Proximity Matters | Pastor Jim Kilmartin | Sunday Service

What does it mean to truly draw near to God, and what happens when we allow familiarity to dull our sense of His presence?

This message takes us on a journey through one of the most striking stories in the Old Testament, found in Numbers 21, where the people of Israel began to despise the very manna God had miraculously provided for them.

The parallel to our own spiritual lives is impossible to ignore. When we grow too comfortable with God's provision, our hearts can quietly drift into a place of contempt, and we stop recognizing the extraordinary nature of what He has done for us.

The invitation here is not one of condemnation but of return. Through four powerful movements, repentance, returning to God, receiving cleansing, and receiving refreshing, we are called to examine the condition of our inner lives and ask whether we have allowed our hearts to grow calloused.

The promise waiting on the other side of that honest examination is breathtaking: times of refreshing from the very presence of the Lord. That word 'refreshing' carries the image of a cool wind on a scorching day, and it is available to every one of us who will turn back toward Him with sincerity and intention.