"Promises are kind of a tricky thing. Promises aren’t anything special by themselves. They become special when they become fulfilled. You’ve been on the receiving end, or you’ve seen the receiving end of promises fulfilled – think of a marriage and vows. You’ve also been on the receiving end, or you’ve seen someone else on the receiving end of unfulfilled promises – think of a marriage and vows. A promise becomes special when it's honored. If you string enough honored promises together, trust gets built.

Some people trust God's promises; they have a history with God and the ways in which He has fulfilled His promises to them. Some people refuse to trust anybody or anything, including God. They've had too many promises not fulfilled, they've been lied to. Because trust is not built off of my ability to believe, but off of the promiser's ability to do what they said they would do.

So, here's the really big idea that you're going to hang on to today: Jesus keeps His word. Which is a really, really big deal in a world where things don't always work out the way that we want. In a world where life is hard and things happen that we can't control … when wounds happen, when loss happens, when pain takes place … we need to know that a guy named Jesus keeps His word. If you're looking for strength and motivation to make it through this world, then you've got to remember the promises He makes."

So, in this desert, they don’t see a God who can provide for them; they see a God who’s holding out on them. They cry out for food; they cry out for water. They complain because Moses has these meetings with God, and he takes too long. One time, it seems like Moses has been gone so long that he must be dead. Or, maybe Moses abandoned them. Everything’s always negative, everything’s always bad. They never see what God has done; they only ever see what God hasn’t done. God isn’t providing – he’s holding out on them.

In their impatience, they build a golden calf and begin worshipping it. They forget the God who rescued them from Egypt while they begin worshipping a fake god that looked like the gods in Egypt. They imitated what they had been freed from. They forgot the victories … and God steps in and punishes a generation of Israelites. He sentences them to 40 years in this desert before they can get into the Promised Land. He says an entire generation is going to pass. Their forgetting led them to wandering.

Guys, just really quick: when we forget the victories of God, when we forget what God has done in our life, it makes our lives look like aimless wandering. When we live in ignorance to the victories of God, it takes away from the meaning in our lives. It looks like wandering around, aimlessly, through a desert.

"I love roller coasters, but I hate when my life feels like a roller coaster. I hate when I feel like my future is unpredictable. I hate when I don’t know what’s next for me. I hate when I don’t know if my marriage is going to recover. I hate when I don’t know if my finances will work out. I hate when I don’t know if my kids will make the right choices. I hate when it feels like my life is hurtling toward the end of a track, and I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Don’t you hate that? Don’t you hate … living by faith?

But I’ve found over the years, looking backward is an incredible comfort. That’s what this sermon series is about. It’s about remembering. It’s about looking backwards and finding that comfort. In fact, we said it this way last week: the best way to know what God’s going to do in the future is to look backwards at what He has already done. The best way for you to know what your future looks like … especially your future with God, as you try to anticipate how God may move in your life … the best way to know what He may do in your life, is by looking backwards and seeing what He’s already done."

The New Testament gets really serious about remembering as well. It’s in Jesus’ language and it’s picked up by the rest of the NT authors. And … a consistent theme that keeps coming up, over and over again, is the big idea that we have to REMEMBER JESUS.

Now, that may be the most simplistic statement you've ever heard in a sermon of any church ever at any time, right? Well, duh, of course we have to remember Jesus. Maybe you would argue that a church couldn't possibly forget Jesus, right? He's too important. He's a really, really big deal. What a simplistic, small, little idea to lay out that we would have to remember Jesus.

But … sometimes people forget and forgetting leads to sin. Bad things happen when people forget.

A good friend of mine at the College put it like this: “Remember who you are and what you stand for.” Guys, listen: we aren’t Jesus followers just for ourselves. We do life his way because our kids are watching, and our grandkids, and our neighbors, and our classmates, and our colleagues … and our enemies, even. And who we are and how we live will be a far more powerful testimony for or against Jesus than anything we say. Do you get that?

The other two parts just unpack it, a bit. I will support the testimony of my church … by attending faithfully … because, guys, it is who we are and what we do! The book of Hebrews put it like this: “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And (here it is) let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (Hb 10.24-25).

"The Bible describes Jesus as the way to God, the touchstone of all truth, and the means to life as God meant it to be lived. It also describes Jesus as: “full of grace and truth,” 100% grace, and 100% truth. So … because there is a God you don’t get your own truth, and I don’t get my own truth. Do you get that? But he is 100% grace, too. Which means, if you can’t speak God’s truth with grace, you kind of need to hush. Truth without grace is not God’s truth. And grace without truth is not God’s grace. The two have to go together, they are inextricably intertwined. And, that’s kind of the way we want to do it here at CapCity … people following Jesus together, trying to live out his truth and grace, not compromising on either." Stephen "Doc" Pattison, Lead Minister

"I know we live in an age where people avoid commitment. We avoid committing to a job, a marriage, a country, a church. So, all around us there are these “floating believers” who hop from church to church … when they choose to go at all. There are a whole lot of Christians who are looking to get fed, but with no real desire to do whatever they can to contribute to the health of their family. It’s kind of like … kind of like a guy who hops around the neighborhood from house to house looking for a meal and bed for the night, but never really contributing to those who serve him. That wouldn’t work, would it? According to the apostle Paul, it’s kind of like a body part – a hand, or a foot, or an elbow, or a knee, that refuses to attach to a body. Or maybe, this week I’ll attach to his body, and the next week I’ll attach to hers. Kind of a stupid picture, isn’t it? Listen: “You are members of God’s very own family … and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” You were not made to go it alone. Together we give and we are given to, together we serve and we are served, together we love and we are loved … if a church family does it right. And life is better."

"Where's God calling you to go this morning? Where is he daring you to venture? I know he's challenging each of us. He does it every day. For someone here this morning, it might be the challenge to make him the Lord of your life. To take that first step in obedience to him and bow before him, acknowledge him as your Lord and Savior. For someone here this morning, maybe he's calling you to recommit yourself to him and do his work. To get off the sideline, to get out of the boat, to get involved in the work that God is doing here in his church capital city. Ultimately, the decision is yours. So what's it going to be?"

"Sometimes, it’s hard to see anything other than what you’re facing in your life at this exact moment. Gratitude is all about changing your perspective. Complainers and grumblers focus on themselves. Complainers and grumblers focus on the moment right in front of them. They lose sight of the larger picture.

When we come to Jesus, we call it conversion, meaning that we change. Conversion means replacing old material with new, better material. The old me loved to complain because the old me was all about me. But when I convert to Jesus, my focus changes because it’s not about me — it’s about Jesus. I refocus, and people who are grateful always focus away from themselves.

Guys, you’ve got to change the focal point; it’s going to change your attitude. So don’t focus on your circumstances — focus on God, on how God can use those circumstances. The more you feed gratitude, the more gracious you become, and the easier it gets. It’s so good and healthy for you." Ben Webb, Associate Minister

So, if there is anything in you that desires to live a God-honoring life. Or, if you believe that imitating the character of God is the best way to live … that this isn't just about doing hard things to make God happy, but that it actually brings blessing to our lives … that when we do the things God does, when we pursue the character that God has, when we live according to the ways that God has laid out for us — it actually benefits us now, not just for eternity. If you have any desire to live and to love the way that God loves … if you have any desire to forgive the way that God forgives – remember it's wanting to forgive, and then it's writing off that debt. If there's any part of you that says that you want to do things the way God says to do them … then it probably means that you have to consider reconciliation. Because it's what God does.

Which brings us to a really interesting question: Do you have to? Have you ever asked that question? Mom gives you a chore, Dad tells you to do something, the teacher assigns more homework, your boss gives you a new task. You respond with that whiny tone: Do I have to? Do Jesus followers have to reconcile?