Standing on Holy Ground

Ararat Friends Meeting 12/01/24.

Good morning, I am John, my wife Rhonda couldn’t make it this morning. She is at home (Alamance County) with our grandchildren. Aiden (16), Laci (13), Saint (4), and Eden (5 months). I am from Cane Creek Friends Meeting and have been an electrician for the majority of my life, I have a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University and am excited and honored to be here with you this morning in the presence of the Lord.

Exodus 3-1-5

Moses and the Burning Bush

3One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,[b] the mountain of God. 2There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3“This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”

4When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” Moses replied.

5“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

We may not see a burning bush here this morning, but just like Moses, we are on holy ground. That little piece of desert Moses was standing on was holy for just one reason: God was there. God was there, and He is just as surely here today. We are in the presence of the living Lord, and we know this because of Jesus' promise in Matthew 18:20. There the Lord said, "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.''

We are on holy ground today. And this truth has great meaning for our lives.

FIRST IT MEANS THAT GOD WANTS TO CONTACT US.

God contacted Moses. And God wants to contact us. Notice in vs. 4, that the LORD called Moses' name, and God calls out to us in a personal, individual way.

He wants us to be conscious of His presence, and He can show up at any time. This day started out like any ordinary day for Moses, but out of the blue, God showed up! And Moses was never the same.

God shows up. He wants to be the biggest part of our lives every day. He wants to fill our hearts.

And we don't need a burning bush, because we've got something better! We've got the Bible, the written Word of God. We can hear from God anytime we open His Word!

God meets with us, not through a burning bush, but through a burning heart.

We don't need a burning bush here today. God sets our hearts on fire when He speaks to us through His Word.

James Hewett told about a 12-year-old boy who received Jesus during a revival. The next week at school his friends questioned him about the experience. "Did you see a vision?" asked one friend. "Did you hear God speak?" asked another. The youngster answered no to these questions. "Well, how did you know you were saved?" they asked.

The boy searched for an answer, and finally he said, "It's like when you catch a fish. You can't see the fish or hear the fish. You just feel him tugging on your line. And I felt God tugging on my heart." (1)

God is here today to tug on our hearts with His Holy Word, and the still small voice of His Holy Spirit. God is here to speak to us, if we will only listen.

WE ARE ON HOLY GROUND TODAY. THIS MEANS GOD WANTS TO CONTACT US. IT ALSO MEANS HE WANTS TO CARE FOR OUR NEEDS.

He sees our affliction. He hears our cries. He knows our sorrows. He comes down to us. And He will deliver us!

God cares for us, and if you are ever tempted to doubt it, go back to the cross. Jesus Christ cared so much that He was willing to die on the cross for our sins. Jesus took our punishment, so that we can take His offer for eternal life. And we will have eternal life, when we put our trust in Jesus, when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior.

No matter what happens in our lives, we can know that our God cares.

Some of you here have probably seen the movie "Unbroken." It was one of the top movies in the country when it came out in 2014, and it was based on the best-selling book about Louis Zamperini. He was an Olympic athlete and World War II hero. In 1943, Louie's plane crashed into the Pacific. He and another crew member survived for 47 days, stranded at sea, only to be captured by the Japanese. Louie was sent to a P.O.W. camp in Tokyo, where he received brutal treatment. The movie tells the amazing story of his courage, perseverance, valor, and miraculous survival.

At the end of the war, Zamperini and the other prisoners in the camp were set free to return to their homes. Back home in America, he kissed the ground and hugged his family.

But Franklin Graham tells us that there was much more to Louie's extraordinary life. "He himself always said that the biggest and most wonderful miracles came after the war, and that part was not included in the Hollywood movie. Louie had been tortured in the Japanese camps. And when he was finally freed, he came home filled with bitterness toward life and rage toward his captors. Louie experienced constant nightmares, became a heavy drinker, had a violent temper,

and nearly destroyed everything that mattered to him, including his marriage. His wife feared for her own safety and that of their little daughter, and she began preparing divorce papers. Then a neighbor invited the couple to go to nearby Los Angeles to hear a young, little-known evangelist named Billy Graham."

And Franklin Graham said, "It was 1949, and my father was preaching in a huge tent downtown. Louis wanted nothing to do with any evangelist, but his wife went anyway, and her heart was changed by the power of the Gospel. She tore up the divorce papers and persuaded her husband to go with her a few days later. He did, -- then walked out during the meeting.

She begged him to return another day. That time, while my father preached, Louie knew the Holy Spirit was working within him, and he resisted. The moment the invitation began, he grabbed his wife's hand and headed toward the exit. But in the aisle, overwhelmed by the realization of how broken his life had become, he turned around and gave his life to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith. He left the tent with God's complete forgiveness.

From that day forward, everything changed. Louie started reading the Bible. His nightmares disappeared, he gave up drinking, his hatred and violent anger melted away, and he began to live for Christ.

To his own amazement, he soon found himself desiring reconciliation with his Japanese tormentors. He traveled to Japan, visited prisons that held Japanese war criminals, shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with many, and expressed forgiveness personally to any of his wartime captors that he could find.

These extraordinary acts of reconciliation were widely reported in the media across Japan and the United States, and God used the stories to touch many hearts, and bring the power of forgiveness and reconciliation into many more lives. Right up to his death in July 2014, at age 97, Louie never tired of telling people about the Savior." (2)

Louis Zamperini found out that the Lord cared for him. And no matter what happens in our lives, we can be sure that God cares for us.

WE ARE ON HOLY GROUND TODAY. THIS MEANS GOD WANTS TO CARE FOR OUR NEEDS. IT ALSO MEANS HE WANTS TO CALL US INTO HIS SERVICE.

God has a call for all of our lives. God called Moses, and He calls all of us to make a difference for Him. God sees the plight of the orphan, hopeless and destined to live out his or her days in poverty and spiritual darkness.

He sees the successful businessman you went to high school with who has achieved everything he wanted but aches with the emptiness of it all.

God hears the cry of the single mom who lives down the street, whose frustration and despair has her on the brink of taking her own life. God cares about that barefoot and filthy kid who seems to have no supervision and no hope for the future. And because He sees, because He hears, because He cares, God says to us: 'Go now. -- I am sending you to bring them out.'" (3)

Someday God may send you to a far-away place. But right now, He has planted us in a place where we can make a difference for Him. And even the smallest acts can make a tremendous difference for someone else.

Don't hold back on the Lord, even if you feel inadequate, even if you feel afraid. Moses felt the same way.

WE ARE ON HOLY GROUND TODAY. THIS MEANS GOD WANTS TO CALL US INTO HIS SERVICE. AND IT MEANS HE WANTS TO GIVE US THE CONFIDENCE TO GO.

Moses was feeling very reluctant. He asked God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?''

Moses needed confidence to serve the Lord, and God wants us to know that we can find all the confidence we need in Him.

In vs. 12 God said to Moses, "Certainly I will be with you." It's as if God said: "Moses. It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter if you don't feel qualified. The only thing that matters is that I am sending you, and that I will be with you." Friends: God will be with us too!

My grandfather was a Quaker minister with nine children, my father being the youngest. That translated to me having around twenty or so first cousins. Of all of his grandchildren, I am probably the most least likely one that would have been expected to be standing in front of you today sharing the word of God. I felt inadequate, I haven’t been to seminary, and, generally speaking, I am a quiet person.

But God doesn’t necessarily choose the qualified, but He will qualify whom He chooses. And let me say this, I am still His work in progress, and I know that He is with me every step of the way.

And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM.'' And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.''' God is basically saying here, "Before time was, I AM. Through all eternity, I AM. I AM your provider, your peace, and your perfection. I AM your strength and salvation, your healer, and your helper, your guard, and your guide, your riches,

and your righteousness." Or as Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Door of the sheep.

I am the Good Shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life". (5)

So, all Christians can echo the words of Philippians 4:13, and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"

God wants to give us bold confidence to do all we can do together with Him. By ourselves, we can't. But together with God, we can! And God will be with us every step of the way. As Jesus said in Matthew 28:20: "I am with you always, even to the end of the world."

Where is holy ground? It is wherever we find the presence of God. Holy ground is any place where we allow God’s presence to enlighten our minds. Holy ground is any place where God’s will is made clear to us. Holy ground is any place that demands that we ‘remove our shoes, the shoes of pride, the shoes of selfishness, the shoes of foolishness, the shoes of anger, the shoes of greed, the shoes of jealousy, the shoes of lust, the shoes of hatred, the shoes of revenge. Those ‘shoes’ –

those things that we wear during our earthly walk will need to be removed if they serve as barriers to God’s holiness.

We are on Holy Ground this morning, here at Ararat Friends Meeting. This is a place of redemption, righteousness, peace, mercy and grace. As we walk through those doors, we need to be prepared to meet God. We have direct access to the throne of God; we have the power to speak to God one on one just as Moses did.

CONCLUSION:

If Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, then the truth is that you are always on holy ground, because He will always be there with you. And you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you! Let this truth sink in more than ever before.

Would you please bow for prayer.