Relate Community Church

Unfinished Yet Unshaken: God’s Work in You

Relate Community Church Season 7 Episode 9

Send us a text

God is not finished with you yet. No matter where you find yourself in life—whether questioning your purpose, wrestling with failures, or feeling unseen—Philippians 1:6 reminds us that "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion." In this episode, we dive into the truth that our story isn’t over, and we are not defined by our failures.

We'll explore key scriptures like Ephesians 2:10, Hebrews 10:24-25, and Romans 12:18, reflecting on God’s masterpiece in us, the power of community, and the wisdom of seeking help. Through honest conversation, we’ll ask: How do we stay connected to God and bear good fruit? How do we mend relationships with humility and grace?

Join us as we unpack these truths, challenge limiting beliefs, and encourage one another to move forward in faith—because God’s not done yet.

Discussion Questions:
📖 What stood out to you this week?
🌱 Read John 15:4-5, 8. What are some fruits of the Spirit you see in others? What about in your own life?
🍇 How pleased do you think God is with the quality and quantity of your fruit?
🛤 How could you focus on your connection with God this year and grow more fruit of the Spirit in the process?

Thank you for listening to the Relate Community Church podcast! Don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. If today’s message spoke to you, share it with a friend or leave us a review to help spread the word. To learn more about Relate Community Church, visit us at www.relatecommunity.com. You are always welcome here, and remember—you are loved

Speaker 1:

Thank you so, hello, hello, we are so excited to see you this morning. Would you stand, stare down the giant worship from the lion's den.

Speaker 2:

Sometimes you gotta shout it from the mountain loud in the valley, trusting that he's gonna get you there. Sometimes you gotta welcome the wonder. Wait for the answer. Worship with your hands in the air. I'll praise you anywhere. Praise, give him praise. Give him praise in the highest Praise. Give him praise. Give him praise in the highest. He is worthy. Yes, he is worthy of all of the praise. Sometimes you've got to praise in the prison, cry out to heaven, shout into the door, swing wide. Sometimes you've got to stand at the shackle brave in the battle. Worship with your hands held high. I'll praise you anywhere. Praise, give him praise. Give him praise in the highest Praise. Give him praise, give him praise in the highest. He is worthy. Yes, he is worthy of all of the praise. Give him praise. Give him praise in the highest praise. Give him praise, give him praise in the highest praise. And is worthy yes, he is worthy of all of the praise.

Speaker 2:

Faithful, all my life blessings, day and night. Countless reasons why I'll praise you anywhere. Every promise given, goodness, every step. Reasons why I'll praise you anywhere. Every promise, goodness, every step, each and every breath. I'll praise you anywhere. Faithful, all my life blessings, day and night. Countless reasons why I'll praise you anywhere. Every promise, goodness, every step, each and every breath. I'll praise you anywhere. Every promise, goodness, every step, each and every breath. I'll praise you anywhere. Praise, give him praise. Give him praise in the highest praise. Give him praise. Give him praise in the highest. He is worthy, yes, he is worthy Of all of the praise. I'll praise you anyway. Oh, I'm looking for that. I know, god, you're with me there. I'll praise you anyway. Give Him some praise. We praise you, jesus, we glorify your name today. Let's have some fun this morning. Y'all know I like this song.

Speaker 1:

God is always fighting for us, right? Yes, let's declare this song today. Let's put our hands together. We can't just sit here, we gotta get into it.

Speaker 2:

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Speaker 2:

We will not be shaken, we will not be moved. Jesus, you are here Carrying our worries, covering our shame. He has overcome us, he has overcome. We will not be shaken, we will not be moved. Jesus, you are here. I will live. I will not die. The resurrection power of Christ alive in me and I am free in Jesus' name. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Our burden's covering our shame. He has overcome us, he has overcome. We will not be shaken, we will not be moved. Jesus, you are here. I will live. I will not die. The resurrection power of Christ alive in me and I am free in Jesus' name. I will live, I will not die. I will declare and lift you high Christ, revealed in thine hand, healed in Jesus' hand. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Clap your hands like this. Yeah, how many of y'all, you are always fighting for Jesus. Come on, thank you, we'll be right back. That cannot be shaken. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, and we will shout it out, shout it out. I will live, I will not die. The resurrection power of Christ Alive in me and I am free. In Jesus' name, I will live, I will not die. I will declare and lift you high. Christ revealed and I am healed. God is fighting for us, pushing back the darkness, lighting up the kingdom. I cannot be shaken. In the name of Jesus, get on these defeated. And we will shout it out, shout it out. God is fighting for us, pushing back the darkness, lighting up the kingdom that cannot be shaken. In the name of Jesus. Enemies defeated. We will shout it out, shout it out. God is fighting for us, pushing back the darkness, lighting up the kingdom, kingdom that cannot be shaken. In the name of Jesus, enemies defeated. And you will shout it out. Shout it out. God is fighting for us, pushing back the darkness, lighting up the kingdom. Let your mouth be shaken In the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, and we will shout it out, shout it out.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, jesus. We worship you, father, we believe in you, jesus. We believe in you, jesus. Mmm, you're beginning. You've been unchanging Age to age. You've stayed constant. You remain, is true. The questions I cannot Are safe within your world. So I trust you even still.

Speaker 2:

I believe you are who you say you are.

Speaker 2:

You do what you say you are.

Speaker 2:

You do what you say you'll do.

Speaker 2:

You'll come through. You are always able. I believe you've already made a way, so I'm running through parted ways straight to you. You are always faithful. Jesus, you're holding, holding me steady, steady. Every word you speak is oh my God, you never fail, never, once. You never will.

Speaker 2:

I believe you are who you say you are.

Speaker 2:

You do what you say you'll do. You'll come through. You are always able. I believe you've already made a way, so I'm running straight to you. You are always faithful. I believe. I believe On that cross your blood was spilled by your stripes. I have been healed. Every promise you fulfilled, I believe. I believe that you rose again in victory and that same power lives in me. I'm born again. I've been made free. I believe. I believe that the gates of hell will not prevail. Your church is still alive and well With gospel truth. I live to tell. I believe, I believe that one day, soon, you'll see the sky Coming for us by this way. I believe, I believe, I believe you are who you say you are. You do what you say you do. You are always able. I believe you've already made a way, so I'm running, I'm running to the farthest way, I'm running straight to you, straight to you. You are always faithful. I believe, oh, we believe in you, oh, we trust you, jesus, oh, we believe. And on that day I've run my race, I'll finally see you face to face and I'll be there. We'll separate, I believe, I believe separate. I believe, I believe I'll join with every tribe and tongue and bow before the lamb of god, singing holy, holy, holy one.

Speaker 1:

I believe, I believe, I believe Hallelujah, do you really believe? This morning you know we sing that and I know those words. When we say, say them out loud. It really kind of changes things and we find ourselves in the moment and this morning I had this scripture come to my heart. Can I share you a couple of scriptures this morning that says a lot. Right there, I had to put my glasses on, all right. This is Isaiah 40 and we're looking at 27 through 31.

Speaker 1:

But I found this in the message version and it was just kind of raw and real and hit me right in my gut this morning. It said why would you ever complain? Oh, jacob, or whine Israel, saying God has lost track of me. Do you ever feel like your problems aren't big enough? Why would God need to tend to me little, oh me, when there's so many other problems all around me? But it says God hasn't lost track of you. And have you ever said he doesn't care what happens to me? But then it says don't know anything. Have you not been listening? God doesn't come and go, he lasts. Can you say last? He's just not there when he's taking care of you and then he walks away just to come back again later. No, he lasts. It says his he's creator of all that you can see or imagine.

Speaker 1:

And this is my favorite part in this version. It says he doesn't get tired. He doesn't pause to catch his breath. How many of y'all been running this week? You're a little tired because you've been doing one of two things. Let me tell you. You're either running from the enemy or you've been running to God this week. Think about which one that is. But you're tired and you know I was trying to think. What's a cool football thing right To say up here and I don't know anything about football, but I do know this when they are running up and down the field, they are getting tired.

Speaker 1:

But you know what? They know their team is counting on them. So they got to keep pushing right. They got to keep going and they know that their coach is going to be right there encouraging them every step of the way. You know he's our coach. And did you know? You know what happens when these players get off the field? Somebody's right there, ready with the Gatorade, right here. Let me refresh you. Did you catch that here? Let me refuel you.

Speaker 1:

That's exactly what this verse is saying that God will refuel you. He will refresh you every step of the way. You do not have to even get tired. The best part is still to come.

Speaker 1:

And then it says here again we're in Isaiah 40. It says for even young people tire and he energizes those who get tired. He gives fresh drink to the dropout. But those who wait upon God get fresh drink. You get fresh drink. They spread their wings and soar like what? Like eagles. They run and they don't get tired. They walk and they don't lag behind.

Speaker 1:

Go as slow as you need to go, because you can walk and you're not going to lag behind. The Lord is with you. He's going to refuel you today. He's going to refresh you today. He's along every step of the way. Don't stop running. Don't stop running, but run at your pace. God got you. Amen.

Speaker 1:

I'm going to call the ushers forward. We're going to go into our time of giving and then we're going to worship again. And I want you to think about that. What you've been running from this week, what have you been running to, and are you seeking the coach? Amen, to refresh you along the way.

Speaker 1:

Lord, god, we just thank you, god. We thank you for a house of praise. We thank you for the house of worship. We thank you that, after a long week of running, lord, we know we can come here along other believers and the good people of your word and get refreshed. We can encourage each other, we can inspire each other, we can coach each other, lord, god, and we thank you for that freedom to do that. We thank you for refueling our people so we can go out into the week and pour out your love and your goodness and your kindness to all those around us that don't have that hope. God, god, we pray over this offering today that you will take and stretch every dollar, father, that every dollar and every bit of giving that goes comes from the heart, father, that we know that you're going to do mighty and great things that we may never see, but we have hope, we have faith in the one who doesn't, and we give you all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's continue to worship.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, jesus. We worship you this morning. Father, we worship you. You do everything on purpose. I can feel your spirit stir. I've been praying, you've been working, working it all for good, working it all for good. So fan the flame and keep it burning. You're refining in the furnace. All the waiting will be worth it, cause you're working it all for good. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes. So be ready for another one. Cause, another one is on the way. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes. So be ready for another one, cause another one is on the way, rushing wind and living water. You're the God of signs and God of wonders. God of signs and God of wonders, if you're willing, what can stop it? Cause you're working it all for good? Cause you're working it all for good. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes. So get ready for another one, cause another one is on the way. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door here it comes. So get ready for another one, cause another one is on the way. Another one, another one, another one is on the way. Another one, another one, another one is on the way.

Speaker 2:

And if he told the sun when to rise, and he did, he will again. And if he told the storm to be still, and he did, he will again. And if he told the storm to be still, and he did, he will again. And if he told the sea where to split, and he did, he will again. And if he told the walls where to fall, and he did, he will again. And if he told the chase where to break, and he did, he will again. And he, he will again. And if he told the chase we'd pray, and they did, he will again. And if he told the foes to come alive, and they did, he will again. And if he told the stone to roll away, and they did, he will again. And if he told the pray, pray and go, and he did, he will. Again, and again, and again, and again and again, and again and again, and again and again. Cause another one is on the way.

Speaker 2:

Miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes. So get ready for another one. Cause. Another one is on the way. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes. So be ready for another one. And if he told us change, we could pray. And if he did, he will again. And if he told us hope to come alive, and if he did, did he will again. And he told the stone to fall away, and he did, he will again. And he told the flame to let it go, and they did, he will again. And again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again and again and again. There's another one in all the way. Miracle after miracle, open door after open door, here it comes. So get ready for another one, cause another one is on the way. Give them some praise this morning. Hallelujah, jesus, thank you. Thank you, jesus. Before you have a seat, turn to your neighbor. Tell them to look in her jersey.

Speaker 3:

All right, good morning everybody and welcome to church. How many of you are excited to be in God's house today? All right, all right. All right, all right, let's give it up one time for the band and the worship team. Thank you guys. Thank you so much.

Speaker 3:

It is incredible to be a part of a team and a part of a community where we have such talented people. Our dream team is amazing. We have a bunch of them in the room right now. But if you don't know why we call them the dream team, it's because everybody is a 10 at something and we like to put people into those places where the thing that you're passionate about and the thing that you love Today is Team Sunday. And it's not just about the dream team, it's not just about we're all on God's team. Hopefully, it's that you need to be on a team. We're celebrating teamwork. We're celebrating Listen, if you have a jersey on real quick, why don't you just stand up?

Speaker 3:

Or if you're representing a team might not be a jersey, just stand up. A couple, a couple. We got Team Jesus right here. I see it. All right, y'all can be. Some of y'all didn't even know this was happening and you're thanks a lot. Yeah, you got to watch out. That's why you need to be on the app and following facebook, because, all hey, wear your jersey this week. That's those kinds of things happen.

Speaker 3:

I'm glad you're here today. I want to say welcome to you. If you're new around, relate, I love that. This is a church that you can just kick the tires and figure it out with no pressure to do or join or sign up for stuff, but there's options for you to do all of those things. We are a come and sit with me kind of church. We want you to be a part of what we're doing and what God's doing, and we are not an us for and no more church. We're a group of people that loves to be in the community and see what God can do anywhere he can do it. So I also want to look at the camera right here in the middle of the room which, by the way, the Dream Team has told me that that's going to be changing soon, which you guys feel right, so close to me. I love that, but they said they're upgrading the camera system soon, so I'm interested to see how that's going to turn out. But I'm going to look right at the camera. Just say that it means a lot to me and the rest of the team, the rest of the pastors, that you guys have chosen to worship with us and click in to either On Demand or streaming this morning and just celebrate how good God is and dig into his word today with us and what I'm going to ask the guys in the room to do. Would you guys give it up for the people on Lettum? Lettum know we care about them. Come on, they can't see you, but I promise they can hear that.

Speaker 3:

And it's a blessed thing that we get to do life together, and if you're doing life alone, that's a problem, and so today, today's a little bit different. Maybe this is your first time, or you've been here for a few weeks. If you've been here actually for like the last month, things feel like they've been out of the ordinary. I love that. We celebrated our anniversary services a couple of them in January, as we were closing up a brand new series, and our word if you don't know our word for the year is stretch. I believe God's stretching us to reach out and do more, to grow, to mature, to be more than we are, not because we want to be better than anybody else, but because we want to be better than we are right now. And he makes us better. He makes me better than I am at the moment, because when I grow and become all that he has called me to be, then man, what a blessing that is.

Speaker 3:

So today is different in that y'all know what's special about today, not just at church. I know we're wearing jerseys and stuff, but today, okay, somebody whispered it's the Super Bowl. I don't know if that, can you, actually can you talk about the Super Bowl at church? I'm just I thought maybe I don't think we're big enough to have to worry about whether or not we say the word Super Bowl. I know that's a big deal for some people on the radio and TV they say the big game and they say things like that. But we are acknowledging that today's a big day and a lot of you guys will celebrate and watch the Super Bowl and everybody's rooting for their team, and some of you don't care who's in the Super Bowl. You're going to root for your own team, the home team, no matter what, and I won't go around the room and talk about the terrible teams that are represented here, but I'll just let you know. Y'all know what I'm talking about. I'm just. You know who you are, that's all that needs to be said.

Speaker 3:

But when we talk about the Super Bowl, I think it's awesome to be able to take the momentum and the energy around it, and kind of the momentum that we get with getting hyped up about things to be able to connect that to memories and connect that to the spiritual momentum that we have at Sunday mornings. I love that you guys aren't sitting at home grilling right now you got plenty of time throughout the day to do that but there are times where we can push into the presence of God and into his word. Today is that time, so we're going to dive in. But when you think about the Super Bowl and Super Bowl Sunday, what are the things that we think about? We think about football, obviously, and food. Okay, I just talked about grilling. Some of you are getting ready to get up right now and go start grilling, because we want food, we want the snacks.

Speaker 3:

And there's a third thing that often comes up with the Super Bowl conversation, and that is well, commercials. Thank you, commercials. So I thought, today, as we celebrate, as we not just honor our team, but we're going to as a godly team and as a community we're going. I'm going to give you some spiritual principles, along with something else that gets really hyped up on Super Bowl Sunday and it will be talked about for a long time, and that is the commercials. You might think that there's a disconnect between those, but listen, jesus told stories and modern-day parables. But listen, jesus told stories in modern day parables and I can tell you that there's almost not another 30 seconds or minute long period of time that more money is spent on these ideas and these principles and these the concepts in these. Some of these commercials are really not just to sell a product, but to really help us to see things differently.

Speaker 3:

So I'd like for you to let's examine these concepts and these principles and try to take hold of the spiritual momentum that we can gain, and so what I'm going to do is I'm going to give you five plays that we can run today, not that you need to run five plays. I'm going to give you five, and your goal, your job today, as I speak, is to pick which one of the five plays is your play, because today, one of the things that I talk about will be that's my play today. That's the thing I need. That's the play I need. I've been needing to run, and my hope is not that you hear me say it, but that the Holy Spirit inside of you resonates and taps you on the shoulder and says hey, that's your one. You need to do that. In fact, today between the services, people were coming up to me saying I heard you, my play was number two or my play was number four. I just felt like I've been needing to do this for a long time. So today, one of the five is your play.

Speaker 3:

We'll start by just diving in, and there's some of you in the room. The first play might be yours. You can take notes, write them down. Maybe you feel discouraged today. Maybe you felt like you're under. The weight of the world is crushing you and you've had doubt whispering in your ear. No matter how hard you try in life, you feel like you've had just this little voice at the back of your head just telling you you're not enough or you'll never be enough. Or maybe it's a comparison. You see other people and you think man, how do they have it together? Why can't I be more like them or I'll never be on that level? Comparison. You may have heard this, that comparison is the thief of joy. But I need you to hear this today that if God, he is with you, and if he is with you, then who can be against you? Watch this.

Speaker 4:

You won't remember my name. This is the last time you will see me at the top. My doubts will destroy my dreams. The more I seem to learn, the more I seem to lose. I want to carry on, but not today. This is the point. I give up, but not today. I want to carry on. The more I seem to lose, the more I seem to learn. My dreams will destroy my doubts. You will see me at the top.

Speaker 3:

This is the last time you won't remember my name. Wow, I told you Honda brought a really strong message for our first play and some of you needed to hear that. Some of you need to understand that all it takes is a perspective change and turning things around to where you might be telling yourself the wrong words, you might be seeing things from a perspective or a lens of failure and defeat, you might feel like you've already lost the battle. But when you start turning things around and looking at wait a second, who does God say I am, and start reminding yourself of who you were made to be, then all of a sudden you start reversing. I love that's called a reverse poem. But let's look what the Scripture has to say in Philippians 1, verse 6. Paul tells us I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished. Some of you you let go, you gave up, you yielded to defeat before you were finally finished. Can I tell you that if you're watching the Super Bowl and your team is down, you can still hold out. No, they're coming back. We'll hold out for our team and we'll cheer for them and we'll believe that Patrick Mahomes can do something crazy by the end of the game and come back. If you're rooting for that team, you'll hold out to the end.

Speaker 3:

But when it comes to your life, you take a hit and all of a sudden my God, how did I get here? I'm done. I got nothing else to do, I've got no other plays to make and we start feeling sorry for ourselves. And then we just continue to go further and further and further down and we forget wait a second, I'm still breathing. The game ain't over yet. God's still working. It's not finally finished. This day might be finished. This deal might be finished. This relationship has taken a turn that I don't like, but I'm not done yet. Relationship has taken a turn that I don't like, but I'm not done yet. So he goes on until you're finally finished, on the day when Christ Jesus returns. If he hasn't returned yet, then the final buzzer hasn't sounded. Your game is not over.

Speaker 3:

God's promises, no matter how discouraged I get or how discouraged I might feel, his promises are still true. So you have to. You might write this down. Your story isn't over because God's work isn't finished. We feel like the last chapter and the last page and the end of the book has been closed but it's not over yet. Tell somebody sitting next to you it's not over yet. Yeah, tell somebody sitting next to you it's not over yet.

Speaker 3:

And so to bring it back to our faith, when the voice of doubt tells you I'm broken beyond repair and I refuse to believe that God has a plan for me, it's clear I'm defined by my failures. It's a lie to think God will finish the work he started in me and I'm certain God has forgotten about me. How many of you. You don't have to raise your hand, but that resonates with me, because how many times have I told myself, like, did you forget about me, god? I love what Pastor Susan said before the service, like that verse. It's just. All of us have had that experience where we think we don't matter to God, like I'm so insignificant and so small. But if I can just get my perspective from a perspective of doubt and start speaking faith, sometimes it's just turning it around. Watch this. God has forgotten me. I am certain God will finish the work he started in me. It's a lie to think I'm defined by my failures. It's clear that God has a plan for me and I refuse to believe that I am broken beyond repair. You think it doesn't matter what's coming out of your mouth, but it truly does. We're waiting on someone else to be our cheerleader and to pump us up, when you just need to open your mouth and start saying things that are full of faith.

Speaker 3:

Okay, so, if you're discouraged, you need to hold on to hope, because God is not finished with you yet. That might be your play that you need to run today. The second play that I'm going to talk to you about is Jesus called us to go. Ye, therefore, into all it's called the Great Commission. Go into all the world preaching, baptizing people, but the key word there is to go. It's to go, and I think often many of us would rather stay home. Get in, Get low, I can't in, it's gonna blow, I can't fit, there's no room. Go on with Ovi.

Speaker 2:

Ah, I got room, hop in Okay.

Speaker 4:

Save yourselves yeah.

Speaker 1:

Pa. So this is Adam Go Take the horse.

Speaker 4:

I'll hold it off. Take the horse. Critter's got an ugly mouth.

Speaker 2:

That's not its mouth. I just had this washed. You guys go. I can't fit. Get in, Brian.

Speaker 1:

Thanks, Mom Howdy.

Speaker 3:

Again.

Speaker 2:

Go wherever they need you the all-new Highlander Toyota, let's go places.

Speaker 3:

I think the funny commercials are the best ones, but it's actually funny, toyota. She's going where the problems are right. She's going where the help is needed. She's going where people are left alone and forgotten about and maybe need help. And isn't that what we're called to do as believers, as followers of Jesus? If the church is meant to go out, go ye, therefore, into all the world. In fact, he says, go into the highways and the byways, go where the trouble is. Jesus reached out and touched people that no one else would touch. Jesus put his hand on the leper, touched the untouchable. Jesus loved the unlovable. And how common is it? For every time we see something that's unlovable and untouchable, we don't want to be associated with it. So we just back up. No, sir, not today, maybe another day, not today, but it's our job. If we're following Savior and if we're following a king that says that's what we should be about, then we have to start changing our perspective that I need to be reaching out instead of my hand out for someone to help me. I have to start figuring out how to reach my hand out to help. You might need help, but can I tell you that even the person who needs the most help also has help to give.

Speaker 3:

Many of us live an opposite lifestyle where we draw back from everyone. We're not reaching out for anyone, but we're designed by God to experience God in community. You and I are designed to experience a relationship with God. That it requires that we do it together. You might think, well, it's just me and God. God gets me, I get him, I don't need anybody else. Well, not true. If you read the Bible, if you read his instructions to us, he wants us to connect. You're made to connect. And that turns into cliche in the church. It turns into oh, we're better together. It turns into little sayings that we encourage each other with. But it absolutely is true that we are made to do life together. Hebrews 10.24 says and let us consider how we may spur what On toward love and good deeds. Not giving up meeting together Notice a theme here, as some are in the habit of doing but encouraging, okay, encouraging one another.

Speaker 3:

For some of you, that's what's missing in life. You don't have a faith community, you don't have anyone that you can trust. If I said, who do you trust? If I said who knows everything about you? Who knows the deepest, darkest secret that you don't want to share with anybody. Well, some secrets are meant to be kept. Can I tell you this? That somebody needs to know everything about you? Yeah, everybody doesn't need to know everything. Everyone doesn't need to know your secrets, but if you're going to heal from the things that you're carrying, if you're going to be able to set them down, the Bible says that we confess our sins one to another, that you may be healed. Confess our sins to God. He's faithful to forgive us. But we confess our sins to someone.

Speaker 3:

Part of your healing requires that you share your issues, the weight, the struggle. And I don't just mean, hey, you need to tell somebody so that they can say you're forgiven. I'm saying that you, there has to be this part where you take the mask off and you can hey, man, this is who I really am and I'm struggling here and I can't make it through this by myself. And they say you know what? I don't hate you for doing that. You're a person just like everybody else. I've struggled, you've struggled Every.

Speaker 3:

The biggest lie that the enemy will tell you is that, hey, you're the only one struggling with that problem. You better not tell anybody or they'll hate you, you'll get kicked out of the church, you'll be ostracized, you'll be left all alone and feeling worse than you are right now, and so we keep the mask on when the way to get the problem off is to take the mask off. The way to heal and to recover through and get stronger is to take the mask off and say, hey, you heal. And to recover through and get stronger is to take the mask off and say, hey, you know what I'm really struggling with this. You don't have to do that to everybody, but you need to share your issue and your weight with somebody.

Speaker 3:

And we get so hung up on this sin the word sins that I can't confess my sins. I'll be marked forever. The sins is the thing we fall short on, like. The literal definition of sins is where we fall short. Romans says that all have fallen short of the glory of god. That is sin. We fall short of the mark.

Speaker 3:

If you can't show somebody where you're falling short, don't have to be me, somebody you trust. That's why we have small groups that relate. That's literally why we have small groups, not so that you can get your kids together and high-five each other and go play games and do Bible studies. I want you to learn the Bible, I want you to grow, I want discipleship happening. We have Bible school small group happening on Wednesday night. I want all of those things, but the most important part of small groups is that you're connecting with someone and you're healing, you're finding deliverance, you're getting to a place where that is where real miracles happen, where you're being set free from some of the heaviest things in life. And if you don't have those people around you where you're gathering, that might be your play.

Speaker 3:

If you feel like you're alone, you feel isolated, this is your play. This is the play you need to start running, and I can't tell you how to do it. We can talk about it, we can make a plan and a strategy, but what usually happens is we get hit with something in life and then we push everybody away. We're not going out, we're not reaching for connectivity. So you were not created to be alone and it's time to let some other people in. So that's play number two. Play number three. Play number three is I'm just going to give you a forewarning that this one is not funny. This one's emotional. This one goes a little bit deeper, it hits a little bit harder.

Speaker 2:

But don't say I didn't warn you. You are so beautiful to me. Good job, mary. You are so, mary, hello, we're Mary and Addie's comedy show To me. Can't you see everything I hoped for, everything. I hoped for You're everything I need. You are so beautiful to me. You are so beautiful to me. You are so beautiful. You want a small waist this summer, when your favorite product is here. Alright, that's it to me. Can't you see everything I hoped for? Get yourself a tape measure. So beautiful to be, I told you.

Speaker 3:

I told you that one was a little heavier. And I want to say, before we dive into it, that if you're struggling with either an eating disorder or things like body dysmorphia or things where you have this struggle going on inside of you and maybe no one else even knows about it maybe you think no one else knows about it Can I tell you that you're not alone and that you don't have to be alone. And I also want to say this that the time that we have to talk about this right now is not adequate to fully address a complicated issue. That could take a much longer time, but there still are some steps that you can take. And if you're battling, if you're struggling with that battle, I would just say that I'm here to encourage you and implore you to ask for help.

Speaker 3:

If you've ever looked in a mirror and thought that you're not good enough and see yourself as less than, maybe it's personal insecurities, maybe it's things that other people have said to you that those words have never left. They just stay there in the back of your head, in the back of your heart, and you feel worthless, you feel broken, you feel like, well, I'll never be what they are. Can I say that those lies should not define you and I want to remind you what God's Word says about you. And in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, it says for we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus. When you step into a life where you give your life to him, it says that we are created anew. You become something different. He gives us a fresh start, he gives us a renewal. But not just that we are his masterpiece. But not just that we are his masterpiece. He says, so we can do the good things he's planned for us long ago. You've been created on purpose, for a purpose. And that word masterpiece gets overlooked so many times where we think, oh yeah, sure, Pastor, sean, I'm important, I know, I've heard it all before, I am somebody, I'm special, and that becomes these cliches that just kind of roll off of our back like it doesn't mean anything. But literally he's saying that we are his masterpiece and that's like saying of all the things God made. Saying of all the things God made we can look out at a sunset, we can look out at nature and see the majesty of creation. We can look up in the sky and see planets and stars and the sun and the moon and the clouds and everything that God made, every creature he created. God made every creature he created and he says the best thing I ever made is you. The best thing I ever made is you. You're not an accident. You're the greatest artist of all time. The greatest art that the greatest artist ever made was you and we think that, oh, that must be somebody else he's talking about. No, he designed us. He designed you uniquely and intentionally, with infinite care to the details of your life, and you may struggle with things. We all struggle and we get isolated and we go through those types of things, but when you struggle, we have to begin to see the beauty that he sees in us.

Speaker 3:

So your worth, where does our worth come from? It should not come from how I see myself. My value should not be established based on what I see in the mirror. Although how often is that? We look at ourselves and and then, instantly, we measure ourselves up against everybody else that we saw at church today, everybody that we saw on the news and, worst of all, we measure ourselves up against everyone we saw on social media today. You know how scary that is. Y'all know why that's scary. It's because everyone else's social media is just the highlight reel of everybody else's life, and we know how bad I am. I know all the things I struggle with and all we look at all day long is everybody's highlight reel and say why can't my life be like that highlight reel? Well, wait a second. Wait a second.

Speaker 3:

My worth should not be found in how I see myself or how other people see me. My worth should not be found in how I see myself or how other people see me. My worth should be in what was paid for me, the price that was paid for me, and we know that the price that was paid for us was a price on a hill called Calvary, where Jesus laid down his life and gave up everything because he said you're worth it. So when you feel the burden of comparison and shame, you need to remind yourself that I am God's masterpiece. Would you say that out loud and let your ears hear yourself say I am God's masterpiece. So I want to lovingly remind you that if you're struggling with that, with personal, the way you look and the issues of how you compare to other people, it may have shaped your past, but it doesn't have to. It does not have to define your future. And, as a follow up, let's watch this.

Speaker 2:

You're everything. I hope for everything I need. You are so beautiful to me. Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see.

Speaker 3:

Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see? Can't you see Can? We can make a big difference in our own lives and in other people's lives. So if that's your one play that you need to run today to start changing the way you see yourself and injecting God's words and reminder of who your real identity is, then I would challenge you to take steps to make that play. Today is then. I would challenge you to take steps to make that play today. The next play that I want to talk to you about is really one that everyone in the world is struggling with. This play maybe more than all the others, although I think all of them.

Speaker 3:

We should be on defense with all of these things because we're under attack. The church and families, the fundamental building blocks of community, and marriages and relationships are under attack in a way that people are trying to redefine. Well, you don't even have to have a relationship, you don't have to have commitment. That doesn't mean anything. You just have to love who you're with and go this way and go that way, and if you're done, then go do something else. But there's a commitment and dedication that comes in the way that God designed marriage that is meant till death. Do you part? And it doesn't just apply when God gives us a covenant relationship. He says I'm with you, I'm for you, I'm not going to leave you nor forsake you. And we should be able to carry some of the weight of that dedication and commitment, whether it's in marriage or whether it's in friendship, or whether it's with our children or our parents or our extended family.

Speaker 3:

And how many times do people walk away because of bitterness or pride or jealousy or offense or unforgiveness or the next thing that just says you know what, you don't know what they did, I'm done with them. And we just burn a bridge. We become really good at burning bridges. In fact, we'll not even talk to a person, we'll just hit them on Facebook or we'll hit them on social media and drop a bomb and say I'm done, I'm going to expose you, I'm going to embarrass you, I'm going to make you wish you'd never said that to me. But no matter how broken a relationship may feel, I want you to know this that with God, there's always hope. Watch this.

Speaker 2:

Watch this. Hey, did you hit him? Did you hit your brother? It was all matched, mark, I thought I saw you outside, Mark look. Who even are you? You're good. Okay, all right, little man, you know, stop playing the victim.

Speaker 4:

You need to calm down. No no, no, no, Don't tell me to calm down.

Speaker 2:

You know what? Just enjoy your meal, all right, yeah yeah, same time next year. Got a packet today.

Speaker 3:

Hey, man, it's good to hear your voice. I love that happily ever after. Unfortunately, there are some of our relationships that have never felt that happily ever after. We've never had that moment where this person is for me and carried that level of commitment and dedication to each other. And some of it just. The Bible says that he is the God of reconciliation. Paul calls it a ministry, that the gospel is a ministry of reconciliation, and in this commercial we see brothers being reconciled, and how heartwarming is that. But there are some relationships that we have that it's not going to be fixed unless you decide to reach your hand out and you might think well, I'm not the one. You might think they don't deserve it. Can I tell you that, even though there are so many things we don't deserve and yet Christ gives it to us, that is what mercy is, that is what grace is, and can we be emissaries and people who represent in the world the same kind of grace and the same kind of love that Jesus gives us? Well, you don't know what they did. You don't know, pastor. You'll never understand how bad they hurt me. Wait a second. You don't know, pastor. You'll never understand how bad they hurt me. Wait a second.

Speaker 3:

Jesus hung on a cross. While on the cross, he said, father, forgive them. They beat him and they bruised him. They nailed his hands, they nailed his feet, they put a crown of thorns on his head and mocked him for being a king. And in the middle of the agony of torture and trying to take another breath, hanging there for six hours, he says, father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And you might be saying well, they know exactly what they did. They did it on purpose. Listen, ultimately they don't know what they don't. They don't know the cycle of struggle and pain and the cycle of hurt that they're continuing. They're not seeing from the perspective of someone who is living and grown into the maturity of grace and mercy that we're called to. So, no matter how broken a relationship is or may feel, there's always hope.

Speaker 3:

I want to show you Romans 12, verse 18. He gives us a challenge and a charge, and this is not a feel-good verse. This is a verse that you have to take to heart and say, okay, this might be the hardest play you ever run, but he says, if it's possible, as far as it depends on you, everybody say me as far as it depends on you. Everybody say me, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. He doesn't say as far as it depends on them and how badly they hurt you and weigh it out If you can bring yourself to. He says if it depends on you, you've got to reach your hand out and offer. That's what it means to be.

Speaker 3:

We're called not just to be a peacekeeper, but a peacemaker. And a peacemaker decides that I'm going to step out and even if the other person doesn't deserve it and they don't well, you might be thinking well, I'll just wait until they. If they text me, I'll text them. If they call me, if they reach out to me, if they offer an olive branch, if they're the ones, I'll let them open the door. Then I'll walk through. No, wait a second.

Speaker 3:

A peacemaker decides this is chaos, this is a wreck, this is a train wreck. I'm going to start picking up the pieces. Even if it's not reciprocated, even if it doesn't come back to me, I'm going to offer forgiveness, even if they reject me. That is giving up the right to be right because you may feel like. Well, I need to. I got to stand on principle here, Pastor, because if I don't hold a standard, then we won't have any standard. Wait a second. He doesn't say any of that. He says, if it's up to you, the ball's in your court. As much as you want to say no, no, no, the ball's in their court, no, paul says the ball's in your court.

Speaker 3:

So keeping calm is not the definition of keeping peace and being a peacemaker. If you just say, well, hey, hey, hey, everybody, we just have to get through this meal, or we just have to get through this holiday, then we don't have to see each other for another year. And it might not be a family member, it might be someone that you've just been at war your arch nemesis and it might not be a family member. It might be someone that you've just been at war with You're arch nemesis. Y'all are laughing because you know, you got somebody on Facebook you just love. I just can't wait until they say something and I'm going to hit them with all this list that I've been piling up. I'm going to show them, I'm going to embarrass you. You got those people that you can't stand. You're just ready to put them in their place.

Speaker 3:

What about being peacemakers? What about people who are grace dealers. Hmm, maybe you feel the Holy Spirit nudging you today in that direction. We don't have a lot of time left, but I want to give you some tools, some things that you can say. Maybe it's a text or a phone call or a conversation. The next time you see this person you could say can we talk? Or maybe you need to just text someone right now. You always matter or mattered to me.

Speaker 3:

I want to understand, I'm listening, I'm sorry, I was wrong. Even though you don't want to say you're wrong, you didn't deserve that. Will you forgive me? Can we try again? What if we started looking for the potential in relationships that are broken and expecting God to move on their heart? And even if they don't, I'm going to put myself in the right position emotionally and spiritually. So today, that might be your step. And if you are sitting on the edge of a broken relationship, you might feel it that there's no hope. But can I say, if you'll bring God into the middle of it, there's always hope.

Speaker 3:

The final play that I have to show you and this might be your play is that if you're sitting in a place where you feel an overwhelming pressure, like I don't know how I'm going to make it to tomorrow. I don't know how I'm going to live through this. It's too much and it's overwhelming. Even the greatest of all time many believe the greatest of all time Olympic medalist champion, simone Biles, world famous gymnast, a moment came at the Tokyo Olympics where she said I'm overwhelmed, I need to take a break. And while she got criticized for it, it's incredible what she actually was able to do to not just take a break and recover and get herself together and field all of the criticism, but come back to be a champion once again. Watch this.

Speaker 4:

She was expected to be the star of the event. Simone Biles, greatest gymnast, is saying I'm not myself, she has on her shoulders.

Speaker 2:

This is new. The pressure on these young athletes is greater than ever. When you're the greatest ever, you want everything you do to be the greatest, and we haven't seen that from her tonight.

Speaker 4:

I had no idea where I was in the air. You could literally see it in my eyes in the picture. It's like I was petrified.

Speaker 1:

I felt broken. That's why I decided to take a pause.

Speaker 4:

It's okay to say I need help. For years I was only celebrated for my wins. And now it's like for being a human, for being vulnerable.

Speaker 1:

I had to prove to myself that I could still get out here and twist. I could prove all the haters wrong, that I'm not a quitter.

Speaker 4:

One moment you're on top of the world. I can still get out here and twist. I can prove all the haters wrong that I'm not a quitter One moment.

Speaker 1:

You're on top of the world and the next you find yourself gasping for air.

Speaker 4:

I had to relearn to trust myself.

Speaker 3:

I still have to dig deep down and remember why I'm doing it, and do it for the little girl.

Speaker 1:

This is a fantastic triumph by one of the greatest. Simone Biles is an all-around world champion.

Speaker 3:

All right. First off, simone Biles is awesome in representing the world and representing athletes, but also she says in representing humanity what it means to be a person to have to say wait a second. And while the commercial is saying that pause is power, before we go to that, I just want to say she says one thing Earlier in the clip. She says it's okay to say I need help. Can I just tell you, can I give you permission if you need it? Today, if you're feeling overwhelmed and you're struggling, it may be time for you to tell someone I need help. And it's emptying a space and you think, well, I can't stop, I can't put this down. I got.

Speaker 3:

If I stop anything, if I take a break, then everything crashes around me. You can't be the best version of yourself unless you're healthy, like I've heard. I've heard people tell me that if I, if I stop and pause this, my kids will suffer. So I just have to keep suffering along, or my marriage will will suffer, or my business will suffer, or my household. I can't take a break because I've got to make more money. Listen, your kids need the best, healthiest version of you and if taking a break gets you to that place. If there was a place in my life, there was a time in my life where I thought, doing the most ministry and going and going and going and not taking a break and never resting and never telling anyone that I was overwhelmed, I thought, hey, that's what makes us strong we go when everybody else quits. I got to do more than everybody else to prove that I'm not weak, that I'm not a failure, that I'm enough. But I realized that all I was doing was hurting myself and that I'm not giving the best version of myself to the ministry. Even I'm not giving the best version of myself to my wife if I don't say, hey, let's stop and spend time together, let's stop everything and make sure that we are strong and healthy, my kids.

Speaker 3:

If I'm just barely holding it together and I feel like everything is chaotic in my head and my heart and my emotions and I'm just an inch away from crashing and burning, how does that make my kids stronger? It's okay to ask for help. In fact, asking for help isn't weakness, it's wisdom. It isn't weakness, it's wisdom. So maybe it's taking time for rest. Maybe it's taking time to get some support in an area. Well, that's weak. If I have to, I would never do any counseling. I've heard that so many times. I don't need counseling, I don't have mental health problems. Wait a second. What if just a little bit of support in the right place makes you that much stronger? It's like we reject the elements that would make us stronger because, no, I got this. I got this, I'm strong enough. But if I actually want to build strength in my life, I should be reaching for all the tools and all the resources and all the support I can get. And how much stronger am I for everybody else that I need to be strong for? I feel like I'm trying to convince some of you right now that counseling therapy, spending some time with a prayer partner, spending some time with the support partner, someone who can speak life and speak faith into you those are only good things.

Speaker 3:

Watch this Psalm. Chapter 46, verse 10, says this be still and know that I am God. He doesn't say get busy, get to work more, do more, go more, reach more, earn more, say more, and then know that I'm gonna be that here. Let me show you, let me just paint a picture for you, what, what this looks like. Is you clearing out some space in your life in some time that nothing else is scheduled. It's empty time and then filling it because he doesn't just say be still. He says be still, and I think I translate in that stillness know that I am god. So once I've emptied out some space and made time, god, this is your hour, god, this is your two hours. God, this is your afternoon, this is your morning, this is your evening'm going to then, in that moment, know that I am God. What does that mean? That means I have to bring myself back to the knowledge that he is God. He's still sitting on the throne, no matter what happens, no matter what surprise pops up and all the stuff that I'm carrying, he is still a sovereign king sitting on a throne ruling over the world. None of those things surprise him. And if I can bring myself back into alignment with who he is and who I am, and know that he's still for me and by weakness he is strong, he makes me strong. Being still isn't about doing nothing, it's about surrendering everything.

Speaker 3:

So maybe today, your play, the play that you need to run, is to just pause, be still and reach for the power that he can give you. In fact, it's not Jesus, doesn't just. Hey, I suggest you take a break every now and then. That's not what God. God has a top ten of rules. You may have heard of them. They're called the Ten Commandments, and one of them is to honor the Sabbath. That means every seven days you're supposed to take a break. That don't just mean sleep in and have a nap. Every seven days you're supposed to do nothing and just just honor him, meditate on his, on these things, things that are just and pure and holy, holy. So which of the five is your play to run today? It's one of them. Some of you might, some of you may be saying it's two. Listen, just run one play, though, because you can't do a bunch of things at one time. Pick one. Maybe it was the first one.

Speaker 3:

You've been discouraged and it's time to flip the script and start saying things and speaking faith and start pointing your life in and seeing things from a new perspective. Maybe you feel like you're being chased by outlaws. You feel like you're all by yourself or you're the one that's pushing away from everybody else, and it's time to start connecting and going and reaching out and putting other people in your car. Maybe it's number three and you're tired of believing the lies about yourself and it's time for you to start reminding yourself daily. Maybe it's just a post-it note on your mirror tomorrow morning and you wake up and you remind yourself I am God's masterpiece. Or a text message Some of you need to say Siri, remind me tomorrow that I am God's masterpiece. Can you start doing something to run that play, even if it seems simple or it seems too stupid? Or maybe it's finding someone in the room today or someone that you love and telling them, hey, being a little bit vulnerable and picking a partner and saying, hey, let's remind each other that we are God's masterpiece, let's encourage each other.

Speaker 3:

Maybe it's the fourth one. You have a broken relationship or what seems like a hopeless relationship, and it's time for you to reach out your hand and let God work on restoring that today. Number five maybe it's you're under pressure and you don't exactly know how to get out, but the answer is to start scheduling a break, work on budgeting your time and your money and figure out where can I make some space and bring God into this and make it about who he is, so that I can be still and know that he is God. Would you stand up on your feet. I want us to just worship for a moment, but in this time, I want you to settle yourself on which of these five is your place. Let's worship.

Speaker 2:

But my heart, oh my faith. How could you have it in my soul? This is greatest, greatest, your faithfulness. This is greatest, greatest, your faithfulness. Turn it around, you'll turn it around. You'll turn it around, don't know where, don't know how, but you'll always do it somehow. You'll turn it around. You'll turn it around, don't know where, don't know how, but you'll always do it somehow. When I look back over my life and I think how could you have been If my soul stays? Great, as great is your faithfulness. When I get your love on my mind, I get grateful all over again and my soul sings. Great is great is your faithfulness. Oh, my soul sings. Great is great is your faithfulness.

Speaker 3:

And chosen that this week you're going to make a difference by starting to make the moves. I think what happens in a play like this when you look at an athlete they run the play to where it becomes natural. They run the play until it feels like it's just second nature. It's not as difficult as the first time. The more you do it, it makes more sense. So it might be the heaviest thing, the hardest thing to do, but once you start practicing it, once you start making it a routine part of your life, it's easy to reach out to people. The hardest one will be the first one. The hardest person to forgive, the hardest relationship to reconcile will be the first one, and hardest person to forgive, the hardest relationship to reconcile, will be the first one. And then it gets easier and easier and easier, and so let's commit ourselves to that. But before we go, I want to take just a minute.

Speaker 3:

And if you're in the room today or watching online and you've never made a decision to give your life to Jesus, you've never decided I'm going to be a Jesus follower, you've never given your life back to the one that created you, and it's hard to imagine that you're a masterpiece. It's hard to put yourself into that context, because you haven't given your life back to him and made him your Lord and your King. Today we can do that by taking a simple step of faith, by believing in our heart and confessing with our mouth that he is Lord. The Bible says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, and so today we're going to say that prayer together, and I would invite you to repeat these words after me and take the first step of faith in giving your life to him and starting a spiritual journey where he'll lead you for the rest of your life and into eternity in heaven.

Speaker 3:

But it starts with this confession Would you just bow your head and close your eyes, right where you are, and we'll pray together. Would you say these words God, today I give you my life life. I'm sorry for living life my way, and today I invite you to be my Lord and my Savior. Forgive me of my sin, take this life that's broken and make it whole, make it new in jesus name, and from this moment on I'll follow you in jesus name. Amen, amen, let's put our hands together. Awesome, if you said that prayer today, I'm proud of you and I'm excited for what god's doing in the midst of us. I I'm going to invite the prayer team to join me at the front. If you'd like to pray with someone before you leave, just step out and they'll say a simple prayer of faith with you. Otherwise, god bless you all and we will see you next week.

Speaker 2:

Give Him praise. Give Him praise in the highest. He is worthy, yes, he is worthy of all of the praise. Give Him praise. Give Him praise in the highest.