Why don't you go ahead and grab your seat? Whatever campus you're at, once again, let me welcome you to Valley Creek. If you've come in a little bit late and you're wondering what are we doing – we're responding to the Lord over what He's been doing for these past few weeks in our church. And so, as one church – one campus across all of our services – we're streaming our whole experience because we're just trying to hear and respond to the voice of God together. This has been a really important series in the life of our church. Because what it is is it's an awakening and an activation and a reminder that you're not supposed to live your life based on, “I think, I want, I need, I feel, I desire, they say, the experts told me, AI has spit out.” You're supposed to live your life with, “He said, and He's telling me, and He's been speaking, and His Word says, and I'm holding on to this verse, and I'm waiting on a word from God, and I'm wrestling, and I'm not going to move until He speaks.”

Your life is so big and so significant and so important. You have such a destiny and such a calling upon your life that it is impossible for you to fulfill it without the voice of God leading and guiding you there. And so what we've been trying to do is, is lift your head and, and awaken your hearts and loosen your ears to not just hearing God, but to be reminded that I have a really big, important life in Jesus’ name. And it matters. And so I need a prophetic edge. I was created to live a prophetic life – not a mysterious, spooky, intimidating thing – no, prophetic specific words from God that empower me to create a future with Him. This edge that is sharp and clear and fresh and pierces and penetrates and has a weight and authority and a gravity to it so that I can hear from God and move forward in faith.

And God's been speaking and He's been resetting. I know so many of you, you're like that valley of dry bones in this season – weary, wore out, broken, scattered, confused. In Jesus' name, He offers you a prophetic reset. Will you receive it? Will you receive it? See, this is who we are as a church. This is the kind of church is that we don't gather around a man. We don't gather to be entertained. We, we don't come just for, for what's important to us. No, we come to meet with God and we believe He's here and He's real and He's speaking and He has a lot to say – a lot of good things to say – a majestic voice about my life and where I should go and what I should do and and how I should live. And He is a good shepherd and His sheep hear His voice, which means He is speaking to you in a language you understand. God isn't trying to make it hard on you. He's not speaking in hieroglyphics and in some mysterious language that makes no sense. No, He's, He's whispering gently and kindly and patiently and persistently. He wants you to hear Him even more than you do by faith. Hold on to that in Jesus’ name.

And we've been looking at these great stories of prophetic reset that have been really inspiring to me. I, I hope they've been inspiring to you. And, and the last one I just want to tell you about is about the Israelites on their way from Egypt to the Promised Land. They've been set free from Pharaoh – a picture of being enslaved by the things of this world. And as they're on their journey, every day God brings manna from heaven. Manna from heaven – literally this bread that is scattered all over the ground. And every day they need to go out and gather it. They can gather it however they want. They can prepare it however they want, but every day they need that manna. And that manna is a picture of the Word of God in our lives. It's the bread of life that you can gather it however you want to gather it. And you can prepare it however you want to prepare it, but every day you need it. This is why Jesus says, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." Yes, every day you need manna from heaven to sustain and nurture your soul in Jesus’ name.

Well, as they're on this journey, the people get tired of manna. They don't want manna anymore. They don't want the voice of God. They want the food they used to eat in Egypt – the food of the world. And so, it says, "The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost... but now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!’” They're like, "We're tired of manna. We want the fish of Egypt. We want the food of the world." And the truth is over time, you and I, we can get tired of the voice of God. We can get tired of the Word of God. We can get tired of the manna from heaven and want the fish of Egypt – want the voice of this world that is comforting, convenient, consuming, takes care of our flesh desires. And sometimes we're like, "Enough of this Word of God stuff. I just want some fish of Egypt." But we were never created to live on the fish of Egypt. And so we are unable to serve you the fish of Egypt in this place. The only thing we have to offer you is the manna – the bread of heaven, the word of life, the voice of God, the very thing that your soul cries out for.

In fact, here's how the New Testament talks about it. It says, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and aside to myths.” That verse terrifies me. You know what that verse says? That verse says, "We don't want the manna of heaven. We want the fish of Egypt." That verse says that I want to find people who I will surround myself with that will tell me exactly what I want to hear. Woe to people who surround themselves with leaders who will tell them what they want to hear. And woe to leaders who will tell people what they want to hear. That is the fish of Egypt. That is the food of slaves. May we never be a church that wants to hear what we want to hear. May we never have leaders that will say what we want to hear. May we be a church that only provides and offers the manna of heaven, the voice of God, the Word of God in Jesus’ name.

And so Moses panics and He doesn't know what to do. And so He cries out to God. And God says, "Here's what you're going to do. Get all the people together. Come to the tent of meeting. I'll take my Spirit. I'll put it on them. They will help you carry the load." And so Moses went out, told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together 70 of the elders and had them stand around the tent – the dwelling place of God – where they met with Him. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him. And He took the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the 70 elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. Here's what happens. They get in the presence of God just like this. Moses – God takes the Spirit that's on Moses. He puts it on the elders and they start prophesying – hearing from God and speaking to the people. I love that God's response to the people's complaint about having too much of the word of God was to send them even more of the word of God. It was like, you don't want manna? Well, I'm going to give you manna and prophecy because you don't need the fish of Egypt. You need manna and you need prophecy.

And what I want you to understand is don't think about 70 elders. No, what I want you to think is that God wants His people to prophesy. What would it be like if our dads got into the presence of the Lord and started prophesying over their family? What would it be like if our moms got into the presence of the Lord and started prophesying over their children? What would it be like if our team leaders started prophesying over their teams and coaches started prophesying over their teams and teachers started prophesying over their classes and bosses started prophesying over their employees and empty nesters started prophesying over their extended family and students and young adults started prophesying over their generation? Why? Because the Spirit is in them and they can hear God and speak forth what He wants to say. In a world that wants the fish of Egypt, what we offer is the bread of life – the Word of God.

And this is why Moses says, "I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets." He says, "This isn't for the special elite crew." No, I wish every one of you who has the Spirit of God, who believes in Jesus, would just hear His voice and then by faith just speak it out. And the good news is is His prayer in the Old Testament was answered in the book of Acts when the Spirit was poured out, “In the last days, [now] God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit… and they will prophesy.” These are the last days. You're a part of all people. You're either a son or a daughter. You're either young or old. You've decided whether or not you want to be a servant of Jesus or not. You're either a man or a woman. And so then therefore, the Spirit has been poured out and you can prophesy, which means you can hear from God and speak to people. You can hear from God and speak to yourself.

Do you realize sometimes the greatest prophetic voice in your life is you hearing God and saying, "Self, I know you want that fish, but He offers this bread." Self, I know you want, but He says, so we're going to do what He says. I'm speaking a word of prophecy over myself in Jesus’ name. And this is who we want to be as a people. And this is why it says, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. [And] hold on to the good." That's a great verse. Says, "Hey, you want to fuel the fire of God in your life? You need the prophetic edge. You need the prophetic voice. Not mysterious, not, not stressful, not intimidating, not, not elite, not religious, no, just the voice of God in your life." And, and He's speaking, don't treat it with contempt. Don't, don't deny it. Don't push it to the side. Don't say it's unimportant. Don't say that's for those people.

No, this is important, but test and hold on to the good. In other words, when we start stepping out and prophesying, we have to test. Test that it's from the Lord. And how do we test it? Does it align with Scripture? Does godly counsel confirm it? And does it resonate with the Spirit of God inside of me? And I love that he says, "Hold on to what is good." You know what that means? That means sometimes we're going to miss. And He doesn't say chase down the miss and rebuke it. No, just, just let it go. Test everything. Hold on to what is good. See, what I want you to understand is a prophetic church is simply a church that fills itself with the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the people of God. A prophetic church is simply a church that obeys the voice of God no matter what He says.

Sometimes we have this religious baggage that prophecy is this, this thus saith the Lord, intimidating, only a few people. Sometimes we think prophecy is this interrupting, shouting, aggressive, yelling, taking authority over things and being chaotic. That is not prophecy in Jesus' name. According to Scripture, prophecy is encouraging, strengthening, and comforting. It brings peace and order. If the whole point of the prophetic is to bring things into alignment, then if a word is given out of alignment, it's not of the Lord. So if somebody makes you feel intimidated, if something makes you afraid, if something interrupts spiritual authority or brings chaos into the scenario, it's not the Lord. Why? Because God will not violate what He has already said to say something new to you. He will align with what He has already said to speak to you. And if you just think of Jesus, Jesus was peaceful and kind and loving and ordered and not chaotic and humble and submissive. That's what the prophetic voice of the Lord sounds like. It's not shouting and yelling. It almost always comes through a gentle whisper that is submitted and surrendered to the Word, the Spirit, and the people in Jesus' name.

So, here's what we're going to do for the next 5 minutes or so. I'm going to invite you to take a deep breath – just listen to God. They're going to play and I'm going to invite you to listen. The Lord is here. His presence is in this room. He is as close as a whisper. So maybe you just quiet yourself down and have a heart to say, "Speak, Lord, for I'm listening." Maybe He wants to speak to you about a reset. Maybe He wants to speak to you about your heart. Maybe you need to ask Him for a word about a specific situation or circumstance. I don't know. He knows exactly what you need. And He is here and He is speaking. And even if you've never done this before and you're unsure, we can get a little stressed out sometimes when things get still in the room.

But this is how you hear God. You turn off the distractions. You quiet yourself down. And you just listen. So for the next 5 minutes or so, whatever campus you're at, can you just be still? Honor the other people around you by not moving around too much. Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.