Seeing Jesus More Clearly | 1 and 2 Chronicles

Good morning, Watermark. How are we doing today? Good to see you. I want to give a special welcome to all of the church leaders who are in town for our church leadership conference this week. If that's you, we just want to say "welcome." Glad you made it. Thanks for coming and worshiping with us early, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for all of us this coming week.

We're about to jump into studying the Word of God, so I just want to give everyone here an opportunity to take a moment and pray and to invite God's work into your life. So, would you pray really quickly and say, "God, would you speak to me this morning?" Then, would you pray for the people around you and say, "God, would you speak to them as well?" Then, would you pray for me and ask God to speak through me to you?

God, I thank you that you're here, that you're a God who's committed to being present with his people. God, would you wake us up to your presence? May your voice be clear into our lives. We give this time to you. May our hearts be receptive to everything you have for us. In the name of Jesus, amen.

For the majority of my life, I've chosen to live with bad eyesight. I have an astigmatism in my right eye. I have glasses, but I only wear them when I drive because I have a vision requirement on my license. I just concluded I'm fine with bad eyesight…that is, until this past December. This past December, I decided to go see a Watermark member who's an eye doctor. I went to see him, and honestly, the main reason I was going to see him was just to get an updated prescription because my prescription sunglasses that I drive with… I just needed a new pair.

So I was like, "Okay, I need a new prescription, and I'll tell him while I'm there that I'm squinting more and not seeing as clearly as I thought I'd be at the age of 44." While I was there, he caught me by major surprise, because I'm just there for a prescription. "I'll take the prescription. That's all I need for my driving glasses." He was like, "TA, would you like to try contacts?" I was like, "Hey, man. I'm 44 years old." In my mind I was like, "If I'm not wearing contacts yet, I'm not going to."

He was like, "Do you want to try contacts? You can try them right now." Before I knew it, he had left the room, pulled out prescription lenses, and put them in my eyes. I walked out of his office as a contact-wearing individual. I did not see it coming. Literally, I got in the car and called Kat. I was like, "Guess what? I wear contacts now." It was crazy. Things escalated very quickly. Slayt, if you're here this morning, I still am contemplating what happened in that office. It just really moved quickly.

Here's the reality. In that moment, my eye doctor was inviting me to see in a way that I hadn't seen yet. He was basically saying, "Hey, you know what? You don't have to see badly all the time. You can actually see life a lot more clearly all the time." As I thought about that… I hope some of you realize there are going to be moments in the Christian life that are going to feel like my experience at the eye doctor, where God is going to, in a sense, interrupt your life in a very, very sweet way, and he's going to invite you to see more clearly than you ever have in your life.

He's going to catch you by surprise. You might not even see it coming. It could be just over a morning devotional. It could be at a conference. It could be on a Sunday morning at church. It could be at Community Group, but God is just going to reach in and interrupt your life with an invitation: "If you want to see more clearly, you can. If you want to live with greater clarity on Jesus Christ and his beauty and his glory and why you exist, you can."

I sense, as I've talked to individuals in our church, that God has invited certain individuals in our church to see more clearly than they ever have in their life. There are certain individuals who have a hunger for Jesus that is stronger than at any point in their lives. What's amazing is that they have this holy discontentment in them for the rest of our church. The hunger they have, the appetite for Jesus, the clarity they're living with, is something they want for the rest of our church, and when they look around and see other people who aren't seeing as clearly, they just want more, not just for themselves but for our church.

I also believe there are people in our church who can think back to a time in their relationship with Jesus where they were seeing more clearly then than they are today. If you were honest, you would say, "Yeah, I can think back to a time that were more kind of spiritual glory days. I'm just not where I was at that point." You're just not seeing as clearly as you once were.

I just want to tell you as your pastor my hope and, honestly, my prayer… The sweetest thing God could do for our church would be to give widespread sight to our church, where at around the same time, God is inviting a critical mass of Watermark members to see him more clearly than they've ever seen him, that God would give a collective hunger, a greater appetite than we've ever experienced before in our lives.

Church, I believe God wants more for our church than we're experiencing right now. I just believe that. I believe God wants us to have a deeper hunger, a greater satisfaction, a greater sight of Christ, and a greater understanding of the purposes of God that he is inviting us to participate in every single day. I believe God, in some ways, wants to reach into our lives, shake us up, and invite us to see him more.

As I look at the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, which we've just read in our Year of the Word, I see a nation that was known as God's people who consistently failed to experience what God wanted for them. They failed to experience what all God had in store for them. God wanted more for his people, and I believe that's true for us.

So, here's what I want to do today. I want to look at the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, and I want to remind you of three things in hopes that the Spirit of God might invite us to see. Do you know what the issue was with the nation of Israel? There was a sight issue. There was a consistent sight issue. My hope is the Spirit of God is going to invite us to see more clearly today.

Here are the three things I want to remind you of: Jesus is the point, God's presence is the priority, and praying, seeking, and repenting are the path. That's what I want you to know. So, for the select people in the room who are like, "I'm seeing more clearly than ever before, and I want that for our church," then believe these three things. If you're not seeing as clearly as you once did, believe these three things. Let's start with the first one.

1. Jesus is the point. It's going to take me a moment to get there, so I need you to track with me, but I hope this point, which is going to feel a little bit like stepping into a classroom… My hope is it's really helpful for you. Part of the reason we're doing Year of the Word where we, as a church, are reading cover to cover through the entire Bible… One of the hopes is that you'd get to December and be able to say, "I understand the Bible better than I ever have in my life."

First and Second Chronicles invite us to zoom out and see everything we've covered since Genesis. The reason I say that is because… What's the first word in the book of 1 Chronicles? Adam. "Adam, Seth, Enosh…" First Chronicles just goes in. It just starts listing names. There's no warm-up. Just "Let's talk about names." It starts at the very beginning of the Bible with the first human being in Genesis.

Where does 2 Chronicles end? You'll read it this week. Second Chronicles ends with the nation of Israel exiled out of the land and being given permission to return. So, what I'm trying to help you see is that 1 and 2 Chronicles actually, in some ways, cover the majority of the history of Israel that is in the Old Testament.

Now, this is where this talk can be really helpful for people who just want to take a step in their understanding of the Bible. We're only 14 books into the Old Testament. There are still 25 more books in the Old Testament, but after we read the next two, Ezra and Nehemiah, we will have read the entire account of the history of the nation of Israel that's included in the Old Testament. Do you realize that? Everything else after Nehemiah actually fits somewhere in those first 16 books.

Let me help you understand this even more. I have to give credit to Mark Yarbrough on this. He's the president of Dallas Theological Seminary. When he's teaching the story of the Bible, he has people do this. If you're visiting, you're going to be like, "That church was weird," but I'm just going to ask everyone to start clapping like this. It has to be on my beat. Now listen to the numbers I say. Five, twelve, five, five, twelve. Five, twelve, five, five, twelve. Five, twelve, five, five, twelve. Okay, stop. What numbers did I just say? Yeah, "Five, twelve, five, five, twelve." You're never going to forget it. It's already there.

Do you know what "Five, twelve, five, five, twelve" represents? It represents the different groupings of books in the Old Testament. Let me show it to you. There are five books of the Law, Genesis through Deuteronomy. There are 12 historical books, which is Joshua through Esther. Then there are five Wisdom books, Job through Song of Solomon. There are five Major Prophets, and then there are 12 Minor Prophets. Those are the different groupings of the books in the Old Testament.

Now watch this. Let me show you how those 39 books fit together. Let me just show you the timeline of the whole Bible. If you look at Genesis, and then you look at Nehemiah… Let me just say this. The colors don't mean anything. The colors are just there to help you distinguish, because if we put all of the Wisdom books in one color and all of the historical books in one color, it would not be as easy to distinguish.

If you look at Genesis and look at Nehemiah, those 11 books across the top tell the story of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament. Those are the 11 books that carry the story. Everything else fits inside of one of those 11 books. Think about it. Job took place at some point during the book of Genesis. Leviticus took place during Exodus. Deuteronomy took place during Numbers. Ruth took place during Judges.

Then you get over here, and you see Psalms, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs. Those happen around David and Solomon. Then you have all of the Major and Minor Prophets. The majority of them fit inside 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. Do you see that? So, you get to Ezra and Nehemiah… Even Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, fits inside of the time of Nehemiah.

If you haven't pulled your phone out and taken a picture of this, I don't know what we're doing with our lives. I don't know what else you want from me when it comes to learning and understanding the Bible. If you're sitting there like, "Oh, that's cute. Okay. What's next?" like, guys… This is your Bible. This is how it fits together. My point in telling you this is if you've gotten with us all the way to the end of 2 Chronicles, for the most part you have understood the story of the nation of Israel.

So, let me put it together for you. What is the question the Bible, from start to finish, is seeking to answer? Here's the question it's seeking to answer: How can sinful human beings be acceptable to and together with a holy God forever? We started down here in Genesis. Sin enters the world, and in Genesis 3, God promises that a Serpent crusher is going to come. Someone is going to come who's going to reverse the effects of the fall and restore what is lost.

So now the Old Testament is a little bit like Where's Waldo? with the Serpent crusher. At first, your eyes are on all of humanity, so you turn from Genesis 3 to Genesis 4, and you're like, "Is it going to be Cain or Abel?" Neither. "Okay. Is it going to be Noah?" Nope. So, your eyes are on all of humanity. "Where's Waldo? Where is he?" You're looking at the whole page.

Then at the Tower of Babel nations are created, which begs the question…If the Serpent crusher is going to come, which nation is he going to come from? You turn to Genesis 12, and we find out he's going to come from Abraham's family. Abraham's family turns into the nation of Israel, so now we're playing "Where is Waldo?" with just one portion of the page. We're looking among the nation of Israel. Who's the Serpent crusher going to be?

Well, at the end of the book of Genesis, we get a hint that it's going to come from the nation of Israel but specifically from the tribe of Judah, so now we're looking at the tribe of Judah. Then you get to 1 and 2 Chronicles. First Chronicles is all about David being the ideal king. Second Chronicles is only about the kings that came from David. Did you notice how there were a bunch of kings included in 1 and 2 Kings that weren't included in 2 Chronicles? Why? Because it's only David's line that matters.

In 1 Chronicles 17, listen to what God tells David. He says, "Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build you a house. When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever."

This is so important. Don't miss it. Do you know what God is telling David? He's like, "The Serpent crusher is going to come from your line. I'm going to build you a house." He's not talking about a physical house. He's telling David, "I'm going to build you a dynasty, a house full of kings." That's why 2 Chronicles is just all of the kings that came from David's line, because you're looking.

God tells him, "I will establish his throne forever." What God is saying is "I am going to extend my rule throughout the earth. I'm going to restore what was lost, and it's going to be from a king from your line." So, all throughout 2 Chronicles, you're like, "Which king is it going to be? Which king is it going to be?" Then you get to the end of 2 Chronicles, and you get the last king of the nation of Israel. You get Zedekiah, and then that's it.

The Old Testament ends under Persian rule. There's no king on the throne. So you're like, "Are God's plans bankrupt? Have they ended?" Then you turn to page 1 of the New Testament, and what are the words? "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David…" There it is. What's my point? Jesus is the point.

Genesis 3, all the way back here, a Serpent crusher is promised. We're walking. We're tracking. We're looking somewhere in the nation of Israel. That's Exodus. That's Numbers, Joshua, and Judges. Then you get to 1 and 2 Samuel. "Oh, we're introduced to David." Then you get to 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. "Oh, it's coming from David's line." Then you get all the way to the end of the Old Testament, and you're like, "There's not even a king around anymore." Then the New Testament says, "Just to put it all together: you've just been waiting for Jesus, because he's the point." Jesus is the point.

So, here's the thing. We're talking about seeing clearly. If Jesus is the point of God's Word, he must also be the point of our church. I want to make sure people don't miss this. If Jesus is the point of God's Word, Jesus must be the point of our church. The church, though, isn't a building; the church is a people. So, if Jesus is to be the point of our church, then Jesus must be the point of the lives who make up the church.

So, let me ask you… Is Jesus the point of your life? Because here's the thing. For Jesus to be a part of your life but not the point of your life is to waste your life. We can't be a church whose point is Jesus if every member, every person who calls this place home, hasn't made Jesus the point of their lives.

When I was in college, there was this worship song that was out, and here were the words of the song: "All of life comes down to just one thing, and that's to know you, O Jesus, and make you known." You might hear that and be like, "That's two things." No, it's one thing, because knowing Jesus and making him known go hand in hand. When you know Jesus, you make him known. As you're making him known, you know him more. That's what life comes down to.

This week, I asked ChatGPT… I ask ChatGPT a lot of things. It has become a good friend. All I asked was, "What is our ultimate purpose?" That's it. I didn't give any more specifications. "What is our ultimate purpose?" ChatGPT says, "Our ultimate purpose in life from a biblical and Christian worldview…" Which I did not specify, which makes me wonder. Either ChatGPT has learned me well enough or ChatGPT is saying, "Look. The framework in life that cares most about purpose is the Christian worldview."

Either way, if you consider yourself a Christian, this is what a computer says the ultimate purpose for people who identify themselves as Christians is. A computer is this clear on what the purpose for Christians is. It is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Then it lists four ways to do that: knowing God, loving God and others, becoming like Christ, and fulfilling God's mission.

Then, this is what ChatGPT says: "Our purpose isn't found in success, comfort, or self-fulfillment but in aligning our lives with God's will and living for his glory in every area of life." That's a computer! Yet so many of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus Christ, who have had access to this Word long before ChatGPT even existed, still live like we're confused. We're still trying to figure out what our ultimate purpose is.

We're still like, "But I think my purpose might be to be successful. It might be to be comfortable. It might be to find self-fulfillment." No, it's clear. Jesus is the point. I just want to give you an opportunity to pray really quickly and say, "Jesus, would you help me to live with supernatural clarity that you are the point of my life?"

Lord, would you give us sight? Help us to see you, Jesus, as the point. Amen.

2. God's presence is the priority. I don't know if you noticed this, but 1 and 2 Chronicles place a special emphasis on the temple. The temple is the house of God. It's the place where the presence of God resided among the nation of Israel. Just think about all of the different times it's emphasized in the books.

David brings the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, which will be the most important item in the temple. David spends chapters making preparations and gathering supplies for building the temple. David's main message to his son Solomon is "Build the temple." Solomon spends chapters actually building the temple, and then God's presence fills the temple.

When kings rebel against God, their rebellion involves the temple. For example, King Ahaz closed the temple. King Manasseh built idols in the temple. Then, when kings led the nation in repentance, it involved the temple. For example, Hezekiah reopened the temple. He restored the temple. The temple was a key part of Israel's identity. Why? Because Israel was the people with whom the God of the universe lived. That was their identity. "God lives with us. That's who we are. We're a people with whom the God of the universe chooses to dwell."

Yet 2 Chronicles is going to end with the temple destroyed. Why? Because Israel was a people who were consistently unaware and unmoved by God's presence. So, I'm just inviting you to see. Some of you are already seeing clearly, but God's presence is the priority. If you think about it, God's presence is the theme of Scripture. God's presence is the theme of the entire Bible.

What was the greatest consequence for Adam and Eve's sin? They were removed from the physical presence of God. That was the greatest consequence. They had to walk by faith instead of by sight. What's the greatest reward for knowing Jesus? Restoration to his physical presence. Go read Revelation 21. The dwelling place of God is again with humanity.

How does God make things right? By his presence. The second person of the Trinity takes on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ and is Immanuel, which means God with us. If the theme of the Bible is God's presence, then the theme of our lives should be God's presence. Now, this is where I need everyone really locked in, because if you hear what I'm saying and you're like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. What's the third point?…"

My fear is that, for so many of us, this is the point we really struggle with. That last one, "Jesus is the point…" You're like, "Yes, I get it. Jesus is the point of my life." This is the one I'm most concerned about for our church. Listen to what one of my favorite authors, A.W. Tozer, says. He says, "[The] presence of God is the central fact of Christianity. At the heart of the Christian message is God himself waiting for his redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of his presence." That's at the heart of the message: God himself is waiting for his redeemed children to push in to conscious awareness of his presence.

See, we have to understand Jesus lived, died, and conquered the grave. The reason Jesus went to the cross was so we could experience a lifetime and an eternity enjoying God's presence. The church is supposed to be a people who come together to collectively enjoy God's presence, but here's what I think happens for so many Christians. I think we settle for a long-distance relationship with God. Here's what I mean by that.

Did anyone here do a long-distance relationship when you were dating? Think back. Some of you are like, "I don't want to think about it." Yeah. Kat and I did long distance for a season. Some of y'all are in it right now, and you're like, "Oh man." If you think about a long-distance relationship, a long-distance relationship has to survive solely off of communication.

So many of us boil our relationship with God down to communication. When we read the Bible, that's God speaking to us. When we pray our ACTS acronym, that's us communicating to God. That's the extent of our relationship. So, when you wake up and have a quiet time, you read the Bible (that's God speaking to you), and then you pray to God (that's you communicating with him). But why do so many long-distance relationships that have the benefit of communication still feel strained sometimes? It's because there's a lack of presence.

I think about how when Kat and I were engaged, I moved from Dallas to Austin for my first job. She was still in Dallas; I was in Austin. We communicated every day, multiple times a day, yet when we would see each other on the weekend, when the weekend would come to an end, something in us hated that the weekend was over. Why? Because our relationship didn't just live off of communication; it lived off of presence. There was something about being together, actually being with one another, that was a key part of the relationship.

I think so many people here live a long-distance relationship with God where it just lives off of communication, and you never take the time to do what A.W. Tozer says, which is to press into a conscious awareness of his presence. I think one of the greatest tragedies of the Christian life is that so many Christians go their entire lives and never understand what King David meant when he said, "In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Yesterday, I was having my quiet time. I had read God's Word, and then I had spent time praying. Even after reading his Word and praying, there came this moment where I just had to pause and ask myself… I'd already prayed, I'd already read, yet I had to ask myself, "In this moment, am I going to settle for a long-distance relationship with God?" because I was able to pray and read without ever pushing into a conscious awareness of his presence.

So, what am I even talking about right here? Well, let me encourage you with this. Kylen Perry, who's the executive director of young adults and leads The Porch at our church, shared with me this framework, which helps articulate what I want to be true of my relationship with God. I would encourage it for you when you spend time with God.

First, seek his presence. A good practice would be this. What if you set a timer for five minutes and just sit? Before you start reading, before you start praying, just sit and make yourself aware that God is with you and is in you. Push through to a conscious awareness. Then seek his voice. How do you seek his voice? Well, primarily through reading his Word. Once you've sought his presence, then begin to seek his voice. Now you're communicating with each other in each other's presence. As you read… "God, what are you saying to me through your Word?"

Then seek his hand. That's where you begin to ask God for certain things to move, but then seek his heart. I'd encourage you even to bookend your time with God with… On the back end, just sit and say, "God, is there anything else you want to say to me? Is there a way you want to take your Word and more clearly customize it to my life? Are there any ways that you want to further align my heart with yours?" Don't miss out on the joy of God's presence.

I'm just talking about you individually. Now I want to talk about us collectively. Let me tell you the prayer I prayed for our church. This prayer is going to make some of y'all feel uncomfortable. I'm okay with that, but I want to ask you to hear me all the way through. This is the prayer I prayed for our church this past week.

My prayer was that when people walk through those doors on Sunday mornings, they would feel that they are hitting a brick wall of God's presence. Like, when you walk into this place, it's like you are colliding with God's presence in a very real and tangible way. What am I praying? My prayer was that when you walk into this place, it is so evident that God is in this room that it disrupts your life.

Like, when you walk into a brick wall or hit your head on something you don't see and it's kind of disorienting, like, "Oh my gosh! What just happened?" That's my prayer for every person in this room, that when you walk through those doors, something so disruptive happens that you're like, "For me to sit here and look at my phone during church would be crazy. For me to just sit and spectate during worship makes no sense. God is here. I get to meet with the living God. He's speaking to my heart. I get to hear from him. I get to leave here with him and be on mission for him."

So, what I am talking about is us coming here on Sunday morning and experiencing God's presence. I think that word experience makes people nervous, because you think I mean by experience… Like, if we crack that door, then we're just a few clicks away from people somersaulting down the aisles or fainting. That's not what I'm talking about.

Some of you are like, "Oh, you're just trying to manufacture emotionalism." No, I'm not. Tell me how you can love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind, and all of your strength and not experience him and enjoy him. I'm not talking about emotionalism; I'm talking about enjoyment.

See, here's the thing. I think so many people come here on Sunday mornings and settle for a long-distance relationship here. When you sing, that's just you communicating at God. When I tell you this book, that's God communicating at you, but there's never time to just orient to the fact that "I am here with God."

Here's what happens. Out of fear of the worst-case scenario, that this place is going to fall off the deep end and people are going to be somersaulting down the aisles, you go your entire life and miss out on the best-case scenario, which is to be with and to enjoy the living God.

3. Praying, seeking, and repenting are the path. I want to draw your attention to the most popular verse in the book of 2 Chronicles. If I were to say to you, "Tell me all of the Scriptures you know in 2 Chronicles," you'd be like, "Uh, you mean 2 Corinthians?" Even 2 Corinthians… You're like, "I feel more comfortable with 1 Corinthians."

We're not talking about Corinthians; we're talking about Chronicles. You're like, "Okay. Well, there's that verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14. You know, that famous political verse." "…if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

You know that's not a political verse at all, right? We like to pull this verse out around times of elections, but I hope that if you're one of those people who loves to use Scripture with verses like this, you're a student enough of the Bible to know there is no promise of prosperity for the United States of America lodged in this verse. This verse was written specifically to the nation of Israel at a specific time for them to experience a certain type of flourishing on the land in the Old Testament.

That's why God says, "I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." Whose land? The nation of Israel during the Old Testament. Yet we want to take this and be like, "This is the key. This is the formula for prosperity in the United States." That's not what this verse is for. But does that mean we just throw the verse out? No, because do you know what this verse does? It shows us the timeless character of God.

This verse, I would say, is probably the theme verse for the entire book of 2 Chronicles, because you see one king who abides by this verse, and when they do they flourish, and then a king comes who doesn't and there's struggle. It shows us the timeless character of God, that God is a God who hears, he's a God who forgives, and he's a God who heals.

How does that happen? Well, the verse tells us: by praying, seeking, and repenting. Praying, seeking, and repenting are the path. I don't have time to go into depth on each of these. Let me just hit a few high points. When you talk about seeking… It says, "Those who seek my face." I think it's good to draw a distinction between God's face and God's hand.

So often we seek God for his hand. We want his hand of provision. God is saying, "Seek my face." Do you know what that means? It means to seek intimacy with God. Seek God to get God. You seek God because you want God. Not God's blessings but God. The greatest blessing God could give you is God. You seek God.

This past week, I was down in College Station. I was standing in an arena of college students who were worshiping. I was at this ministry event, and the leader of the ministry told the entire crowd, "Raise your hand if this school year is the year that you have been closest to God." Hands went up all throughout the crowd, hundreds of students saying, "Yes, without a doubt, this is the closest I've ever been to God." Why? Because as I shared last week, something is happening with the next generation where you have a young generation that is seeking the face of God.

Let me ask the older generation. If I were to ask you to raise your hand indicating that this year has been the year you have been closest to God, would you put your hand up? If the answer is "No," then there is an issue of sight. You've stopped seeing God clearly. When there's a lack of sight there's a lack of seeking. My hope is that God might just interrupt your life like the doctor's office, saying, "Look. You can see more, and when you see more, you will seek more."

But not just seek; you repent. What does it mean to repent? It means turn from sin and turn toward God. When we talk about repentance, often we talk about turning from the sin. So many are like, "Man, I'm trying. I'm trying to repent. I'm trying to turn, but I'm just struggling." Do you know what the issue is? So often we focus on the thing we're turning from.

We're trying to hate the sin, yet part of us still loves the sin. Focus on the thing you're turning to, because the more you're convinced that Jesus Christ truly is beautiful, truly is satisfying, it changes the way you see your sin. Focus on the thing you're turning to, the thing you're embracing, and it changes the way you formally embrace your sin.

Finally, pray. When I was getting married, there was this quote: "Couples that pray together stay together." Maybe you've heard that. I think there's a lot of truth to it. What was the point of that cliché? That prayer fuels intimacy. God calls us to pray. Prayer is the path. See, prayer fosters intimacy. Prayer is how we live close to God. Prayer is how we express our dependence on God. It's how we express God's heart back to him. It's how we want his will over our will. It's how we express our desire for forgiveness from our sin, and it's how we express to God that he is worthy to be asked.

See, people wonder, "Well, why should we pray if God is going to do what he wants anyway?" Because he's worthy to be asked. That's how amazing he is. That's how loving, kind, and sovereign he is, that he would send his one and only Son, that the eternal Son of God would come to earth, take on flesh, live a life we couldn't live, and die a painful death where he absorbed the wrath of God for our sin and conquered the grave. Why? So we could be with God. He's worthy to be asked, so we pray.

I don't know if I've shared this quote with you before. If I haven't, shame on me. I hope you hear it from me several times. There's a book on prayer I read called Forgotten Power, and in it W.A. McKay essentially says, "When Elijah prayed, the nation was reformed. When Hezekiah prayed, the people were healed. When the disciples prayed, Pentecost appeared. When John Wesley and his companions prayed, England was revived. When John Knox prayed, Scotland was refreshed.

When the Sabbath school teachers at Tannybrake prayed, 11,000 were added to the church in one year. When Luther prayed, the papacy was shaken. When Baxter prayed, Kidderminster was aroused. In the lives of Whitefield, Payson, Edwards, Tennent, whole nights of prayer were succeeded by whole days of soul winning. To your knees then, ye Christians. Plead until the windows open. Plead until the springs unlock. Plead until the clouds part. Plead until the rains descend. Plead until the floods of blessing come."

Some of you are going to hear that and be like, "Yes! Let's go. Let's pray." Some of you are going to hear that and be like, "Okay." I'm just asking you… Are you seeing clearly or not? I believe God wants to invite us to see more clearly. My hope is that God might interrupt some people's lives this morning and say, "You can see more if you want."

Can you imagine looking back on the time you're in right now, saying, "I never want to go back to how dimly I was seeing back then"? Do you know what's interesting? The times now that I don't wear my contacts or I even put on my old glasses, it's just blurry. I can't believe I spent decades like that when I could be seeing like this. You know what's amazing? A day could come where you would look back on the time you're in right now and come to the conclusion "I never want to see that dimly ever again."

Take a step. What's the step you need to take? Don't wait for the church to organize prayer. Just do it. Call your neighbors to pray. Call your community to pray. Call members of Watermark to pray. And if you pray, let me know. I'll join you if I can. But pray. You don't need an agenda besides praying. Don't settle for a long-distance relationship with God. Press into a conscious awareness of his presence.

Then some of you need to realize for the first time Jesus is the point. Maybe you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ and today he's inviting you to come. You're seeing him clearly for the first time, and your next step is to put your faith in him as the one who lived, died, and conquered the grave so you could be with God. Let's pray together.

Lord God, the kindest thing you could do to our church would be to give widespread sight to the members of Watermark. I do believe you want more for our church than we're experiencing now. For the individuals in our church who are seeing more clearly than ever before, who have this hunger, this holy discontentment for more of you in our church, I pray you'd continue to fan the flame in their lives. I pray that you would invite us to see more clearly, that you would be the point, your presence would be the priority, and, Lord, that praying, seeking, and repenting would be the path. We love you. In Jesus' name, amen.