. He declared victory long ago. Our enemy has been defeated. His only — His only tactic right now is, if he can't make you bad, then he makes you busy. Because in the busyness, and the hurriedness, and the clutter, and the noise, and the distractions, if it causes you to not stay connected to the Rock, he knows — he knows that you put yourself in a compromising position, and he has a chance to cause you to stumble. But I'm telling you, if you'll learn to tune out all the noise, if you'll learn to understand His character hasn't changed, if you'll — if you'll understand and comprehend that God is the same, that it is paramount that you get into His word and understand it, that you stay connected to Him in prayer, nothing can stop you but you. Nothing can stop you but you. So it's your choice. It's your decision. I have delivered my heart. This is the point in the message where I feel better, because I've delivered what God laid on me. But this is the point in the message where you have an option, to choose what you're going to do with what I've delivered. Most of you know how this works. They're going to sing, right? Yeah, they're going to sing. God's already moving now. They can sing for a few minutes, and you can stay in your seats. We'll dismiss, and you go on your way, and nothing change. But here's what I know: is that God is here, and that He desires to do something special in someone's life. And I'm just wondering: is that you? Is that you? Because I know — I'm convinced of this, that every time I come in this place, God has something for me. And it's up to me whether or not I choose to take it and receive it, or leave it and walk away. Always for me — and I believe that about you, too. So we're going to pray, and this altar is open. You can come anytime now. I'm going to tell you, there's nothing special about this area up here. But I'll tell you, there's something about acknowledging the God: I'm stepping out of where I am, because I want to go to where You are. And I promise He'll meet you, whatever your need. You need salvation? Today is a great day. Today is the day of salvation. If you need a healing in your body, He is a miracle-working God. You need restoration? You need provision? What — I don't know what your need is. You know what your need is. I don't. I'm telling you: you can go to the Rock. You can go to the Rock. And He will not disappoint.

Will you bow your heads with me, if you're comfortable? Holy God, I love You, and I'm so thankful for Your presence, what I feel in this place. God, it's so real, so special. God, I know that You have something in store for us today. Early this morning, You and I spent time together. God, You spoke to me. Your presence was so sweet. God, I know You have a plan and a purpose for every life that is in this room. So God, I declare this upon the authority that is in Your name, the name of Jesus Christ. I pray right now that for there to be a release in the Spirit. Every hindrance, every distraction, will be gone out of this place right now. God, that there would be joy enter this room. God, that the restoration process that only Your Spirit can do would come into this place right now. God, that there would be liberty here, for people to get connected back into You, to where they need to be. God, I pray that Your presence would draw people to a place where they could come, where You could start that work, to do what You intend to do in their life. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, and amen. This altar is open. I invite you to come. I invite you to come. Come make sure your relationship is where it needs to be. Come receive what God