Holy Moments

Happy Sunday, and happy New Year! Thank you so much for joining me this week, and I hope you can join me every week, whatever platform you're watching on or listening on. I would appreciate it if you would hit the like button, if there is one. That little act will help get this word out to more people. Maybe you could share this link with with friends you think would benefit from hearing these words.

I look forward to the New Year. I'll finally be launching a new podcast, and I'll let you know when. If you have some requests for a sermon topic or a special series, please email me. My email is daviddavid sh.cm.

I live with a very observant woman. My wife will notice so many things that just get by me. If we had have visited your house, she'll remember the color of the room she was in. I barely know the colors in my house, and I painted all of them myself. I suppose that it's a stereotype, but some men just aren't as observant as women.

I heard of a man that went home to his two-story house, and one floor was missing. His two sons were three daughters, his blonde wife was a brunette, and his German Shepherd was a yorky. After 3 days, he realized that he was in the wrong house. Some of us are just slow.

Today I want to encourage all of us to become better noticers. In particular, I want us to look at the holy moments that can pass by us if we're not looking for them. A few weeks ago, Jeanie and I were out running errands. It was raining, and I forgot my rain coat. I parked the car and walked slowly in the rain to my destination.

Why was I so calm in the rain? Georgia needs rain. I was happy to get it. What happened in that moment was that I shifted my thinking.

Remember these words from Philippians 4:8: "Whatever is true, whatever is Honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there's any Excellence, if there's anything worthy of Praise, think about these things." That scripture will change your life. I have a friend that used to say, "Stinking thinking leads to lousy living," and that is true. God wants us to shift our thinking and have us see things in a new way.

Do you remember the story from Exodus chapter 3 about Moses and the burning bush? I'll read the first five verses from Exodus 3: "Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led his flock beyond the Wilderness and came to Mount Horeb, the Mountain of God. There the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush. He looked in the bush was Blazing, yet it was not consumed.

"Then Moses said, 'I must turn aside and look at this great sight and see why the bush is not burned up.' When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God Called to him out of the Bush, 'Moses, Moses.' Moses replied, 'Here I am.' And then God said, 'Come no closer. Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is Holy Ground.'"

I believe that there are burning bushes everywhere. In verse 5, God tells Moses that he's on Holy Ground. It's interesting to note that this Holy Ground is not in Jerusalem or even in Israel. It's in the wilderness of Midian. This is modern day Saudi Arabia.

Moses had been tending sheep here for 40 years. I wonder how many times he passed by this very spot. Had the ground become holy recently, or was it holy the whole time? Do we walk on Holy Ground all the time, and we just miss it?

Remember the words of Jacob when he woke up at bethl after his dream. He said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." I think all of us are that way.

Let me give you this challenge: in 2024, look at the places you stand as Holy Ground. Look as your at your time as holy moments. If we treat our homes and our workplaces and our vehicles as holy, what different lives we would have. If we treat our minutes and seconds and hours and days as holy, what different times we would have. Look for God. Look for those holy moments every moment, every day.

Pray with me. God, thank you for the new year that is here, and we pray that in the coming days, weeks, months, that we see you. And one of the reasons that we see you, because you're always there. One of the reasons that we see you is because we're paying attention. We're looking, we're slowing down, we're processing, and we're not taking things for granted.

God, thank you for the gift of today. Thank you for these friends, and help them to see you always. In Jesus' name, amen.

God bless. Happy New Year.