Good morning, everyone. It's good to see all of you guys. It's been a while since I've been up
here. I've been hanging out with the kiddos, and it's been a great time. We've been having a great
time back there, and so I'm really glad that you're all here. And if you're a first-time guest,
I just want to, you know, say thank you very much for coming. We have a free gift for you out in the
lobby. And I'd also like to welcome all those who are joining us online. Thank you very much, and I
believe that God is going to bless you right where you are. Okay, we just had just a couple
announcements. The first one, if you have not heard, if you were not here last week, we are going
to be having a celebration of life on Saturday for Ron Sincu. It's tough, guys. You know, I'm not
excited about burying my friend. This is not something that you want to do as a pastor, but
the thing is, is we're celebrating. This is, we're celebrating. And there's so many funny stories and
so many amazing memories that I'm, in a strange way, I'm looking forward to it because I think
it's going to be a time of laughter. It's going to be a time of joy because he's up in heaven. We're
slumming it down here. So, you know, good for him. And second thing, kind of a juxtaposition,
you smell the hot dogs. We're going to have a baby celebration because we have a new baby coming.
I mean, it's our first baby. It's a church, and we're so excited. It's a real fun thing that we can do
this as a small church because we won't be able to do this forever as we grow. And so I, as much as
we can be together, we can bind together, we can eat together, we can celebrate together, let's do
that. So I'm going to pray for the offering. The offering box is in the back. You can give online.
You guys know the drill. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for all, for everything that you've
given us, all of your offerings, all of the blessings that you give us, everything that we have comes
from you. And we just give back to you in our tithes and offerings, and we give that in faith
as we sow into the seeds in the kingdom of God. Amen. All right. So I just want to say thank you
guys for all of you who have stepped up, who've helped around the church, who volunteer, who do
hospitality. I really appreciate it. I wasn't here last week. My husband and I have been kind of down
with some illness, and so we just, I want to know, let you guys know that we really appreciate you,
that we really see that what you do. And if you really feel that you want to serve, there's a lot
of things to do. There's hospitality, there's kids' ministries, security. Yes, we do need security.
Alter ministry, men's, women's ministry, there's opportunities. So come find me. I'm just going to
warn you, I'm not an amazing admin, so I will do my best to get stuff going. So if you've been like,
yeah, I've been wanting to do something, I know, I know, I know about it, but we can always use more help.
So, all right, so we're in a series called The Supernatural World, and we're going to be in the
series for a while, if you guys haven't figured this out, because there's a lot to talk about in
the supernatural, because the supernatural is as real as the natural. And then my husband and I
were laying in bed, and I'm sitting there thinking, I'm like, honey, do we have, are we talking about
this? And he's like, no, we should probably add that on the list. I'm like, okay. Are we talking about
this? And he's just like, no, we should probably add that too. Five minutes later, did you remember
this? He's like, just go to sleep. Just go to sleep. So we're going to be in here till at least
July, if not August, because there's just so much to talk about. Because what we do here in the
natural manifests in the supernatural. It manifests in the supernatural, and vice versa. What happens in
the supernatural manifests here in the natural? And I just don't feel like it's talked enough about
this in church. I don't know why. I don't know if it's too mystical, if it's a little woo-woo,
you know, if it upsets religious tradition, maybe upsets our culture. I don't know. But it needs to be
talked about. It needs to be brought out to light, because it's tangible. So let me give you guys an
illustration. So last month, we had the Olympics, right? And that's the one time every two years that
I actually watch television. Because I love the Olympics. I love how these athletes come. They
come and compete with one another. Some of the best athletes in the world. And I remember back in the
late 2000s, early 10s, there was this incredible Olympian named Michael Phelps. You all know who Michael
Phelps is? He was a swimmer. He was recognized as one of the most successful Olympians in history.
So successful, guys, that he had won 28 medals, 23 of them gold. Okay? Phelps had made a name for
himself. See, he continually reached the top of his sport over and over again. He set world records
that still stand to this day, and they're thinking they're going to continue to stand for decades.
He became this global symbol of elite performance. I think his face was on the Wheatie box. I think he
had a thing with Kellogg. How awesome is that? But there was something wrong. See, after each
Olympic competition, Phelps suffered from this really deep depression. At one point, he stated,
you worked so hard for four years to get to that point. Then it's like you're at the top of the mountain.
And then you're like, what am I supposed to do now? Who am I? See, Phelps dealt with depression
so badly, so badly that after the 2012 Olympics, he contemplated suicide.
And that's not all. That's not the only trouble he got himself in. He got himself into a bunch of
legal trouble. He was caught drinking and driving twice. He used marijuana and got busted for that.
And because of that, he lost sponsor deals. There were some competitions he couldn't compete in.
And that meant that the rest of the USA team couldn't even qualify because he wasn't there.
You see, Phelps made a name for himself. He became his own god. He worshipped his own accolades.
But the problem, the problem with making a name for ourselves is that our name was never meant to
carry that weight of our identity. It was never meant for that. And that's exactly what humanity tries
to do in Genesis. So let me kind of give you a little bit of recap. So Pastor Tim, we talked about
back in Genesis 3 a couple weeks about the first rebellion. That is, at the garden, Adam and Eve,
they, instead of living harmoniously in the garden, they eat of the tree of good and evil
and have spiritual death and are separated from God. Well, then the second rebellion happened in Genesis 6.
That's when the sons of God come down, right? Intermingle with the humans. And then God has
to send a flood to destroy a wicked humanity. But in that flood, right, he preserves one family,
one righteous family, and that is Noah. So now after the flood, God makes this covenant with Noah,
the same covenant he did with Adam. And it's Genesis 9. It says, then God blessed Noah and his sons,
and he said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. So Noah and his sons do just that.
Them and their wives, they have children. They start to build up the population again.
But guess what happens? Sin comes back. It comes back. And now we have another rebellious people.
And so if you guys have your Bibles, I want you to open up to Genesis 11. We're going to be hanging out
there for a while. And this is one of my favorite stories. And it was really cool because I read
these stories as a kid. And then now I'm looking at it as an adult. I think I would know the story
until I start really digging in. I'm like, well, I really don't know this story. So Genesis 11,
verse 1, talking about the Tower of Babel. Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
As people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
They said to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for
stone and bit mutant for mortar. And then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower
with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face
of the whole earth. This is a very ironic story. And I like ironic stories because they're funny
in a way. I like the tension in stories that are very ironic. You see, all of the descendants of
Noah, they had one language and they stayed together, which by the way is the exact opposite
of what God said, right? He says, be fruitful and multiply. No, they are not doing that.
They're hanging together. And instead of populating the earth, they moved eastward.
And that's very interesting that they moved eastward and that was specified.
You see, this movement is significant. Eastward movement seems to happen after sin.
Okay, let me give you some examples. Garden of Eden, after Adam and Eve get kicked out of the Garden of Eden,
they go east because there's a guard on the east side of the garden, right?
And then Cain, after he killed his brother, what? He went east. And then you have a rebellious Israel
that was exiled to Babylon. Where did they go? They went east. And now after the flood,
these people went east. And so they end up settling in this area called Shinar, which is in the region
of Sumer, which is in Mesopotamia. It's in modern day Iraq. And what's really cool about this location
is it's known for its city-state ruins. And so it's some of the oldest civilizations that we know,
which is amazing because it really fits into scripture. But, but, because of the region that
they settled, there were no stones. So you notice what the people say, let us, let us, let us.
And that phrase should cause us to pause a little bit. It should cause us to pause because if you
remember in Genesis 126, God goes to his heavenly council and says this, then God said, let us make
humankind in our image after our likeness. That phrase is very important. See, now that people are
saying, come let us make bricks. Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower. Let us make a name
for ourselves. You see, the people want to be like their own God. And, but what's interesting and what's
ironic is, is the, because they don't have stone, they have to use bricks. And bricks are not as good
as stones. They're not. They're subpar. Think Jesus, the cornerstone, not Jesus, a pile of bricks,
right? You know, Jesus. Oh, you finally got it, didn't you? It took a few minutes. It's okay. No pile.
That's for you, Cindy. Bricks are a man-made material. They're man-made. Stones are not. You
know, bricks are like the fun-sized building material that you would make, you know, right?
And tar, or bit mutant was what they use in the ESV translation. It's a binding agent. It's a natural
occurring anything, but it's man-made. Whereas mortar is an inorganic material that hardens. And it
really stands the test of time. So these bricks, this tar, this building material really reflects
the pride of the people. It really reflects the heart of the people, because they aren't using
anything that is made by God. They're using everything that's made by man. And it just shows
how insecure they were, and how the natural is reflected in the sumer natural. And I love this.
This project is really half-baked, and they're using baked bricks. I love this. See, these
bricks are just uniformed. They're controlled, just like what the people wanted. Whereas
stones and rocks are not uniform. They're unique. They're God's creation, right? Bricks represented
pride. And as man can't make stone, but they can make bricks, the tower was completely made
from human hands. 100%. So let's talk about this tower. Let's talk about what this tower
looks like. Now, it was in Mesopotamia, so it was likely going to be a ziggurat, right?
And a ziggurat kind of looks like a pyramid. It's kind of like, and they're like this, right?
And it's similar, but instead of inside having mummified bodies, it's just full of dirt, okay?
And these ziggurats were made for specified deities. And so what they would do is at the very,
very top, they'd have a staircase that would go straight up. And at the very top, they'd have this
room with a bed and a table, and that's where the deities would reside. And that's the place
where the people would come and worship the gods. So then you ask, these people needed this tower to
go to the sky. Well, why is that? And that's because the people thought that the gods resided
in the clouds, in the heavens. And in a way, we kind of do too. You know, we kind of think of heaven as
above us. It's not really above us. I mean, we have space, you have galaxies, no. But in the
spiritual realm, it is above us, right? So in a way, it is kind of, yes, it is kind of above us
in the high places. That's why when we say the god of the mountains, that's because that's the god
of the high places. And that's what makes our god so good, because our god lives in the valleys,
right?
And so this tower was to be a gateway, like to an access to the heavens. It was supposed to go up
to the heavens so the gods could come down. And that means that people could have God, have direct
access to God on their terms. It was just, it was circumventing the fall of man, because now they
didn't need a savior. They could go to God whenever they wanted to. And the purpose of this tower was to
make a name for themselves. But like Michael Phelps, there's a problem. God only promises a name for
Abraham, for David. That's it. Otherwise, it's God. Only God makes a name for himself. Isaiah 63 says,
who caused his glorious arm to go to the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make
for himself an everlasting name. You see, people were observing God's greatness by putting in their
own, by giving them self's divinity, and to the point where they could even reside with God
themselves. And that was the whole point of this tower. That was the whole point of this tower.
So then what was God's response? So what did God do to all, with all this nonsense?
Verse 5, back to Genesis 11, it says,
And the Lord came down to see the city and tower which the children of man had built. And the Lord
said, Behold, they are one people. They have all one language. And this is only the beginning of what
they will do. And nothing that they will propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us
go down and confuse their language so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord
dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off the building of the city.
Therefore, its name was called Babel, because the Lord confused the language of all the earth.
And from there, the Lord dispersed them all over the face of the earth.
More irony. We have more irony now. When things kind of get weird, it gets weirder.
See, the very tower that people thought that they could build and control God and reach God,
God had to come down and see how small it was. He had to come down because it was small. I can
imagine God be like, that? That? This huge tower, that man thought it was amazing. God's like,
that? That I had to come down and look at this tower because it's so small?
See, it really reflects how much we think, how small God we think is.
God is so much bigger. He is so much bigger. Isaiah 40 says,
He is the one who sits on earth's horizon. Its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him.
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain and spreads it out like a pitch tent.
Folks, our greatest achievements are puny in God's eyes. They're tiny. They're small.
God had to leave his heavenly realm to come down to see this tiny little tower that man thought was
going to reach the heavens. And let us understand that God took it seriously. He was not happy.
God in his heavenly court went down and had to scatter the people by confusing their language,
each clan with their own language, using that same verbiage, let us. Let us confuse. Let us mix up
their language. Because man had eaten from the tree of good and evil back in Genesis 3,
they became like those of the heavenly council because they knew good and evil. They knew.
Thus separating themselves from God. And here humans were trying to reverse the fall of man
and make a God for themselves. But here's the thing. Here's the thing. Only God can plan without
limitation. Only God can plan without limitation. Let that sink in a minute. We do not have that
ability. We cannot plan without limitation. We have limits. We have boundaries. And so when man
tries to build a tower to go up to the heavens, God comes down to scatter them. Man wants to stay
together. God separates them. Proverbs 19 says, there are many plans in a person's heart, but it is the
Lord's purpose that prevails. And so this very point of this project to make a name for themselves
to not be scattered, God comes and does the opposite. And because of that, we don't really
know much about this people group before. We don't really know much about them afterwards.
They just become a people scattered, nameless in history because God got the glory.
And what's even really funny about this is even their project, Babel, which means gate
of God. In Hebrew, though, the name Babel sounds like the word for confusion. It's a word play.
It's confusion. So instead of the gate of God, it really sounds like confusion. And even the
phrase built for ourselves contains the words mix up. If you look at in Hebrew, ancient Hebrew
doesn't have vowels in it. We've actually added that later on in modern translations. But if you
just look at the consonants, it means mix up. And that's the whole irony. The whole irony that
therefore the name was called Babel because then the Lord confused the language of all the earth
and dispersed them all over the earth. So here we are, just to wrap up. Humans try to reach heaven.
God must come down to see it. Humans try to avoid scattering. God scatters them.
Humans try to make a name. The project becomes the name of confusion.
So let's contrast. Let's contrast God. Let's contrast Jesus making a name for himself.
And humanity, this whole time, has been trying to make a name for themselves since Babel.
But in the New Testament, we see something completely different.
We see something, a reversal, a 180. Instead of humans making a name, God reveals a name that
saves. Amen? And in Matthew, when Jesus and his disciples are gathered, he asked this, Matthew 16,
when Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say the son of
man is? They answered, some say John the Baptist, other Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Christ, the son of the
living God. And Jesus answered him, you are blessed, Simon of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not
reveal this to you, but my father in heaven. And I tell you that you are, Peter, and on this rock I
will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be
released in heaven. At Babel, humans say, let us build. But Jesus says, I will build my church.
See, humans build upward, Jesus builds downward. Human, people will make a name for themselves, but Jesus
reveals his own name. People unite around pride, but they should be uniting around Christ.
See, Babel ends in scattering, but Jesus ends in the church gathering. You see the difference?
And so we have a choice. We have a choice. And we make this choice every day, we make this choice
every moment. Because this story of Babel just isn't like an ancient history, it's not just a period of
time, it's not irrelevant. It's a mirror that is held up to each one of our hearts.
Because every single one of us eventually has to answer that same question that people of Babel answered.
Who will get the glory of my life?
Will I live my life building my own name? Or will I live my life lifting up the name of Jesus?
Jesus. And that's a decision that we all have to make.
Now, I know it's easy to read this story and say, man, look how foolish these people of Babel were.
Yet, we all make a name for ourselves all the time. Let me give you some examples.
Oh, I got a new car. I got a new ATV, a new toy. I got a new house. I have this amazing title in my job of climbing the corporate ladder.
Or look at this business I built. Look at my social media account.
You know, look how beautiful I look on social media.
Or look at my family. We're just this picture-perfect family.
You know, people can think, man, I am so important. Look at me.
Look at me. I'm always right. People need to listen to me.
You're making a name for yourself.
But it happens in the church, too.
Don't think it doesn't happen in the church.
Look at this amazing ministry I built.
Whoa, man, I put on this church event. It's going so well.
Look at how good I'm doing. Everybody's praising me.
Look at how much my home group grew.
Man, I must be an amazing leader.
Or, man, I memorize more scripture. I must know more than the pastor.
You probably do. I'll give you that one.
I'll give you that one.
Yeah.
Yeah.
See, folks, we make a name for ourselves.
And we do this all the time.
And so whether you believe in God or not, here's the thing.
Everybody worships something.
Everybody worships something.
And even in the church, there's many of us,
and I want you guys to listen to this.
There's many of us that believe that we are worshiping Jesus, but we're not.
Okay, for our people will be lovers of themselves,
lover of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers,
disobedience to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable,
slanderers without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited,
loving pleasure rather than loving God.
They will maintain the outward appearance of a religion, but have repudiated its power.
So avoid people like these.
They exist here in the church.
Paul warns us.
So we need to check our hearts.
Because your eternity is at stake, folks.
Your eternity is at stake, because what you do here is going to be reflected in the supernatural.
This is not a joke.
This isn't we play church.
It isn't come here and we look good.
No, we worship Jesus, and we worship Jesus hard.
Because having that outward appearance does not make you a worshiper of Christ.
It is not an outward thing.
It's an inward thing.
And God wants all of you, not some.
All of you.
He is a jealous God and will not accept you sharing with any other God.
And that is bottom line.
And if that doesn't hit home, this verse in Matthew 7 should.
Folks, this passage should really humble us.
It should really humble us.
See, I don't want anybody here going through life thinking that they're safe,
because I call on my Father in heaven.
When in reality, I worship anybody but Him.
It's an internal thing.
It starts here.
It's not out here.
And then, imagine I have to go stand before Him on the throne on Judgment Day
and tell Him why He wasn't my Lord.
That is frightening.
It's frightening.
So when God broke up humanity at Babel,
He was basically saying to them,
when you rejected me at Babel,
I will scatter you and give you what you want.
And that is a life apart from me.
And you know what?
In Matthew 7, Jesus is saying the same thing.
And I'm not here to scare you.
I'm not saying that, you know, that you've lost your salvation.
If you made a mistake, no, that's not what I'm saying.
I want to clarify that.
This is habitual.
If you find that you go home and God is the last thing that you are going,
you're thinking about, you're not praising Jesus,
you are not making Him the center of your life,
and that's a habit,
it's time to start checking your heart
and start asking yourself,
what am I really worshiping?
Because it doesn't have to stop here.
Because the people at Babel said,
let us make a name for ourselves.
Let us make a name for ourselves.
But the church declares something very, very different.
Let the name of Jesus be lifted high.
And that's the difference.
So I'm going to close with this passage in Philippians 2.
So that at the name of Jesus,
every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
Folks, it's not a matter of whether His name will be lifted high.
The question really is whether we're going to lift it now
or we're going to bow to it later.
It's whether we are going to lift it now or bow to it later.
And I just want to encourage in the last couple moments
that if there's anything in your life that you're hanging on to,
that you are worshiping,
that it's a stronghold in your life,
it could be broken today.
You don't have to stay here in this place.
It can be gone today.
Because it is time that we get really serious
about worshiping our Lord and giving Him His all.
Because when Judgment Day comes,
when I die, when I go to heaven,
I have to stand before Jesus,
I want to be confident to be like,
no, Lord, I gave it all.
I know I made mistakes and I repented.
And I hope you, and He's going to see my heart
and He'll say, good and faithful servant.
Because there is forgiveness.
It doesn't have to continue like this.
It can continue.
You can change your life and you can go forward
and be 100% in Christ.
So let's pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord,
we just come right now.
We come right now before you, Lord,
in prayer and in worship.
That you are our only God.
You are the one that we worship.
That anything that we've ever done,
all our accomplishments,
everything,
is nothing compared to you, Lord.
And Lord, I just ask that we all
just lay ourselves at your feet.
That you will be the one that we look to.
That you will be the only God.
That we lay aside our fear of man.
We lay aside our worship of our things.
We lay aside the worship of our family,
of our jobs.
And we worship you.
Even if it costs us something.
Because I would rather suffer on this earth
and spend an eternity with you
than just have a temporary comfort here.
Because Lord, you're worth it.
You are so worth it.
And Lord, we just ask that the spirit of Babylon,
that spirit of rebellion,
if it is in this room,
if it is in this heart,
it is gone in Jesus' name.
That it is gone.
It is not going to remain.
It is going to be gone.
And we're going to be a church that worships.
We're going to be a church that loves you, Lord.
And we're going to be a church that prays
and puts you first.
And Lord, we just thank you for all that you have done.
All that you have done to protect us.
All that you have done to keep us safe in you.
And we just, I'm just so much awe of you, Lord.
So much awe.
And Lord, as we go out this week,
let us be reminded who you are.
That you are the greatest and you're the only God.
In Jesus' name, amen.
