All right. Hey, everybody. Welcome to Valley Creek. We are so glad you are here today. Come on, whatever campus you're at. Denton, Flower Mound, Gainesville, Lewisville, The Venue, online let's just welcome each other together. What a great summer it has been here at Valley Creek. We just finished up 60 Days: Songs of Life going through the Book of Psalms and I think our teaching team did an amazing job walking us through the Psalms. Different communicators from different generations, different seasons of life, but they all have a love for God's word. They did an amazing job and it's just -- it's been great around here this summer. I mean, come on, you read 150 chapters of the Book of Psalms, the whole thing. Every week our kids had a fun, unique activity and adventure in their kids spaces.

More than 1,200 unique students came to Valley Creek Student Summer. We had our first ever young adult internship, more than 1,500 people participated in Serve the City where we put together thousands of backpacks for kids in need at all of our school districts. We made more than 100,000 meals for people in need. We had 67 baptisms. Come on, it was a good summer. This is what a movement of hope looks like. And I just want to say to you, we got a good thing going here. God is so good to this church and He is moving in this space. And so I want to say thank you for giving, and serving, and loving, and leading, and inviting and creating culture. Thank you for being happy today. Come on, even though it feels like the world is withdrawing and getting darker and darker, the Kingdom of God is advancing and getting brighter and brighter.<br><br>And we got to remember that. And so I missed you. It's good to be back. It's good to see your face. It's good to see you so happy today. I'm going to just keep saying that, I think. Every summer, I take a few weeks off to just kind of rest and seek the Lord and spend a lot of time praying. We want to do this a long time together. And that's part of doing it a long time is being able to take a breath and seek the Lord. And I spend so much time on my break seeking God for what He has for our church and where He wants us to go and then so much time praying for you. And this summer, as I was praying for you, I was sitting on Colleen's mom's porch, and as I was praying for you, I just felt like I heard the Lord say, "It's time." And I sat there and I thought about it, and I prayed about it and I asked the Lord about it and He just said, "It's time."

And I believe that is a prophetic word for your life and for our church in this season. And you say it's time for what? I have no idea. But we're going to figure it out together because we're starting a new series today called It's Time. And if you track with us over these next few weeks, I believe God's going to speak to you about what it's time for in your life. In fact, I love this. It says, "He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the church." In other words, if you have an ear to hear, a heart to receive, if you want to know what it's time for in your life, then as we go through this series, I believe God is going to speak to you because it's time. It might be time to forgive. It might be time to apologize. It might be time to work on your marriage. It might be time to focus on parenting. It might be time to start something new, to let go of something old. It might be time to deal with that addiction or get rid of that junk from the past. It might be time to seek the Lord, to engage in the Scriptures, to get in a Circle, to start giving, to be a hope carrier in your space.

I don't know. The question is this, what is it time for in your life that glorifies God? That's what I think we're going to discover and figure out together in this series. You see Solomon, one of the most wise men to ever walk on the face of the Earth, said, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven." He says there is a divine time, a divine season, a divine purpose, that we need to learn to discover and align our lives with. You see, in the Bible, there's two different words that are used for the word time. One is chronos, one is kairos. Chronos, think clocks and calendar. Kairos, think divine season. The time that we think of -- we think clocks, calendar, days, weeks, months, years, kind of like how we measure our life, measure time itself. But then there's this divine time.

These divine seasons, this divine purpose, the purpose behind the activity of your life. And we need to discover what that is, and align our lives with it. Because you don't want to do the wrong thing in the wrong season. Like come on, nobody plants seeds in the fall and nobody harvests in the spring. Nobody wears shorts in the winter, and nobody wears a parka in August in Texas. Just saying, right? You don't cheer at a funeral and you don't cry at a wedding. Unless you really don't like the groom. The whole point is you got to figure out what the divine season is. What is God doing? And then align your life with it. In fact, He goes on to say, "There's a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down at a time to build, a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time to mourn, a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them."

Just so we're clear, this is not a Beatles song, this is the Bible. He says there is a divine time and seasons for things. But you look at these, they're paradoxes. A time to be born or die, they're opposites. A time to plant or uproot, paradoxes. A time to kill or heal. They feel like they're against each other. So how do I know which one it is? I got to tune in to God and ask Him, what is the divine time, the divine season that I'm in and align my life with it. See, we say all the time, "What time is it?" Right? It's a question we're always asking. Like what time is it? And when we ask what time is it, what we're trying to figure out is, where am I supposed to be? But what if when you asked what time is it, you were really asking what is God doing, and is my life aligned with that? What if, instead of, what time is it, what if you asked, what is this time for? And then choose to align yourself with that?

Like it's back to school season, right? So we say it's time for back to school, and we think oh, it's time, I got to go buy new things and school supplies and dorm room furniture, all that. But no, no, no, no. What is this time for? This is a time, parents, to declare destiny over your children, remind them of their identity, tell them you love them and that God has something great for them. Come on, tomorrow when you wake up, it's time to go to work. No, no, no, no, no. This is a time to be a hope carrier and carry the Kingdom into your area of life. When you got up today, you said it's time to go to church. No, no, no, no. What is this time for? This is a time to seek God with all our hearts and minister to each other. Do you see the subtle difference there? It's not "What time is it?" Clocks and calendars, where am I supposed to be? It's, "What is the divine season? What's the divine purpose? Like what is God doing right now?"

And then, can I get my mind and my heart and my life around that? Like parents, I know some of you that, you feel like you drive your kids all over the metroplex all of the time and you complain about how much time it requires. But what if you just flipped it and saw it as, this is a time to connect with my child? And God has given me uninterrupted time with them. So we're both going to put the phones down and turn the music off. And it's going to be awkward for a little while, but it's the divine time for what it's for. Come on, what if you're partnered with someone at work that you literally can't stand on a project that you just think is dumb? What if the divine time behind that was God wanting you to build a relationship with them, because He wants to do something in their life through you? What if you're in a really hard season and you just want that time to be over? Get me out of this. What if it's time that God is trying to do a deep work inside of your heart and soul and free you from something and forge some character in there?

It's not "What time is it?" It's, "What is this time for, in Jesus' name?" And I just say to you, this last season, there's been a lot of dying, uprooting, killing, tearing down, weeping, mourning, and scattering. It's time for a new season, in Jesus' name. In fact, I love this. It says, "The sons of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel should do." They understood what God was doing, the divine season and purpose. They aligned their lives with it, and then they became a source of wisdom to tell everyone else, this is what God is doing. Let's align our lives with that. You say, the sons of Issachar, who are they? Don't worry about it, it's one of the 12 tribes of Israel. In context, these are the men coming to rally around David. The whole point is, they understood the divine season, so they knew how they should live their lives. You want to talk about a verse for wisdom for your life?

Hey dads, if you will understand the times, what God is doing, you will know exactly how to lead your family. Hey business people, if you can understand God's divine time and season, you will know exactly how to lead your business. Hey students, if you can just figure out and seek God for the divine time and season that you're in, that He is moving around, then you will know exactly how you should live your life. This is a verse of wisdom. And you say, but I'm not the sons of Issachar, so how do I do it? But here's the key. Sons, when you live free as a beloved son or daughter, you can have confidence that God will show you the times and the seasons, so you will know exactly what to do. Think about Jesus, the ultimate beloved son. And it says, "He only did what he saw the Father doing." In other words, Jesus didn't do what he wanted to do, what everyone else wanted to do, what the world demanded him to do, no, no, no. He was able to see and perceive and understand what the Father was doing, the divine time and season, and he aligned his life with that.

And if you and I will live as a beloved son or daughter, the Father will show us what this time is for, what this season is for in our lives, so that we will know what we should do. Are you with me on this? So we're going to learn to think differently about our lives. In fact, catch this verse talking about Israel, "Israel did not consider her future, therefore her fall was astounding." Another translation says, "She does not consider her destiny, so her collapse was awesome." In other words, Israel, the entire people, they didn't think about their future. They didn't think about their destiny, their calling, what God was doing in their lives, so they backed up to the time and place that they were living in, and they were unable to then discern what the divine season and time was for, so they couldn't align their life with it. So their collapse was awesome.

They completely fell apart. Can I ask you a question? When was the last time you considered your future? When was the last time you thought about your destiny, your calling, what God has placed on your life? Because if you never consider it, you can't back up into the present to then discern the time and the season and how now you should live. In fact, this is why Moses says, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." In other words, he says, God, teach me how to understand time, both clocks and calendars and the divine season that I may align my life with it, that I might have a wisdom to walk it out in Jesus' name. In fact, catch this next one. I think this is one of the saddest verses in the Bible, "Pharaoh king of Egypt is only a loud noise, for he has missed his opportunity." In other words, Pharaoh didn't discern the divine time or season that he was living in, so he was unable to align his life with what God was doing.

He missed his opportunity. He missed the whole point of his life. So the Bible says he was just a loud noise. Do you ever feel like you're just a loud noise? Like no one really listens? The louder you speak, the louder you scream, the less people get it? Like your life is really hard and complicated and you just can't seem to make things happen? Maybe it's because we're missing our opportunity. And we're missing the divine season that God has placed us in, and we're not aligning our lives with it. So the best we can be is a loud noise. But you don't have to be a loud noise. You can be a beautiful melody. But to be a melody, you have to play the right note at the right time. You have to play the right note, but you have to have the right rhythm. That's what makes a beautiful melody.

And if we will turn our attention to the conductor, He will show us what note to play, when to play it, so that our lives become this symphony, glorifying God in every way, shape and form. This is what a Spirit-led life looks like. You with me on this? I mean just think of the Jewish people for a second. For thousands of years, they were waiting for their Messiah to come. They prayed, they sought God, they had anticipation, expectation, everything in their life was designed around this, waiting for the Messiah to come. And then Jesus, the Messiah, shows up and they completely miss him. They missed their opportunity. They missed the divine season, they missed that God had done something and changed the times and seasons, and weren't able to align their life with it. And Jesus talking to Pharisees, good people, guys. I know they get a bad rap. They're God-fearing, God-loving, God-knowledgeable people.

And Jesus is talking to them, and he literally looks at them. And he says, "When evening comes, you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, today it will be stormy for the sky is red and overcast. You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky. But you cannot interpret the signs of the times." In other words, Jesus says you can read the weather, but you can't understand that I am standing right here in front of you. They only looked at things from a surface perspective, from a circumstantial, situational, comfort and convenience mindset. And I think if we're honest, this often defines us. We can interpret the appearance of the weather, of the stock market, of the calendar, clocks, and calendars, but sometimes we miss the very divine time and season that's standing right there in front of us.

So Jesus wants to catch our attention and say, but I have more for you. Come on. In Jesus' name, it's time. It's time. What is it time for in your life that glorifies God? What is the divine time or season that He's doing? And are you aligning your life with it? That's what we're going to try to discover over these next few weeks, and I believe if you'll lean in, God will open up your mind, your eyes, so you don't just see, but so you can perceive; so you don't just hear, but so you can understand; so you can move past the "surface frustration, disappointment, hardship" to "but here is what this time is for and this is what Jesus is doing in my life". Are you with me on that? Okay. So that's your job is to figure out, what is it time for in your life that glorifies God.

And as we go through this each week, I've got something specific that I think is for all of us, a time and a season that God is doing in our lives and in our church together. And the first thing is simply this. It's time to move. It's time to move. You're like, where am I moving? I'm about to show you. It's time to move. It's time to increase and advance. It's time to take a next step. It's time to walk by faith. It's time to run your race. It's time to get up again. It's time to get in the game. It's time to put on the jersey. It's time to like, say, like, okay, I'm in this, I'm moving forward. It's time to move with God, towards God, when God, because God, because the last season was everything but. The last season was a season of apathy. It was a season of lethargy. It was a season of stagnation and sedation. It was a sense of comfort and convenience and waiting and stuckness, but that season has changed.

And it's time to move, in Jesus' name. In fact, if you think about the Israelites, they were stuck for 400 years. Four hundred years waiting on God as slaves to the Egyptians. They were in bondage, they couldn't move, even if they wanted to move, they were stuck. They were enslaved. They were waiting on God, and then God shows up and he sends Moses. To set them free, the ten of the most powerful plagues, both powerful miracles ever on the face of the Earth, sets them free, says, "Guys, it's a new season. It's no longer a season to wait. It's a season to move. Let's go." They start moving, following the pillar of cloud by day, pillar of fire by night, and they get all the way to the Red Sea and the Egyptian army is chasing them down to get them. And the people freak out. They think they're going to die. They want to go back to Egypt. They think it's all falling apart. And Moses, in a very spiritual, confident way looks at them and says, "Do not be afraid dear Israelites. Stand firm. And you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today."

This is how I think Moses would have talked. "The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still." Very spiritual. And we use this verse sometimes to say that to each other. Don't be afraid. Stand firm. Wait on the Lord. He has got it. Very next verse. "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.'" "Yes, Lord." What's he saying here? He's saying, I've already told you it's a season of moving. This is not a season of waiting. The season has changed, so step into that river, face the obstacle, deal with the challenge, get over yourself and get into that uncomfortability because I've changed the season.

They were stuck, not because God wasn't moving, but because they weren't following. Because in their mind, following was too hard, but God says, guys, the seasons changed. And you can't step into a new season with an old mindset. Here's their problem. They can't step into a new season of moving because they still have an old season mindset of waiting. And this is our problem. The number one reason I think we can't discern the times and seasons of what God is doing is because we look at them with an old mindset. We have to renew our mind. We have to repent and change our thinking. We have to align our thoughts with the Lord, because how are you going to step into a new season with an old thinking? This is the journey of faith, it's letting go of what was, and grabbing a hold of what is. And I think sometimes we're just stuck, not because God isn't moving just, but because we're just not willing to follow.<br><br>See, hear me, there is a time to wait on God, and there is a time to move forward with God. All throughout the Bible, there is a time to wait on God. When we're waiting on God, He's teaching us about trust, and patience, and surrender. But then there's a time to move forward with God. And when you're moving forward with God, He's teaching us about faith, and perseverance, and dependence. I mean, there is a time to wait on God. Clearly, wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart, wait for the Lord, waiting on God is part of this journey of faith. And when we're waiting on God, He is showing us His character, His promises, and His word. But then there's a time to move forward with God. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." And when we move forward with God, He is showing us His personality.

I want you to think about this with me for a second. You can be in the same office with people for years. You can live in the same house with them for years. You can be in the same church with people for years and never really get to know them. But then you go on one road trip, one vacation, one mission trip, you get on some kind of competitive team together, and all of a sudden you see people for who they really are, right? Why? Because it's in movement that your personality comes out. We now hear your voice, and we know what you like and what you don't like, and we see how you react, and how you initiate, and how you engage, and what's important to you and what's not important to you. Same is true with God. If we just sit in the office with God all day long, we can trust in His character and in His word and His promises. But if we want to know God and we want to see Him, then we got to get up and move with God. Because when we go on that road trip of faith, we start to see how He thinks, and how He talks, and what He loves, and how He responds, and what's important to His heart.

I mean when you look at Joseph and David and the disciples during the three days of Jesus being buried in the grave, they were waiting on God, holding on to His character and His promises and His word. But then you look at Moses and Joshua and Paul and all the journey of faith, God's constantly saying, go here, for I will be with you. In other words, we're going to go there together, and you're going to discover me along the way. So if you feel really disconnected from God, if you feel like you're not really close to God in this season, you feel like you don't really know who God is right now, maybe it's because you're just not moving. Because there are some knowing of God that can only happen on the road of faith. It's in moving with Him that we see Him for who He really is. Are you with me on that? In fact, we walk by faith, not sit by sight. And the reason a lot of us never walk by faith is because we're sitting by sight because all the things we can see, we just think they're too hard.

So we just go down. But it's not a season to sit by sight. It's a season to walk by faith, to move with God. In fact, James in his famous discourse in James Chapter 2, when he talks about faith versus deeds, faith versus actions, faith versus works. Look at what he says. He says, "Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." So faith without movement is unbelief. Faith without movement is unbelief. Movement validates our faith. Because it's in moving, it's in following that we actually get to see what we really believe. Your behaviors are always a direct result of what you actually believe.

And so in James' discourse, what he's saying is he's saying, hey, you show me your faith, I'll show you my deeds. In other words, it's easy to say you got faith, but let me show you my deeds, my actions, my movement, because my movement actually validates the very faith that I say that I have. Faith without movement is unbelief. We're not supposed to talk about it, we're supposed to do it. In fact, that's why John says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or in tongue, but with actions and in truth." He says, don't just talk it, do it. Move it, act, follow, have some deeds of faith in your life that will prove not even to us, to yourself. That you believe that Jesus is who he says he is. So can I ask you a really honest question? Are you moving with God? Just like right now, are you moving with God, toward God, because God, when God? Or are you drifting towards the world?

Like when was the last time you took a next step? The next step is any belief or behavior that moves you forward on your journey with Jesus, and they're not generic. They're not subjective, they're not about feelings. They're tangible, they're defined, they're objective. They can be measured. So when was the last time you took a next step? And what was it? I mean, just think about the Bible. They give the movement that's in the Bible. First thing God says to humanity, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it." Goes on to say, "Increase and advance." "I will show you my ways. I will teach you my paths." "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying this is the way, walk in it." "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

"As the Father has sent me, so I send you." "Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations. You will be my witnesses, to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth." "We walk by faith, not by sight." "Therefore, let us run with perseverance, the race marked out for us." "I have fought the good fight. I have kept the faith. I have finished the race." Movement, movement, movement. It is a part of the heart of God. And hear me, when you're moving, it is not religion, it is not duty, and it is not obligation. We live a life of restful movement. Resting in the finished work of Jesus and what he has done, but moving with him and towards him. Why? Because he is the Good Shepherd. He is the gate, and the door, the light of the world. He is grace and truth. He is hope. He is life itself. Which is why God says today, "I said before you death and life. Now choose life." In other words, every time you move towards God, you're moving yourself towards life

Isn't that what we all want? There is a time to move towards Jesus. The time is now. Come on, what I love about our church is that our vision is to be a movement of hope for the city and beyond. But to be a movement of hope means we actually have to move. Thank you to all the cows. Mooo. Right? What I love about our church is it's always been based on movement, walking with God, this journey of faith. And I'll just be straight up with you. You either love that or you hate it. Some of you are like, yeah, that's pretty much right. Now, I got it. I just figured it out. With one sentence I just figured out all my problems here. I've learned this over the years that people either love it or hate it. Why? Because you love it if you want to move forward with God, or you want to find God or you're lost, lonely and broken and you need a breakthrough from God.

But if you want to be comfortable and convenient, it's hard to be comfortable and convenient around here for a long time, right? We love to move. And here's the interesting thing is, it's really easy to hide in the shadow of other people's movement. It's really easy to be leafy and yet not fruitful. Like, all the things I said to you at the beginning that we did this summer, read 150 chapters of Psalms, served our kids with adventure, 1,200 new students, young adult internship, Serve the City, baptisms, giving, building, loving, leading. We moved all summer. The question though is not, did we move? The question is, did you move? Because it's really easy to sit there and hide in the shadow of everybody else's movement and convince yourself that you're moving too. I mean think about Judas.

Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, he hung out in the shadow of everyone else's movement. So it looked like he was a disciple. But he was leafy, he wasn't fruitful. And while he might have had some activities out here, his heart was never moving towards God. Can I ask you the question? Is your heart moving towards God? And if not, ask Him to draw it close. And if you're sitting here and you're like, yeah, it's time to move. You know what, perfect, I've been waiting for this, it's time to end my marriage. It's time to quit my job. In fact, I'm about to send an email right now while we're sitting here in church. It's time to move to another state. I'm just going to uproot my kids and rip them all out because I like fishing and the rivers of Montana so we're out of here, whatever the thing is. That's not what we're talking about. I'm talking about moving in a way that glorifies God. That's what time it's for.

In fact, look at this, "If anyone would come after me, Jesus, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." So movement requires death to self. So if you're sitting here and you cheer on, yeah, movement for self and you think about it like that, you got to be real careful because it might not be from the Lord. Because most movement that God asks us to take causes us to have to move out of comfort, out of convenience, and die to our own self, die to our flesh, go into the obstacle, against the giant, up the mountain if you will. Come on, this is why when Jesus is walking by on water and the disciples are sitting in the boat and Peter says, "Is it you Lord? Tell me to come." And Jesus says, "Okay, Peter, come." He invited him to move, to come. He invited him to step into a storm, not a jacuzzi. And we don't ever get out of the boat because we're waiting for God to give us the jacuzzi, He's always going to invite you into the choppy waves.

Why? Because he wants to show you you are capable of so much more than you realize. He wants to remind you of who you are. He wants to show you who He is and His personality, and what He is really like. He wants to remind you what you were created to do. Come on, He invites you to do hard things so He can show you that in Him you can do hard things. So what are you afraid of? Why aren't you moving? What's causing you to stay in the boat, to sit by sight or to want to go back to Egypt? He's drawing, He's calling because He's good at it. And His grace will sustain you. And He knows that the only place your heart would be at rest is when you're moving forward with Him.

Come follow me. I'll make you fishers of men. Moving with Jesus in a life of purpose is the only time your soul will ever be at rest because that's what you're created for. In fact, catch this, at the end of Paul's life, he says, "Not that I have already obtained all of this, or I have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I did not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, the old season, and straining towards what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Paul, maybe the most spiritual, faithful person to ever live, other than Jesus, and it literally says, I haven't arrived. End of his life, he's like, I'm still running my race, I'm still fighting the good fight, I'm still walking by faith, I'm pressing on, and I'm grabbing a hold of him because he's grabbing a hold of me.

It's like, if I walk across a busy street or in a crowded room with my little girl and I grab her hand, but she grabs my hand to say, let's go together, Daddy. I'm following you to where you want us to go. That's what he's talking about. And he doesn't say, forget what is behind as a one-time event. Forgetting, lifestyles, renewing, repenting, changing our thinking because you can't step into a new season with an old mindset. Even Paul had to get rid of old mindsets to move forward. Why? Because he's been called heavenward, towards God, towards Jesus. He goes on to say in that passage, "All of us who are mature should take such a view of things." Maturity is moving towards Jesus no matter what. No matter what the situation or circumstance is. And if, on some point, you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. That's my favorite verse in this whole thing today. If you disagree, it's okay; the Holy Spirit will show you.

Only let us live up to what we have already attained, a life worthy of the calling as beloved sons and daughters. Are you with me on this? There's three types of people sitting in this room. Those of you that have never moved, those of you that stopped moving, and those of you that are moving. If you've never moved, today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to take that first step towards Jesus. If you stopped moving, it doesn't matter why, it doesn't matter when, it doesn't matter what happened, all of the reasons, situations, what matters is what are you going to do today. You got to take responsibility at some point. It's not everyone else's fault, it's not COVID's fault, it's not the situations, it's not the circumstances, it's not work, it's not the government, it's not the economy. At some point, you got to just take responsibility and say, it doesn't matter why, when, who, how, where, what, all of it, what matters is what am I going to do today. And the Good Shepherd is inviting me to move into green pastures. And then if you are moving, just be clear, moving with God means that you're helping groups one and two move towards God because that's where Jesus is moving on mission of seeking and saving the lost, lonely and the broken.

Okay? Okay, let me pull this whole thing together with this. In the Old Testament, there is this amazing story of this guy named Jonathan. I love this story. He is the son of King Saul. And the Israelites have already been commanded and commissioned by God for years to take the Promised Land, to defeat the Philistines, the enemies, the people who are inhabiting the land to go and destroy the works of darkness. And yet, Saul and his entire army are sitting under a pomegranate tree. They're just waiting. Full of apathy and lethargy, they're stuck. They're just waiting. They're not even sure what they're waiting for. And Jonathan wakes up one day, and he looks around and he thinks to himself, why on Earth are we waiting? God has already told us to take this land and to defeat the enemies.

So he looks at his armor bearer and he says, hey, let's go fight the Philistines because the Lord will work on our behalf. And the armor bearer looks at him and says, "I am with you heart and soul." Sometimes it only takes one person to be willing to move with you for you to have the courage and the faith to really go do it. So the two of them go and they find this Philistine outpost and they climb up this little hill and they fight, and they killed 20 Philistines, the enemies, in a matter of just a few moments. And in that moment, when the two of them killed 20 guys, this panic strikes over the entire army. It says, "Then, after Jonathan moved, panic struck the whole army--those in the camp and the field, those in the outposts and the raiding parties-- and the ground shook. Because it now was a panic sent by God." Jonathan moved towards God, and so God then moved towards Jonathan. Jonathan had a faith to move towards God, and God was so inspired by Jonathan's faith and movement that God then moved on behalf of all the people.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. And when God sent that panic because of Jonathan's movement, it was like he was just waiting for one guy to have faith, to go and do what He already said to do, then God moved, and then what happened? Saul and the entire army quickly mobilized because they realized what was happening and the mobilized apathetic army went to battle. And then all of the rebellious Israelites who had gone over to live in the land of darkness, to live among the Philistines, to live a life directly and get going against God, they realized it and they came back home and joined the battle to fight against darkness. And then it says, "All the people who are afraid and were hiding in caves came out of hiding and joined the battle to engage." And so one man's movement mobilized the apathetic, restored the rebellious and healed the broken. Wow.

So one man with the faith to say, I want to see the time and season that I live in. And this is not a time and a season for sitting under a pomegranate tree. This is a time and season to go, follow the Lord. One man, because he did that, mobilized the apathetic army, restored the rebellious people and healed the broken. So ready? Wives, your movement towards the Lord, even though it might be getting out of the boat into the storm, might just be the thing that mobilizes your apathetic husband. Hey dads, your movement towards the Lord might be the very thing that restores that rebellious and wayward child and brings them back home. Hey students, your movement towards the Lord might be the very thing that heals your parents' broken heart and draws them out of hiding in this world back into the battle, into the life that God has called them to live. See, Jonathan's story is our story. Jesus has already declared, "Come, follow me."

He didn't say sit under a pomegranate tree and wait on me. Come, follow me. This is what this time is for, moving with God, toward God, because God, when God, regardless of what I can see with my eyes. What time is it? What is this time for? You've got one life, it is but a breath and but a vapor. Like the grass of the field and the flowers made by God. He has put eternity in your heart, which means He has already given your heart a desire to understand, not just clocks and calendars, but divine seasons and purposes behind them. It's time. It's time.

And the beauty of our God is, He doesn't care how long we've been sitting under the pomegranate tree. He celebrates us when we finally get our eyes back on Him and just take one little baby step towards Him. Just so you're clear, it ain't God that's going to be the one saying, "What took you so long?" God's going to say, "I am so excited to go on this journey of faith with you. Take hold of me because I'm taking hold of you. Let's go in Jesus' name." Come on, close your eyes with me. Close your eyes with me. Come on, what's the Holy Spirit saying to you today? What is the Spirit of God that's in this place moving around this room saying to you? What's He whispering in your heart?

What's He speaking to your mind? Remember, the Holy Spirit is always drawing us under Jesus. He is always showing us that we are capable of so much more than we realize. Last season was tough for so many people, but the season has changed in Jesus' name. And even if the circumstance or situation or news cycle hasn't changed, God's divine time and purpose and season can't be stopped by this world. So in Jesus' name, may we have the courage and the faith to just align our lives with what God is doing. Come on, what is a next step that you can take towards God? Not a leap, not changing everything overnight, just one step that just literally is like, God, I just want to take one step that moves me towards you. It just literally might be to come back next week.

I don't know. But I know the Lord will show you if you ask Him. So Holy Spirit, we want to have ears to hear what you are saying to this church. We want to know the divine season and purpose for the activities and the clocks and the calendars of our lives. Would you show us your way? Would you teach us your paths? Thank you for grace and truth that draws us out of our apathy, our rebellion and our hiding places. Today Lord, we want to choose to join the mission that you're on, and move with you, toward you, because you and when you invite us. We love you, Jesus. It's time, in your name we pray, amen.