09 What is in Your Hand?

[00:00:09] Welcome to the creative team talks podcast for Hillsong Creative. [00:00:18] Well, hello Hillsong creative family. My name is Steve Stave and I have the honour of leading our creative team at the city campus in beautiful Melbourne, Australia. A bit about me I'm a father of three children. I'm the husband of one wife, and I just love serving God in our creative team. And I'm grateful for you those who are committed to building God's house, but also those committed to build our house with your gifts and your talents. Just know this. We appreciate you. My thought today comes from the story of Moses, and I'm going to be reading from Exodus chapter three and four. In this story, God meets Moses in the most incredible of circumstances, the famous burning bush encounter. And I love that in this story, God shows his heart for humanity. We read in verse seven and eight of chapter three that the Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out. So I have come down to rescue them. Note this, God saw their need, he heard their cry, and he has come to rescue them. Man, that brings me comfort in times when I may feel like I'm battling to get through. God sees me, he hears me, and he is never too far away. He cared for them, and he cares for me too. [00:01:40] But also God's plan for their deliverance. Well, it included Moses, and God's plan still includes you and me. Which brings us to verse ten, which reads, so now go. [00:01:54] God goes on to give Moses some instructions and directions around how to carry out the plan which he has for him. And that comes in chapter four. And I ask you the question today. Have you ever felt like the call of God for your season is too much? Have you ever felt like it's overwhelming or felt unequipped? Or maybe just flat out afraid? [00:02:18] Well, you're of not alone. [00:02:19] But what God says to Moses, and what I believe God wants to encourage us all with is so very simple. Verse two of Exodus chapter four says this. What is in your hand? [00:02:33] What Moses had in his hand, it looked like, and it felt like a staff, a stick. [00:02:40] And you know what? He was right. But what God knew and what Moses knew were two different things. God knew his power. And he saw that that staff could be so much more. God instructs Moses to throw that staff to the floor, and immediately it becomes a snake. That is wild. [00:03:03] And what I love about this story is that Moses had a choice to make. [00:03:09] Does he stand there with the stick in his hand, or does he allow what God said be what guides his life and his season and watch what it can become? [00:03:25] And today I ask you a similar question. [00:03:29] What's in your hand? What's in mine? This weekend, as you serve. And as you prepare to serve. What's in your hand? [00:03:39] Is it an instrument? Is it a console? Is it a microphone? Or is what's in your hand a weapon that God wants to use to call people to worship? [00:03:50] Is it a sound that will silence the enemy? A voice that could cause hell to shake and demons tremble? Is it a moment that could cause someone to recognize their father in heaven loves them more than they could ever dream or imagine? I dont know about you, but I would hate to know that what I was holding onto, what I thought was just a stick, had the power to become so much more. So I ask you this question again. [00:04:18] Whats in your hand? Whats in mine? This weekend, as you serve. And as you prepare to serve. Whats in your hand? [00:04:27] I remind you of gods instruction to Moses in chapter three, verse ten. So now go and let's watch and see what God can do. Have an incredible weekend in church, praying that God is with you. God leads you. God guides you. In Jesus name.