Carter Conlon | A Call to the Nation - Stand Still Go Forward

Introduction: The Tension Between Fear and Purpose

Thank you, everybody here in the house. You may be seated. And those that are joining us online, God be with you. Thank you for being with us in this prayer meeting. We are truly believing that God's going to do a miracle in your life, not just right now, but in the days ahead as well. This message tonight is called Stand Still, Go Forward. It's an unusual title — Stand Still, Go Forward. I want to start in Psalm 11. Father, I thank you, Lord Jesus Christ. We are truly at a crisis point in history when godlessness seems to be abounding on every street corner. Lord, in the halls of government and in other places, there are numerous voices being raised up that are against truth as we know it, against morality, against clear definitions of what is right and what is wrong. Lord Jesus Christ, you've always had a plan throughout history, and that plan has involved the poor, the marginalized, the nobodies, the nothings of this world. You give us your Holy Spirit. You raise us up, God, and you cause our lives to make a difference. I pray tonight, Lord, that through the sharing of this word, you will bring people who are listening through the corridors of fear and into this place, God, where their lives will make a difference. Let faith abound where fear is trying to get access to people's hearts and minds. Lord, do a work that only you can do. Empower me to speak this. Illuminate your word. Let it find a lodging place in every mind and in every heart. And God, as you tell us, your word never comes back to you void. Thank you, Lord, that wherever your word finds a lodging place, miracles begin to happen. We thank you for it and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 11: David's Struggle with the Urge to Flee

Psalm 11 — it's a psalm of David. Now keep in mind, David is a man who is slated to be a king in his generation. His life is going to be used by God to change the future. And there are people listening tonight — maybe you're here in the house, maybe you're listening online — and I'm going to tell you something boldly: your life is destined by God to make a difference in the future, in your family, in your community, in your neighborhood, and some even far beyond that. We look at the people in Scripture and we have a tendency to almost deify them. We forget that the people God has used throughout history were ordinary people like you and me — with ordinary fears, ordinary struggles, questions, doubts, unbelief sometimes, fears about the future. This is David, who is destined to be a king, in Psalm 11. He begins by saying, In the Lord I put my trust. How can you say to my soul, flee as a bird to your mountain? For look, the wicked bend their bow. They make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? David is living at least a portion of his life at a time when the