Remember the Lord Your God: Faith for the Deep

What happens when the greatest obstacle between you and God’s promise isn’t the giants in front of you, but what is happening in your own heart?

This Sunday at 3C South Coast, Ps Larry continued our GOing Deeper series with a powerful message from Deuteronomy 8: Remember the Lord your God. He reminded us that the wilderness is not God’s way of punishing His people, but of preparing them. It is where faith is tested, humility is formed, and dependence on God grows. 

The message followed beautifully from last week’s service with Ps Mandy, where we were challenged to leave the shallow waters and trust Jesus for a great catch. The service began with heartfelt worship before Ps Larry shared exciting updates from our mission work in Africa, reminding us that we are part of a church family reaching far beyond our own community. 

Learn more about the wider 3C Church family and the heart behind this global movement.

What Does It Mean to Remember the Lord Your God?

To remember the Lord your God is to live with a heart that depends on Him. It means trusting Him in the wilderness, obeying His Word, and never taking credit for what only He could do.

Ps Larry opened with Deuteronomy 8:2-3:

“And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you…”

God never abandoned Israel, even in the wilderness. Yet their forty-year journey was never His original plan. Unbelief and disobedience delayed what He wanted to do, turning a short journey into a long lesson in faith.

Even so, God did not waste the wilderness. He used it to discipline, shape, and disciple His people. Israel had left Egypt physically, but Egypt still had to come out of their hearts.

That truth still speaks today. We all want the promise, but not always the process. Yet God prepares our hearts before He entrusts us with the blessing.

The Issue Was Never the Giants

Ps Larry reminded us of the twelve spies in Numbers 13 and 14. All twelve saw the same land, the same fruit, and the same giants. Yet while ten declared, “We are not able,” Joshua and Caleb responded, “The Lord is with us.”

The issue was never the size of the giants. The issue was the size of their faith.

Israel had witnessed the plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea parting, manna from heaven, water from the rock, and God’s presence in the pillar of cloud and fire. Even so, they chose fear over faith.

That is a sobering reminder. Miracles alone do not produce faith. God’s promises still call for trust and obedience.

As Ps Larry put it, “Fear says, ‘I can’t,’ but God’s power says, ‘You can do all things through Christ.’”

Left unchecked, fear grows into unbelief. Israel wanted to return to Egypt and even talked about appointing another leader. Fear distorted their perspective until slavery seemed safer than God’s promise.

That is why we must reject the spirit of fear and embrace the spirit God has given us: power, love, and a sound mind.

The Wilderness Reveals the Heart

Throughout the message, Ps Larry contrasted two very different ways of living. Israel stood on the edge of the Promised Land with a choice to make. They could keep looking at their circumstances through fear, or they could remember God’s faithfulness and move forward in faith.

That same choice confronts us today.

Ps Larry reminded us that God never intended the wilderness to become Israel’s permanent home. It was a place of preparation. The wilderness stripped away everything they would normally depend on. Farms, businesses, predictable income, visible security. Every day they had to trust God for bread, water, direction, and protection.

That kind of place asks honest questions. Will I:

• Trust God when I do not understand?
• Obey Him when obedience feels difficult?
• Stay grateful when I have little?
• Remain faithful and generous when I feel stretched?
• Depend on Him, or quietly return to depending on myself?

Ps Larry made it clear that God’s tests are not designed to make us fail. They reveal our hearts so that we can walk in greater humility and dependence on Him. God already knows what is inside us. The test helps us see it too.

That is uncomfortable, but it is mercy.

Because if God takes us into abundance without humility, success can become more dangerous than hunger. Deuteronomy 8 warns about the day when God’s people enter good land, build houses, increase, and then say in their hearts, “My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.”

That is the danger of forgetting.

Remember Who Gave You the Power

Deuteronomy 8:18 says:

“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…”

Ps Larry made it clear that this is not a message against blessing. God wants His people to possess the land, flourish, and walk in His promises. At the same time, He calls us to steward every blessing with humility, remembering where it came from.

To illustrate the point, he shared how upgrading his cell phone gave him more storage and memory. Then he challenged us to do the same spiritually. We need to “upgrade” our memory by continually remembering God’s faithfulness, so that when the next giant appears, our first response is faith instead of fear.

He also reflected on the past few years of ministry, when he and Ps Mandy had no choice but to trust God completely. Looking back, he said there is no better place to be than fully dependent on Him. It is there that we experience His provision, discover His faithfulness, and learn that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

A New Generation Must Rise

The message was not just about remembering the past. It was a call to move forward.

Ps Larry challenged the church to become a new generation of disciples. Not people held back by fear, old mindsets, or past disappointments, but men and women who are willing to be trained, corrected, planted, and sent.

That means doing more than attending church. It means serving, joining a team, opening our lives to accountability, and allowing God to shape us into disciples who can be trusted with His promises.

Ps Larry reminded us, “Your disobedience might delay God’s purpose in your life, but it will not cancel His promise. What God promised, He will perform.”

If we choose not to step forward in faith, God will raise up someone else to fulfil His purpose. The challenge now is ours.

Remember the Lord your God in every season. Remember Him in the wilderness and in the breakthrough, when life is difficult and when life is good. Reject fear, trust His Word, and step into all that He has prepared for you.

If you would like to speak to someone, visit us, or find out how to get connected, please contact 3C South Coast. You can also learn more about the heart of our local church through our pastors and leadership.

“And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth…”
— Deuteronomy 8:18

Cell Leaders: Going Deeper Together

This week, ask your group:

1. What has God taught you in a wilderness season?
2. Where are you tempted to choose fear instead of faith?
3. What does true dependence on God look like in your daily life?
4. How can you become more active in discipleship and service?

Closing Prayer

Father, thank You for leading us all the way.

Help us to remember Your faithfulness, even when the road feels difficult.

Remove fear from our hearts and teach us to trust Your Word. Keep us humble in the wilderness and humble in the blessing. Shape us into disciples who can steward Your promises well.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.