{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Set Free for This?","description":"Set Free for This? | A Sermon on Wilderness, Thirst, and Honest Faith What do you do when faith doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s working anymore? In this sermon, Set Free for This?, Rev. Anna Dickson reflects on Exodus 17:1\u20137, where the Israelites, newly freed from Egypt, find themselves in the wilderness\u2014thirsty, frustrated, and wondering, \u201cIs the Lord among us or not?\u201d Rather than dismissing their complaints, this message invites us to see them for what they are: not shallow grumbling, but honest cries from people in real need. Because this isn\u2019t about small inconveniences\u2014it\u2019s about thirst. It\u2019s about the deep human longing for something more than we can provide for ourselves. In this sermon, we reflect on: Why wilderness seasons are part of the life of faith The difference between surface complaints and deeper spiritual longing How Lent invites us into honesty rather than performance What it means to trust God when familiar signs of God\u2019s presence disappear The good news that God meets us even in the wilderness In a culture of quick answers and easy spirituality, this message invites us to something deeper: to tell the truth about our lives, to acknowledge our thirst, and to trust that even in the most barren places, God is still at work\u2014bringing living water from unexpected places. Preached at First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte on March 22, 2026. ","author_name":"Faith Unfiltered","author_url":"http:\/\/firstpres-charlotte.org","html":"