WEBVTT 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:19.000 Today I want to talk about resilient through grace. 00:00:19.000 --> 00:00:27.040 I want to speak about how we live out our faith and how that approach to faith and scripture 00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:34.000 share shapes our lives, especially in the journey of resilience through hope and anchored 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:36.200 in God's grace. 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:41.140 So we are continuing the series "Better Ways to Read the Bible" by Zach Lambert. 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:44.680 Did everybody get their book that needed their book? 00:00:44.680 --> 00:00:51.560 This series invites us to recognize how to come to scripture and to a life of faith with 00:00:51.560 --> 00:00:52.560 lenses. 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:59.000 We all come with our own perspectives and our own views, the ways we see things. 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:06.000 That affects what we hear, how we live, and how we relate to one another. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:13.320 So in chapter 6 of this book, Zach addresses what he calls the hierarchy lens, which is 00:01:13.320 --> 00:01:20.480 the stance of reading scripture in ways that uphold power struggles, authority, how we 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:27.360 view submission, how we view who's in charge, and who gets to decide what we do and don't 00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:28.360 do. 00:01:28.360 --> 00:01:33.440 So we are going to explore that lens today, but I want to talk about how it can limit 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:42.160 us, how it can wound us, but most importantly, how we are invited to a different lens. 00:01:42.160 --> 00:01:49.400 One of grace, of hope, and of resilience rooted in the one that we as a community follow, 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:51.560 which is Jesus. 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:59.000 Zach writes that the hierarchy lens can masquerade as faithful service, submit to authority as 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:09.400 you submit to God, and on the surface, that looks like order, discipline, obedience. 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:14.920 But there's a risk in looking at things in that perspective. 00:02:14.920 --> 00:02:21.920 Reading scripture or living out faith in such a way that some people are elevated to elders. 00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:31.840 I'm joking, and others are diminished, I'm joking, I'm joking. 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:39.520 Some voices are silenced, submission becomes coercion, and justice becomes performance, 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:43.440 and the vulnerable become invisible. 00:02:43.440 --> 00:02:47.080 As we've grown up, for those of us that have grown up in church, and not just in church, 00:02:47.080 --> 00:02:52.200 but in the world around us, we're told that's just the way it is, right? 00:02:52.200 --> 00:02:54.920 That's just the way scripture is interpreted. 00:02:54.920 --> 00:03:00.120 As a way to kind of silence questions and tell people, I'm in charge and you're not. 00:03:00.120 --> 00:03:07.240 We've also seen it as power wielded in the name of God, rather than service. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:14.840 The hope and grace of Jesus overshadowed by rules, hierarchies, and control. 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:21.640 When we live under the lens of hierarchy, scriptures can feel heavy, they can feel burdensome, 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:22.640 even oppressive. 00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:26.040 I know growing up, I was always told, but you need to read your Bible. 00:03:26.040 --> 00:03:29.420 And sometimes this was super stressful just to pick up my Bible and read it because I 00:03:29.420 --> 00:03:33.880 didn't understand the days and the hours and the arts, and so it was really stressful. 00:03:33.880 --> 00:03:40.760 And so it can stifle resilience and spiritual growth rather than nurture it. 00:03:40.760 --> 00:03:47.520 In Matthew chapter 20, verse 25 through 28, Jesus called his disciples together and he 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:54.400 said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles, Lord, it, the law, over them, and their high 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.600 officials exercise authority over them. 00:03:57.600 --> 00:04:05.000 Not so with you, instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant and 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:08.800 whoever wants to be first must be your slave. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:15.040 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life 00:04:15.040 --> 00:04:17.400 as a ransom for many. 00:04:17.400 --> 00:04:25.760 Contrary to what people would like us to think, Jesus overturns worldly hierarchy. 00:04:25.760 --> 00:04:31.520 His kingdom is built on humility and service, not dominance and control. 00:04:31.520 --> 00:04:37.240 This directly challenges the hierarchy lens that I know many of us grew up with, right? 00:04:37.240 --> 00:04:40.200 You had the pastor, you had the authority, you had the priest. 00:04:40.200 --> 00:04:45.480 And if they were not happy with you, then you weren't right in the eyes of God, right? 00:04:45.480 --> 00:04:57.200 I always attribute it to the theory that is instead of living our lives as unto the Lord, 00:04:57.200 --> 00:05:02.200 we were taught to live our lives as unto the church and unto the people. 00:05:02.200 --> 00:05:06.120 And if everybody in church thought that you had your stuff together and you looked good 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:10.920 and you were dressed well, then you were spiritual and righteous and full of grace, right? 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:15.180 But that's not what God has called us to do. 00:05:15.180 --> 00:05:19.280 Jesus overturned that worldly hierarchy. 00:05:19.280 --> 00:05:24.240 The gospel of Jesus offers another path, one of grace. 00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:30.480 Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 through 9, that for by grace you have been 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:38.080 saved through faith and not through works so that no one may boast. 00:05:38.080 --> 00:05:47.760 The good news is that we, you are accepted, you're loved, you're forgiven, not because 00:05:47.760 --> 00:05:55.840 you earned it, not because you obey perfectly, but because God in Christ lavishes grace upon 00:05:55.840 --> 00:05:56.840 us. 00:05:56.840 --> 00:06:01.240 You memorize the scripture John 3, 16 growing up, for God so loved the world that he gave 00:06:01.240 --> 00:06:05.600 his only begotten son, who ever believes in him, shall not perish, but ever rest in life. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:10.000 But my favorite verse is 3, 17, and it's not in my notes, just so you know. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:14.000 It was like, where's the scripture and I don't see it. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:20.400 But 3, 17 says that for Christ came not to condemn the world, but that through him we 00:06:20.400 --> 00:06:22.760 might be saved. 00:06:22.760 --> 00:06:27.920 What does it mean for our reading of scripture and for our lives to live through grace? 00:06:27.920 --> 00:06:34.560 It means we approach the Bible, we come to church, not primarily to reinforce who's in 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:41.480 charge, but to discover how God loves, rescues, and restores you. 00:06:41.480 --> 00:06:48.080 It means that we live our lives through the lens of God's love and invitation, not fear 00:06:48.080 --> 00:06:50.360 of failing a standard. 00:06:50.360 --> 00:06:58.760 It means we live resiliently because we are held by God, not merely judged by a system. 00:06:58.760 --> 00:07:05.680 I always like to say that while Santa is a lovely person and he brings gifts and he does 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:10.840 all these wonderful things that we love, God is not like Santa. 00:07:10.840 --> 00:07:15.080 He's not keeping a list, he's not checking it twice, he's not trying to find out if you're 00:07:15.080 --> 00:07:16.400 not, you're nice. 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:21.720 He already knows, we kind of mess things up sometimes, right, and he loves us anyway. 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:27.320 One of my favorite scriptures, it's one that I live my life on, it's Philippians 3, 12. 00:07:27.320 --> 00:07:32.920 It says not that I've already obtained this or have already arrived at my goal, but I 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:38.600 press on to take hold of that for which Jesus took hold of me. 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:44.560 I do not consider myself yet to have been made perfect, but one thing I do, forgetting 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:50.680 what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:54.360 the prize for which God has called me heavenward. 00:07:54.360 --> 00:08:03.720 My favorite part about this verse is forgetting what is behind and straining towards what 00:08:03.720 --> 00:08:05.280 is ahead. 00:08:05.280 --> 00:08:11.280 You know, we were talking this morning about how this week has been challenging for a lot 00:08:11.280 --> 00:08:18.160 of us and the world is challenging, life is challenging, but one of the biggest things 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:22.920 you have to overcome is forgetting what's behind. 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:28.040 You may have messed up, you may have said the wrong thing, you may not have done what 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:34.000 you were supposed to do in that moment, but you have to forgive yourself and move on because 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:35.440 God already forgave you. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:40.840 The Bible says that a righteous man will fall 70 times, seven times and still get up again. 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:47.080 But the challenge is not getting God to love you and getting God to forgive you. 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:52.040 It's allowing yourself to forget what is behind and say I'm going to move forward, I'm going 00:08:52.040 --> 00:08:58.080 to press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heaven forward. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:08:59.960 Grace levels the plague field. 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:04.720 No one earns a more spiritual rank because they give a lot of money to church or they 00:09:04.720 --> 00:09:11.240 give a lot of money to charity or they do or say the right things, everyone stands equally 00:09:11.240 --> 00:09:13.960 loved and accepted in Christ. 00:09:13.960 --> 00:09:16.920 This is the heart and the goal of the gospel. 00:09:16.920 --> 00:09:22.120 This is the antidote, the healing to hierarchy. 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:28.880 Now I want to turn away from a moment from the hierarchical lens and look towards resilience 00:09:28.880 --> 00:09:34.520 because as people of faith, the reason we come to church, the reason we, the reason we 00:09:34.520 --> 00:09:38.160 come to church and surround ourselves with people of faith, brothers and sisters in the 00:09:38.160 --> 00:09:39.160 church. 00:09:39.160 --> 00:09:40.160 I said brothers and sisters. 00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:41.160 Yeah, I'm very old school. 00:09:41.160 --> 00:09:42.160 I grew up Pentecostal. 00:09:42.160 --> 00:09:43.160 Y'all are lucky. 00:09:43.160 --> 00:09:44.160 I didn't have Mark play the organ. 00:09:44.160 --> 00:09:45.160 Yeah, I was ready for it. 00:09:45.160 --> 00:09:46.160 I was like, I was ready. 00:09:46.160 --> 00:09:47.160 I was ready. 00:09:47.160 --> 00:09:52.640 Chad said no, so okay. 00:09:52.640 --> 00:09:56.280 But resilience, it's not about being stoic or hardened. 00:09:56.280 --> 00:10:00.000 It's resilience in the Christian life is hope-filled. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:08.200 It says even when this is hard, even when I mess up, God is still at work and we can 00:10:08.200 --> 00:10:14.160 lean on the one who carried us because your story is not over. 00:10:14.160 --> 00:10:17.360 Consider the words of Jesus in John 10, 10. 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:23.960 He said, I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. 00:10:23.960 --> 00:10:29.160 Jesus didn't come to keep us under authority waiting for us to fail, but to bring life 00:10:29.160 --> 00:10:31.880 and life in abundance. 00:10:31.880 --> 00:10:34.440 This is the hope. 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:39.640 So when we apply this to Scripture and to faith, we can open the Bible. 00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:40.600 We can come to church. 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:48.120 We can listen to these sermons expecting to find that God is with us, not standing there 00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:50.720 condemning us or commanding us. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:58.880 We recognize that our struggles, our doubts, our humanity, they're not disqualifications. 00:10:58.880 --> 00:11:04.760 They are a part of the journey and the perfectly imperfect person that you were created to 00:11:04.760 --> 00:11:06.400 be. 00:11:06.400 --> 00:11:12.840 God is not looking down from heaven, going, oh, my Lord, this person says cuss words every 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:13.840 now and then. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:14.840 Look, we all love Jesus. 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:15.840 We all cuss a little, right? 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:18.640 I'm not saying that's okay, but God's not shocked by that. 00:11:18.640 --> 00:11:20.040 He sees the imperfection. 00:11:20.040 --> 00:11:26.720 God is not shocked when you throw a tantrum or have an emotional reaction, right? 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:32.760 But what is the blessing is that when you have that humanity, when you have those moments 00:11:32.760 --> 00:11:37.840 of weakness, the best thing you can do is pause, take a breath, say, okay, that was not my 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:38.840 best. 00:11:38.840 --> 00:11:39.840 Sorry. 00:11:39.840 --> 00:11:43.040 Whether you need to apologize to the people around you, because sometimes the most powerful 00:11:43.040 --> 00:11:46.600 thing you can do is look at the friend that you offended and say, you know what, I said 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:47.600 that. 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:48.840 I didn't mean it like that. 00:11:48.840 --> 00:11:49.840 I heard it. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:50.840 It came out. 00:11:50.840 --> 00:11:54.360 Believe me, I have a lot of those moments where it's like, you know what, I said that 00:11:54.360 --> 00:11:58.560 I didn't mean it that way, I'm sorry, but I'm going to try to move forward. 00:11:58.560 --> 00:12:01.880 I promise I'm going to do a little better. 00:12:01.880 --> 00:12:08.120 Resilience is not relying on ourselves and our humanity, but relying on the one who 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:10.480 empowers us. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:15.840 Lambert points out that the hierarchy lens can lead to spiritual trauma. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:24.440 When scripture is wielded as a weapon, then as a word of life, you know, I had a good 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:30.120 friend of mine who I used to hang out with a long time ago, we'll call him John. 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:34.520 There with, I was out, hanging out with him and his kids. 00:12:34.520 --> 00:12:38.040 And the little boy, the little one, Michael, was just beating up on the older kid, just 00:12:38.040 --> 00:12:39.040 the entire day. 00:12:39.040 --> 00:12:43.520 He was just beating up, being mean to him, bullying him for lack of better words. 00:12:43.520 --> 00:12:48.720 And then at some point towards the end of the hangout, Michael, the little one, trips 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:50.520 and falls. 00:12:50.520 --> 00:12:56.120 And he scrapes his knee and he's crying and his dad tells him, "Well, see, God's punishing 00:12:56.120 --> 00:12:57.120 you. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.920 You were so mean to your brother all day, God's punishing you." 00:12:59.920 --> 00:13:06.080 And I was just mind-blown by this thought that this dad was telling his four-year-old 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:09.360 at the time, "Well, God is punishing you." 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:13.920 And I thought, "That is not the God I've learned about in scripture. 00:13:13.920 --> 00:13:19.040 That's not who I was raised to love and know." 00:13:19.040 --> 00:13:21.840 And so we've been taught a lot of these principles. 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:27.760 We've been taught that God is always up there judging and waiting for us to fail. 00:13:27.760 --> 00:13:34.000 But in order to live healthy lives, not just for your spiritual health, but for your mental 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:43.200 health, we have to approach faith in ways that free, heal, and restore not just ourselves 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.480 but the world around us. 00:13:45.480 --> 00:13:52.120 There's a scripture, Romans 15, 13, that says, "May the God of hope fill you with joy and 00:13:52.120 --> 00:14:00.200 peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:01.200 Spirit." 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:06.300 And I've always thought of overflowing in hope like abundance, right? 00:14:06.300 --> 00:14:07.360 God has called us to abundance. 00:14:07.360 --> 00:14:09.160 He gives us abundance, all that good stuff. 00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:14.360 But that hope that overflows isn't just so that you can be gluttonous and hold on to 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:15.360 all this hope. 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:16.360 And now I'm overflowing with hope. 00:14:16.360 --> 00:14:17.920 Look at me, full of hope, right? 00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:24.680 It's so that that hope and that grace, you can then extend to others. 00:14:24.680 --> 00:14:31.120 Even when reading scripture of living a life of faith, while it may feel hard, hope flows 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:38.920 from trusting in God's power, hope sustains, and resilience keeps us rooted in grace. 00:14:38.920 --> 00:14:47.120 I know that it's easy to say, it's an easy thing to say, it's great to hear, you know, 00:14:47.120 --> 00:14:50.320 I want you to have hope, I want you to have resilience, now go figure it out. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:54.040 Now this week, y'all go be faithful, have hope, and resilience. 00:14:54.040 --> 00:15:01.240 But I want to encourage you to exercise your faith daily so that you can build that hope 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:02.500 and that resilience. 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.160 What does that mean? 00:15:04.160 --> 00:15:09.720 Exercising your faith is not like waving a magic little fairy dust wand and everything 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:10.720 is going to get better. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:13.240 You know, life happens, you're just going to say, "Oh no, I have faith now and you're 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:15.640 going to be all better and move on." 00:15:15.640 --> 00:15:17.280 Now it's a muscle. 00:15:17.280 --> 00:15:20.200 I always attribute faith to being a muscle. 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:25.320 It's a muscle that you have to work out and as you work out your muscle, it gets stronger 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.920 as life moves on and as you practice your faith. 00:15:28.920 --> 00:15:34.680 Every challenge that you experience, every struggle that you've been through and everything 00:15:34.680 --> 00:15:41.600 that you felt you couldn't overcome in that moment makes that faith muscle stronger. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:46.680 I want you to take a moment and think with me. 00:15:46.680 --> 00:15:47.680 Take a breath. 00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:50.560 Breathe in, breathe out. 00:15:50.560 --> 00:15:53.840 It's not going to be weird, I promise. 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:59.640 Think about the last week, the last month, over the last year. 00:15:59.640 --> 00:16:02.880 What was one of the biggest challenges that you faced? 00:16:02.880 --> 00:16:03.880 That thing that felt impossible. 00:16:03.880 --> 00:16:07.160 I don't want you to say it out loud, but just think about it. 00:16:07.160 --> 00:16:12.000 Think about that stress and the fact that you didn't think you were going to overcome. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:13.000 Guess what? 00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:22.120 You're sitting here, you overcame it, you won, you beat it. 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:28.680 Maybe you're a bit tattered afterwards, maybe a little bruised, but you overcame it. 00:16:28.680 --> 00:16:34.960 In that moment, your faith got stronger and God's grace was with you. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:40.240 No matter what you're facing, no matter how hard your week was, no matter how hard your 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:47.760 week is going to be next week, you are going to overcome it because you are going to use 00:16:47.760 --> 00:16:54.600 the grace that God has given you, that strength that you've obtained in your faith muscle, 00:16:54.600 --> 00:16:58.760 and you're going to use that to overcome. 00:16:58.760 --> 00:17:05.640 How do we live out this faith as a community and as individuals? 00:17:05.640 --> 00:17:10.400 There's three practical markers that I would encourage you to use. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:16.560 Number one, recognize your lens that you're looking through and shift it. 00:17:16.560 --> 00:17:24.600 There are times when life happens and you begin to react a certain way. 00:17:24.600 --> 00:17:29.680 It's okay to stop and say, wait a minute, I'm looking at this the wrong way. 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:30.840 I need to change this. 00:17:30.840 --> 00:17:32.440 I need to evolve this. 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:35.240 Have I been, ask yourself, have I been. 00:17:35.240 --> 00:17:38.960 Am I living out my faith in this moment? 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:39.960 Is this authority? 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:40.960 Is this fear? 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:41.960 Is this performance? 00:17:41.960 --> 00:17:43.240 Is this hierarchy? 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:47.520 Or do I need to approach this from a place of grace? 00:17:47.520 --> 00:17:54.160 Recognizing that the first step to change, as Lambert reminds us, is not to just move 00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:59.720 on, it's to stop and take a breath. 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:06.680 Learning out our faith also means embracing the gospel of grace daily. 00:18:06.680 --> 00:18:11.600 Resilience is not built on self-will alone, but it's built on something stronger. 00:18:11.600 --> 00:18:18.240 It's God's sustaining presence when we fail, when we fall, when we wonder, when we must 00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:24.560 bring our lens back into focus on the cross, on the resurrection, until the living Lord 00:18:24.560 --> 00:18:26.640 who says come to me. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:33.280 In faith we find God's forgiveness, God's presence, and God's renewal. 00:18:33.280 --> 00:18:40.120 And see, live towards flourishing and faithfulness. 00:18:40.120 --> 00:18:47.880 If the hierarchy lens says obey and you'll learn, the gospel says live and you'll flourish. 00:18:47.880 --> 00:18:51.240 Jesus promises abundant life. 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:57.360 Our reading of Scripture, therefore, should lead to greater joy, peace, patience, and 00:18:57.360 --> 00:19:00.160 kindness in ourselves and others. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:03.800 Lambert says that by their fruit you will recognize them. 00:19:03.800 --> 00:19:11.440 So resilient lives are not marked by rigid rulekeeping, but by the fruit of the Spirit 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:13.240 and the flourishing of communities. 00:19:13.240 --> 00:19:19.880 Second Corinthians chapter 4 verse 8 through 9 says, "We are afflicted in every way, but 00:19:19.880 --> 00:19:21.560 not crushed. 00:19:21.560 --> 00:19:28.760 We're perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, 00:19:28.760 --> 00:19:30.520 but not destroyed." 00:19:30.520 --> 00:19:33.280 Now here's a question for those of you that grew up in church. 00:19:33.280 --> 00:19:37.360 Who remembers this song, "I'm trading my sorrows"? 00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:42.000 Okay, your homework is to go listen to the song, "I'm trading my sorrows." 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:43.000 It's an awesome song. 00:19:43.000 --> 00:19:47.400 It reminds us that we're pressed but not crushed, persecuted not abandoned, we're struck down, 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:49.200 but not destroyed. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.840 And listen, living a life of faith, coming to church is not about being perfect. 00:19:54.840 --> 00:19:59.440 It's about recognizing that we are imperfect people that just need encouragement, that 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:01.040 needs strength. 00:20:01.040 --> 00:20:06.640 Paul implores us to resilience, strength anchored in God's presence. 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:13.440 Grace empowers believers to adore hardships with courage and steady fast – and steady, 00:20:13.440 --> 00:20:19.640 excuse me, steadfast in our faith, steady in our faith, blah, blah, blah, sorry. 00:20:19.640 --> 00:20:24.400 So how do we anchor ourselves in God's presence? 00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:26.000 I think it's simple. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:31.960 It's – look, we are human beings living out of faith and living in a world that God 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:33.920 created for us. 00:20:33.920 --> 00:20:38.480 Sometimes it's the choices that we make that help shift our mood and in our moment, like 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:42.280 Mark was talking about having a scary dream and then turning on worship music. 00:20:42.280 --> 00:20:47.480 Sometimes it takes reprogramming and desensitizing yourself to say, "You know what? 00:20:47.480 --> 00:20:52.080 I'm going to trigger my brain whenever I have this thing, I'm going to do this instead." 00:20:52.080 --> 00:20:54.400 Some people are musical inclined, right? 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:56.120 Listening to music. 00:20:56.120 --> 00:21:02.440 Some people do really well with like downloading the Bible app and get a daily scripture reminder. 00:21:02.440 --> 00:21:07.980 Listening to positive music, it doesn't just have to be Christian music, it could be positive 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:10.440 music that encourages and uplifts. 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:14.920 Now I use this example, if you're going through a breakup, maybe you don't listen 00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:20.880 to country music that tells you to go bash their car in, maybe don't do that, right? 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:23.840 That's not a positive way to approach grace. 00:21:23.840 --> 00:21:26.040 Maybe you listen to something more positive, right? 00:21:26.040 --> 00:21:29.600 Don't like – if you're going through relationship problems, maybe ladies don't read 00:21:29.600 --> 00:21:34.120 the books that lead to things that are outside of marriage, you know, you know, those books. 00:21:34.120 --> 00:21:41.920 I'm just going to say like that, move yourself in a direction that creates positive engagement 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.040 that hopefully has some sort of faith-centered value. 00:21:45.040 --> 00:21:50.080 I know for me, when life gets tough, it's spending time around community. 00:21:50.080 --> 00:21:54.200 Let me tell you this week, Chad realized that he was going to have to go out of town, and 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:57.120 so he asked me to preach, and I don't know if the universe was like, "Oh, you're going 00:21:57.120 --> 00:22:00.160 to preach, so I'm going to throw every challenge I can in your way." 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:05.580 So my clients were all mad at me, you know, life was just hard. 00:22:05.580 --> 00:22:09.760 And I was like, you know, I knew I was going to talk on faith and resilience as guys like, 00:22:09.760 --> 00:22:10.760 "Oh, really? 00:22:10.760 --> 00:22:11.760 You're resilient? 00:22:11.760 --> 00:22:12.760 Let's see how you handle these things." 00:22:12.760 --> 00:22:14.920 I'm teasing. 00:22:14.920 --> 00:22:19.000 And so it was a tough week, and Friday, I really didn't feel like being here, honestly, 00:22:19.000 --> 00:22:23.120 but I, you know, I had committed to Chad that I would fill in and just kind of be helpful 00:22:23.120 --> 00:22:29.000 and be around, and I came to the trunk retreat, and man, it was just so energizing, being around 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:32.960 all of those kids and all those parents, and, you know, let me tell you, if you ever want 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:37.200 to give some away for Halloween giveaway pickles, the kids were like in love with the pickles. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:38.200 It was the best. 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:42.760 So we gave away pickles and popcorn, and that's what this community is about. 00:22:42.760 --> 00:22:46.040 It's not just about, "Hey, come here, get righteous, go to heaven." 00:22:46.040 --> 00:22:53.200 This community, this group, this body that we are building exists because of your presence. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.440 It exists because of your participation. 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.800 Don't worry, I'm not going to ask for money. 00:22:57.800 --> 00:23:05.200 But I will say, you know, "Come hang out with us, participate and be a part of the community." 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:11.200 To anyone that's been wounded by faith, by the church, by scripture, scripture being 00:23:11.200 --> 00:23:18.680 used as a tool of control and condemnation, I want you to know that God sees you. 00:23:18.680 --> 00:23:20.280 God loves you. 00:23:20.280 --> 00:23:22.400 Your questions are valid. 00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:29.200 Your journey and you as an individual matter, not just to God, but to me, and to each and 00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:34.320 every one of you around this church, I will tell you, work has been crazy for me. 00:23:34.320 --> 00:23:39.080 And it's a crazy time to work in the field that I'm in. 00:23:39.080 --> 00:23:43.120 And Cameron, the other day, sent me a text randomly, he's like, "Hey, I haven't seen you 00:23:43.120 --> 00:23:44.120 in church. 00:23:44.120 --> 00:23:46.960 I was thinking about you, if you ever need a ride, if you ever need anything, just let 00:23:46.960 --> 00:23:47.960 me know." 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:53.040 You know, in that moment, you didn't know that I was like having a horrible mental health 00:23:53.040 --> 00:23:54.040 day. 00:23:54.040 --> 00:23:56.800 And I did respond to your text because I'm a terrible human being, and my 80D kicks in, 00:23:56.800 --> 00:23:58.640 and I don't always see text messages. 00:23:58.640 --> 00:24:05.480 But in that moment, it told me that I mattered, and that I valued, and it was just such a 00:24:05.480 --> 00:24:11.680 special thing that he did as a member of this community, and we were friends, right? 00:24:11.680 --> 00:24:13.520 Do that to people. 00:24:13.520 --> 00:24:17.040 Remind them that they're loved, remind them that their journey matters. 00:24:17.040 --> 00:24:22.400 In Christ, there is new life, there is healing, there is hope. 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:30.120 The fact that you still show up, that you wrestle, still believing in something better, 00:24:30.120 --> 00:24:34.040 that is you practicing resilience. 00:24:34.040 --> 00:24:39.320 And to those who maybe are not struggling with that, you feel strong and steady, lead 00:24:39.320 --> 00:24:42.840 with grace, not with power. 00:24:42.840 --> 00:24:48.280 May your faith and the love that you have free others, not bind them. 00:24:48.280 --> 00:24:54.720 May your living out your faith open doors rather than build walls of hierarchy. 00:24:54.720 --> 00:25:02.960 Isaiah 61 verse 1 and 3 says, "The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me." 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:07.160 As I read this scripture, I want you to think about this scripture, and I want you to repeat 00:25:07.160 --> 00:25:08.160 it. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:09.320 In your head, we're not going to do the whole repeat it out loud. 00:25:09.320 --> 00:25:11.520 I'm not asking you to tell your neighbor. 00:25:11.520 --> 00:25:14.840 But in your mind, I want to read this scripture and I want you to think about it. 00:25:14.840 --> 00:25:44.200 I want you to hear this scripture. 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:50.200 I want you to think about it, and if you can, repeat it in your head. 00:25:50.200 --> 00:25:58.460 The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:00.680 good news to the poor. 00:26:00.680 --> 00:26:09.040 He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives, to comfort 00:26:09.040 --> 00:26:19.600 all who mourn, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead 00:26:19.600 --> 00:26:26.360 of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. 00:26:26.360 --> 00:26:30.800 Listen, y'all, our world is tough. 00:26:30.800 --> 00:26:36.880 It's always crazy, but it's going to get a little crazier because of the political back 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.400 and forth, and I'm not going to talk about politics, but there's a lot of political back 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.680 and forth, but there's going to be a lot of people in need. 00:26:42.680 --> 00:26:46.240 There's going to be a lot of people who are going to have to go without. 00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:50.760 I'm not talking just federal, there's federal employees who are struggling. 00:26:50.760 --> 00:26:57.200 There's people who are on snap benefits, so it's like people from all across the spectrum. 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:05.800 But the spirit of the Lord is upon you to proclaim freedom to the captives, to comfort 00:27:05.800 --> 00:27:15.000 all who are struggling, to give them love instead of despair. 00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:22.040 This prophetic message embodies God's grace-filled, healing message. 00:27:22.040 --> 00:27:35.440 It speaks to those hurt or weary because in Christ, beauty, joy, and restoration are possible. 00:27:35.440 --> 00:27:42.880 So in conclusion, I want you to leave here today with this charge. 00:27:42.880 --> 00:27:49.560 Number one, live out your faith, not simply to maintain appearances or structures, but 00:27:49.560 --> 00:27:54.680 to truly know the one who is truth and love. 00:27:54.680 --> 00:28:01.200 May you live your lives, may we live our lives, not simply by rule obeying, but by grace, 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:08.560 by being grace receiving, hope holding, love giving representations of Christ to the world 00:28:08.560 --> 00:28:10.560 around us. 00:28:10.560 --> 00:28:17.520 And stand resilient, not by your own might, but know that the one who strengthens and sustains 00:28:17.520 --> 00:28:21.440 you is with you every single day. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:28.800 And if you need somebody to call on, don't be afraid to call and talk to a friend from 00:28:28.800 --> 00:28:32.320 church, a family member, and say, "Hey, how's your day going? 00:28:32.320 --> 00:28:36.280 Tell me something good because I need to hear it." 00:28:36.280 --> 00:28:41.340 You are loved, you are perfect, and you are who God created you to be. 00:28:41.340 --> 00:28:53.440 Will you stand with me? 00:28:53.440 --> 00:29:00.920 Father God, your word says that you created us for such a time as this. 00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:06.640 And Lord, sometimes these times don't make sense, sometimes life is challenging. 00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:10.680 But Father, you said that whatever we ask in your name, it shall be done. 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:16.280 Father, you said that we should lean on you and not our own understanding. 00:29:16.280 --> 00:29:23.320 So as we go throughout this week, Father, we ask for your grace to sustain us, to redeem 00:29:23.320 --> 00:29:30.280 us, and to give us the ability to love the world around us, Father. 00:29:30.280 --> 00:29:34.720 Thank you that you accept us and you love us despite our imperfections. 00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:40.440 Thank you that you came not to condemn the world, but that through you we might be saved. 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:45.600 So Lord, I pray for each and every individual in this room, Father, as they go throughout 00:29:45.600 --> 00:29:48.920 the week, give them the love and guidance that they need. 00:29:48.920 --> 00:29:52.960 Father, fill their cup. 00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:59.800 May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine upon you, and may there be peace 00:29:59.800 --> 00:30:02.800 in your hearts and in your homes this week. 00:30:02.800 --> 00:30:03.800 God bless you guys. 00:30:03.800 --> 00:30:04.800 Go love well. 00:30:04.800 --> 00:30:04.800 Have a great week.