Photos by Ralph Freso / Slideshow / Livestream
Brian Kruckenberg, lead pastor of New City Church in Phoenix, left Grand Canyon University students with a question as he concluded Chapel on Monday at Global Credit Union Arena: “Do you have faith to trust Him?”
Kruckenberg said his decision to elaborate on Moses for his Chapel talk was easy. Moses is one of his favorite characters in Scripture because, despite the power he was given, he remained devoted to God.
He referenced Deuteronomy 1, in which Moses says the Lord has instructed him to tell the Israelites to take the 11-day trip from Mount Sinai (Horeb) to Kadesh, the edge of the Promised Land.
That command came after the ancestors of the Israelites spent 40 years – 14,600 days – of wandering and griping.
That passage in Deuteronomy 1 changed Kruckenberg’s life and ministry.
“Would I want to do what a lot of these Israelites did, and that is bicker, complain and doubt?” Kruckenberg asked. “Or would I want to have faith that I could trust God and I could move with Him wherever He was calling me to go?”
Kruckenberg emphasized the God we worship is a God of movement.
“Jesus loves you right here right now, but He loves you too much to keep you right where you are right now,” Kruckenberg said. “God always is interested in taking new territory, if you will.”
Kruckenberg reiterated a similar observation from pastor Ashley Wooldridge of Christ’s Church of the Valley, who mentioned at Chapel last week that simply praying after repeating a bad habit is not enough.
“There's moments in my life where I have to draw a line,” Kruckenberg said. “I’ve been here long enough. Enough of this, it's time to move. It's time to walk with God.”
Change might bring scariness, as it is comfortable just to continue what you are doing. But people of faith constantly trusted God. And Moses emphasizes that when God calls us to Himself and sends them on a mission, it is not about them.
“The Christian life is a life of service and sacrifice,” Kruckenberg said. “We call ourselves Christians. Think about our namesake, Jesus Christ. What was His life about? Giving His life away, not making it about Him, following his father's mission.”
Kruckenberg cites Salvadoran-born author/pastor Erwin McManus, who said, “Courage is not about the absence of fear, it’s the absence of self.”
When someone is more worried about failure and what others think while taking risks and displaying courage is when he or she gets paralyzed.
Moses reminded the Israelites that this promise is about God’s people over millennia. “It’s not about us,” Kruckenberg said.
God also instructed Moses to take the “great and terrifying route" – that if He is calling us to do something significant, that it is terrifying.
“Here's the truth: If you want to live a life that honors God, it will be a battle,” Kruckenberg said. “What did Jesus say? Wide is the road that leads to destruction. Narrow is the road that leads to the promise that God has for us.”
The 12 spies that God asked Moses to dispatch to the Promised Land observed grapes the size of beach balls and plenty of milk and honey. But the land was occupied with tall, strong people in walled off cities that made it difficult to penetrate.
The easiest thing to do is pray and assume God would not put you in harm’s way. But “God is going to tell us things we don’t want to hear, because He’s our Heavenly Father,” Kruckenberg said.
Kruckenberg equated it to parents who tell their children things they do not want to hear, like brushing their teeth, making their bed correctly and being home by midnight (with Midnight Madness being an exception).
“God is going to tell us things we don't want to hear,” Kruckenberg said. “But He’s saying, ‘I got you.'"
“… So many times Christians forget this. We have this vision. We have this thing that we feel like God is calling us to, and then somehow we just let God kind of fall on the wayside, and we think we're going to do it all on our own. It's not possible.
“God calls to you. You need him as you walk through it.”
And do not revert to “destructive habits,” as the Israelites did in wanting to retreat to Egypt, where boys were murdered shortly after birth.
“When we think about the Promised Land, we think about all the promises of the abundant life – of a life of security, right?” Kruckenberg said. “That's what this Promised Land represented. We have all of that in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the representation of our Promised Land.
“He'll never leave us or forsake us. He's fighting battles for us. He is the true bread from heaven. He is the water that never runs dry. He is that Promised Land. So don't do this on your own.”
“How about we be Day 12 people? Not day 14,600 people.”
Next Chapel speaker: Des Wadsworth, Grace Community Church, 11 a.m., Monday, Global Credit Union Arena
***
Related content:
GCU News: Repent with conviction, pastor stresses
GCU News: Chapel speaker: Hearing is believing when it comes to missionary work
