Pursuit :: High and Lifted Up // Chris Holm

We opened a new six-week series called Pursuit, and right away we drew a distinction between a value and a pursuit. A value can sit framed in a lobby and never touch your life. A pursuit means you are running after something, even when you are stumbling.The pursuit we started with is this one: we treasure God's presence. And treasure is a big word. We looked at Jesus' parable in Matthew 13, where a man finds something buried in a field and sells absolutely everything he owns just to buy that patch of ground. That is what treasuring looks like. You trade it all, and you do it with a smile.We walked through three ways God's presence shows up in scripture. His omnipresence means he is in every room, every parking lot, every hospital corridor, holding it all together. His indwelling presence means that when you follow Jesus, the Holy Spirit moves in permanently. And his manifest presence is when God becomes undeniably felt, when your worn-out soul gets a deep, real rest.We spent most of our time in Isaiah 6. The year King Uzziah died was a year of national grief and political fear. And into that specific moment, God showed Isaiah a throne that had never once been empty, covered by a robe whose train filled the entire temple, a record of every kingdom under his authority.Three things happen when Isaiah encounters that presence. He sees God clearly. He sees himself clearly, specifically naming the sharp, anxious, fear-driven words that had been coming out of his mouth. And then the coal from the altar touches the exact thing he confessed, and the guilt is gone.After that, when God asks who will go, Isaiah does not ask for the job description. He just says, send me. That is what an encounter with God's presence does. It reorders everything without argument.We closed with communion and with this invitation: come into the presence, let your problems get right-sized, let the fire touch the broken places, and get ready to be sent.URF WEBSITE: ➤ http://www.urfellowship.comSOCIALS: ➤ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/urfellowship/➤ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/urfellowship