Hello Trouble! (or The Christian Response to Trouble)

This podcast is brought to you by Grant Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.

For more information about Grant Parkway, visit GrandParkway.org.

Pray with me, would you?

It's Christ in me, the hope of glory.

So, right now, Father, would you fill us with your hope, your goodness, and your glory?

Would you deeply satisfy us in the darkest places of our souls and desires left unchecked?

We want to repent for running after lovers less wild this week.

And we want to admit that you alone have the words of life and the source of life.

And we want to experience that life abundantly, not just when we get to heaven, but here and now.

So, Holy Spirit, would you give us eyes to see and ears to hear?

Jesus, would you go before us in this text and make a way?

And together we say the words that ravage your heart.

Speak, Lord.

Your servants are listening.

Amen.

Amen.

You can have a seat.

Well, I'll say bless the Lord.

If you'll say, Oh, my soul, bless the Lord.

Bless his holy name.

Good morning, Grand Parkway.

It's good to see you guys again.

Thanks for letting me always come and hang out.

Neil and Marcy, want to honor you guys.

Thanks so much.

It's really nice to be included in your friendship circle.

And uh just by the way, quick note if you're visiting, keep coming back.

This is a trustworthy church.

Um, Neil just gave an announcement, and I've never been a part of a church where you get a solid biblical theology of faith, finances, and church government in an announcement.

Like it just drips off that guy.

You're like, that's not fair.

How do you do that?

Um we were meeting with our microchurch leaders recently and going over some of our budget stuff, and I kind of get wonky about talking about finances sometimes.

And I had a lady come up to me and grab me by the arm in our kitchen as we were leaving, and she said, Chris, I want to thank you so much for talking honestly and openly about finances.

I grew up in a family where we didn't talk about it and we lived in fear and anxiety over it.

So I love the kind of church that just comes right out in the open and says, Here's what we're doing, here's the plan, and we're gonna pray and we're gonna anticipate God to do good things.

So don't shut down mentally and go, oh my gosh, I came to a church and they're talking about money.

No, they're talking about stewardship and lordship.

We are surrendering the totality of our lives underneath the lordship and loving kindness of Jesus Christ.

And what you guys are doing together is outstanding.

I just want to acknowledge that and affirm you in it.

Uh this morning I've got a quick question for you before we turn to our text, which will be Psalm 69.

What do you do when you're in trouble?

What do you do when you're in trouble?

There's some teenagers cutting eyes at their parents right now, like, how did he find out?

Just so you know, here's the definition, working definition of trouble.

It's a state of condition of distress, annoyance, or difficulty.

So it means having a family.

It means to agitate mentally or spiritually, a condition of physical distress, a mechanical malfunction, doing something badly or only with great difficulty, an unhappy or sad fact to put into exertion or to put in confused motion.

When that happens, what do you do when you're in trouble?

By the way, do I have any troublemakers in here?

I see that hand.

Is there another?

Yeah, loud and proud.

I get it.

Hey, one of my best buddies in life, Dave Rikley, who was one of the first dudes I get to see come to Christ through a relational investment.

He was a hoodlum and he made trouble fun.

I mean, this guy, it wasn't enough to get into mischief.

He wasn't happy unless we were getting caught.

So this is just a snapshot of my relationship with David.

We walked into Toys R Us one time.

He just grabs a football, throws it to me, he's like, Brooksy, throw it back.

I go to throw it back to him.

He steps over to the aisle now, the next one where he's invisible, to reveal a mother and child standing right here.

Yeah, so it just looked like I pick up a through ball and threw a football at a mother and child for no reason.

You're like, I'm it's David.

He likes getting in trouble.

I'm sorry, and humiliating.

One time, this is my best story.

Uh, we went snow skiing.

We were in South Florida going to school, and those jokers didn't know much about snow.

We snuck on the ski slope in the middle of the night, took some sleds, went on a black diamond, and Clark Griswold that stuff.

I mean, just a straight sheer drop at night.

It's iced over, and I mean, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

And it was incredible.

We're laughing, we're screaming, we're hollering, we're all in a hot heap at the bottom of the pile.

What we don't realize is through the snow and no leaves, and at night, your voices carry.

And here comes the headlights of ski patrol on the snowmobiles.

Woohoo! We're like, oh no, hide.

We all run in the woods, we lay down flat, and the ski patrol pulls up, and you can see the spotlight searching over here.

Hearts are thumping.

Oh my gosh, we're gonna get in so much trouble, and we're in so much trouble.

Finally, it just feels like they're getting ready to walk away.

And Dave Reikley, in the deadness and quietness of night, shouts out, I'm a tree, I'm a tree, I'm a tree.

He just loved getting in trouble, man.

And he taught me a lot about mischief and beham.

What do you do when you guys get into trouble?

Now, we've all been in a spot of trouble here or there.

It could be something that you said that you shouldn't have.

Could have been you should have said something that you didn't, could have forgot to pick something up, could have forgotten an anniversary or a birthday.

It could also be the other kind of trouble, right?

Where you know, uh-oh, physically I'm in trouble, mentally I'm in trouble, emotionally, I'm in trouble.

I'm not really sure how I'm gonna get out of this.

Or it could be pretty severe.

Some of you know what it's like to experience the gift of being caught.

That comes from a friend of mine who wrote a book who's a counselor, and a guy came in uh for one of the sessions and he says, What brings you in here?

And he says, Well, I was having an affair and it just got exposed.

And he says, Do you want to tell me about how that happened?

He said, Yeah, I was meeting up with a woman for about a year at a park that uh was a good considerable distance from our house.

And when my wife tracked our phone, she wanted to see if the park had swing sets for our kids.

And when she did the Google Image Earth and the street view, the map happened to catch a picture of me and this other woman.

In trouble.

The gift of being caught.

Or as Neil likes to say, the glorious day when all of your lies get together in the same room.

What do you do when you're in trouble?

The reason I ask that is because I believe the Bible speaks clearly and authoritatively to the human condition.

And it's going to do it once again in this psalm.

And one of the reasons I love the Psalms is because it reminds me and grounds me in the reality of this life how I can praise and process pain at the same time.

This is Jesus' prayer book.

This is his song book.

And listen in in Psalm 69, starting in verse 13.

But I pray to you, Lord, for favor.

God, because of your great love, answer me.

You are truly able to save.

Save me from those who hate me and from deep water.

Do not let the flood drown me or the deep water swallow me, or the grave close its mouth over me.

Lord, answer me.

Because your love is so good.

Because of your great kindness, turn to me.

Do not hide from me your servant.

I am in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

Come near and save me.

Rescue me from my enemies.

I'll say the word of the Lord if you'll say thanks be to God.

The word of the Lord.

The reason I ask you, what do you do when you get in trouble?

Is because I believe one of the most often underquoted promises of Jesus is in John chapter 16, verse 33.

John 16:33

In this life you will have trouble.

What do you do when you're in trouble?

I think what we're really asking ourselves is what is the Christian response to trouble?

Now, this Psalm gives us a great template, right?

Doesn't sugarcoat it, doesn't hide it, doesn't lie about it, doesn't pretend it's not affecting him.

And in verse 7, I love this, right?

This is why I go to the Psalms.

I just want short, succinct, emotionally authentic words to help me in my life.

I'm in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

Hey, if you don't memorize much scripture, I recommend this one.

You get pulled out of your pocket a lot of times.

I am in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

Now we can debate if we want to, and I'm okay with that, right?

In this psalm, is the psalmist a righteous sufferer?

Is he suffering because he's done the right thing and the wrong people are doing wrong things to him?

Or is it just the consequences of maybe some foolish decisions or just happenstance?

Because you look through it, you've got a couple verses in Psalm 69 that are applied to Jesus.

Zeal for your house consumes me.

They have given me sour wine or vinegar to drink.

You're like, ooh, that sounds like Jesus, righteous sufferer.

But then again, you look down, and all of a sudden in verse 5, he says this I have done foolish things, and the wrong things I have done are not hidden from God.

I would submit to you that regardless of the origins of his trouble or suffering, his response is the same.

Hurry to help me.

I am in trouble.

This is incredibly liberating for us because I want you to know this, simply this, uh, brothers and sisters in Christ.

When you are in trouble, two things are going to happen.

The devil wants to destroy you, and God wants to develop you.

The question is, who would you like to partner with?

When you are in trouble, two things will happen.

The devil wants to destroy you, and God wants to develop you.

The question is, who is it that you want to partner with?

Now, here's the trouble in dealing with trouble, okay?

We all have learned different ways of doing this.

Peace, gazeri, and emotionally healthy spirituality says, I know Jesus is in your heart, but your grandfather's in your bones.

What does he mean by that?

We all grow up in family structures and systems, and we learn behavior and response mechanisms a lot of times that are modeled for us.

In our spiritual DNA, the trouble with trouble is we inherit it from the way Adam and Eve dealt with it.

They got into a bit of trouble.

They crossed the boundary that God had given them for the protection, provision, and joy, and deep satisfaction.

They said, No, thanks.

I'll make my own decisions.

I'll take that.

Thank you very much.

And as soon as they got caught, they immediately said, Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.

I own it.

Please help me, forgive me, hurry to my help, uh, hurry to help me.

I'm in trouble, right?

No.

Lied, blamed, shamed, hid, and covered it up.

Literally tried to hide from God, which I would argue is the most tragic game of hide and seek ever.

God comes walking to them, where are you?

They come out, and instead of owning it, confessing it, counting on his goodness and his loving kindness and his incredible capacity to redeem, heal, and forgive, they blamed and shamed.

Immediately, Adam's like, it's your fault.

The woman you gave me did it.

By the way, if I had a dime for every time I tried to confront, lovingly confront and patiently confront my kids when they've done something that's gotten them in trouble, and it turns out it's my fault.

Oh, I'm so sorry.

Let me model repentance for you.

I never should have given that to you.

My bad.

He blames the shapes, Eve blames the shapes, the serpent, none of them truly understanding or accessing the help that's readily available to them.

And when you wind up trying to hide from God, you're actually hiding from yourself.

And we learned this, didn't we?

We find ourselves in trouble, we lie, we hide, we blame, we shame, and we try to start medicating our anxiety with apathy, our anger with overcommitment, our loneliness with busyness, and then all of a sudden our consistent disappointment suddenly turns into deadly habits.

And most of us find ourselves locking ourselves in a rusty cage of our hiding place because we've developed unhealthy coping mechanisms instead of stepping out and setting ourselves free by putting a hand up and saying, I am in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

So if there's a better way to respond to trouble, what's the Christian response to trouble?

I uh as silly and as simple as it sounds in this text, I think we have a precedent in scripture that says, name it, explain it, and ask for help.

Name it and explain it and ask for help.

By the way, Psalm 69 has 36 verses.

75% of them are explaining to God how it feels to be in trouble.

We go through the whole thing.

Save me, God.

The water's risen up to my neck.

I'm sunk deep in the mud.

There isn't enough metaphors.

Flood sweeps over me.

I'm weary from crying.

My throat is parched.

Insults have broken my heart, and I'm in despair.

That was seventh grade for me.

I waited for sympathy, but there was none.

Eighth grade.

For comforters, I found no.

Instead, they've given me gall for my food, and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

The Psalmist and the Bible does not shy away from your vulnerability and feeling the effects of living in troubled times.

It simply says this.

Name it, explain it, and ask for help.

I am in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

It's almost as if here, Christians, that we are not only permitted, but we're encouraged to be honest with God about our deepest fears and our darkest feelings when we're in trouble.

Quick reminder I just want to let some of God's word lap up against the shore of your soul.

God is our refuge and strength and ever-present help in times of trouble.

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion, the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles, so we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me.

Once again, John 16, 33.

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.

In this world, you will have trouble.

Take heart I have overcome the world.

Isn't it neat that Jesus doesn't just explain suffering, he experiences suffering?

He found himself in a spot of trouble also in a garden.

The Garden of Gethsemane.

So he's trying to bring resolution and restitution and redemption to what happened to us in the garden.

He finds himself in a garden and he didn't lie about it, blame other people about it, or hide from it.

He names it, he explains it, and he asks for help.

And he took Peter and James and John with him and he began to be grieved and distressed.

Then he said to them, My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.

Remain here and keep watch with me.

Pray with me.

And he went a little beyond them and he fell on his face and he prayed, saying, My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass for me.

Yet not as I will, but as you will.

So we can conclude that the Christian response to trouble is to name it, explain it, and ask for help.

But at the risk of uh pushing it just a little bit too far, could I just add one more?

Expect it.

Expect it.

Right?

It's the definition of being entitled.

You don't expect any troubles, resistance, adversity, or hardship.

Um I'm reading through a book uh by Jonathan Hyatt.

Um, he wrote a book called The Coddling of the American Mind, and then recently The Anxious Generation.

And I'm quite interested for Gen Z and the rise, the epidemic rises around anxiety and depression.

And so just really want to be curious about hey, how can I be a voice of love and concern and a parent a parent to two girls who struggle with that stuff?

And so just reading through it, trying to uh get familiar, and he does a lot of great research.

Uh um I commend the book to you if you if you're interested in that subject.

But he he names the problem, explains it, and then offers some tools for help.

But the most fascinating illustration that he gave that stood out to me, I'd love to share with you.

So back in the 1980s, there was an experiment in Arizona called the Biosphere.

It was a prelude to figure out could we sustain life on other planets?

So they built an entire, the world's largest enclosed ecosystem.

All right.

For those of you who are child of the 80s, yes, there was a movie called Biosphere with Pauly Shore and the Baldwin brother, who we don't speak of, but this has nothing to do with that, okay?

It was actually based on a real life experiment in the 80s.

It catastrophically failed.

They were gonna put eight people in for about a year, and they realized that it failed real quick and gave some like science-y political definition where they said the interactions, the complex interactions between the environment and the social interactions of the science did not happen.

But here's what they said they learned a lot from it.

Here's something that they learned that was remarkable.

The trees that they planted in that ecosystem fell over before they reached fuel maturity.

What the scientists failed to account for is when you put plants in a biosphere, there's no wind.

He went on to explain that when a tree is growing up and winds come against it, it sends a signal to the roots on the windward side to go deeper.

And on the side where it's bending, the cellular composition of the wood strengthens and hardens.

And then he made this remarkable conclusion that I think speaks to us.

Trees exposed to strong winds early in life become trees that withstand even stronger winds when fully grown.

Name it, explain it, ask for help.

I see a church, man, where we're full of oaks of righteousness who provide a canopy for another generation to rise up underneath us.

Our job is not to protect them from every strong wind, it's to model for them how to persevere through those strong winds.

Or, as the dumb little framed, cutesy saying that hung in my bathroom when my kids were younger, and now I've thrown it out because it's true, is the life you envision for your children will not produce the character God envisions for them.

I am in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

When this stuff starts to happen, when we actually wrap our minds around a robust biblical theology that takes in the totality of your humanness, your mind, your body, your spirits, your environment, your emotions, and your upbringing.

Then all of a sudden, the transforming power of the Holy Spirit allows you to say crazy things that are in the Bible, like in James chapter one.

I count it pure joy when I face trials, tribulations, and testings of many kinds.

Why?

Why will we say crazy things like that?

Because the trying of your faith works patience, and let patience have her perfect work that you might be complete and entire and lacking nothing.

That's Christian maturity.

That's what I'm after.

That's what I want to grow up into, and I want to raise people up into.

That we have strong winds, but we are growing strong trees.

And we don't have to lie about it, we don't have to hide it, we don't have to deny it anymore.

We can figure out a way forward.

And then, of course, you have first Peter, when he's talking in the beginning, about all the suffering that they're experiencing, he just says this.

And in all of this, you rejoice.

Why?

Because pure gold put into the fire comes out proven pure.

Genuine faith put through suffering comes out proven genuine.

Now, if I'm gonna uh summarize and encapsulate those two verses in the Christian response to the suffering, I would boil it down to two words.

Hello, trouble.

Say it with me.

Hello, trouble.

There you go.

Now, I love it.

I stole it.

For those of you, it came from a knife company called Gerber.

Not the baby food, but the knife company.

And they have this incredible commercial that I watched like 10 times in a row.

It is like a cinematic masterpiece.

You can find it on YouTube if you want to after this.

Please don't do it right now.

I I can see you.

All right.

But it goes through these epic scenes, right?

Of people sailing boats into storms, rescuing people from flood waters, cutting ropes off of propellers, riding bulls, like all because all those things you're gonna need a Gerber knife for.

And then in the background, there's this bluesy ballad sung by folk singer Charlie Parr.

Ain't no grave.

Gonna hold this body down.

And it's scratching and tickling your ears because it sounds like it's coming out of a 1920s gramophone.

And if you're already not like, oh yeah, in comes the voiceover.

And it's like some esque.

Hello, trouble.

It's been a while since we last met.

But I know you're still out there.

And I have a feeling you're looking for me.

You'd wish I'd forget you.

Don't you trouble.

I will not.

Perhaps it's you that has forgotten me.

Perhaps I need to come find you, remind you who I am.

Guys, I've bought everyone this church a Gerber knife.

But TSA confiscated it.

I'm just like, yes, that when I have a robust eschatology, fancy words for I know that this is not my home, and I know one day he's gonna wipe every tear from her eye, every sad thing is gonna come untrue.

There's no being no more weeping or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.

And behold, all things have become new.

Somehow it sticks a rebarb down the back of my spine, straightens me up, and allows me to look adversity and trouble in the eyes, and by the authority and affection of Jesus Christ, say, Hello, trouble.

Now I went back and I dissected it, and it it really stirred my spirit.

But something got in my crawl about it.

Uh you need to remember this every image has a message.

So as you look through images, just know there's a message.

And I went through it back after time and time again.

It's all these unbelievable shots of men and women, old and new, going out into the wildness of the wilderness or the daily troubles of work life, all looking for adventure and expecting to find trouble and being able to meet it when they do.

And it took me about the tenth time to catch it.

Every single shot was of an individual.

There was no friends or people around them, just them alone, facing the dangers and troubles.

Now, while that may reinforce our individual rugged American mentality, I need you to know that is contradictory to scripture and our identity as a body of believers, as the body of Christ, and as a local church in a community.

We surround ourselves with men and women who lock arms, lock eyes, and we face trouble together, not alone.

You guys know this.

I'm not telling you anything you probably don't already know.

I just want to remind you, because every single one of you in here has been in trouble, has faced troubling times, and knows that you need to walk someone else through it.

And that God has comforted you through it.

This is why we share our stories together, our testimonies together, right?

It's why we lift it up and understand because the psalmist says here, right?

I can't wait to get in front of the assembly of God and praise Him for how He's going to walk me through this, how He took me out of the mud and set my feet on a rock and to stand.

It's why we share scripture together, meals together.

It's why hospitality is a requirement for biblical leadership to open up our lives, not share only the gospel, but our very lives as well with you.

So the fabric of community and extended spiritual family gives us a collective confidence and authority when it feels like there's no way out of the trouble we are facing.

I've had men and women do this throughout my life.

There's also another psalm that we read through earlier this month, and it's this kind of reframe.

I feel like it's a callback and response for Israel.

If it had not been for the Lord, let Israel say so.

If it had not been for the Lord, if it had not been for the Lord and the Lord's people, we would not be here.

I would not be here.

The countless times I've been in trouble mentally, physically, emotionally, maritally, parenting, house troubles, car troubles, job troubles, leadership troubles, trouble loving myself.

And the men and women of God's family continue to surround us, uphold us, and walk us through every dark night of the soul.

I'm in trouble.

Hurry to help me.

We can name it, we can explain it, we can expect it, we can be the kind of people who say hello trouble.

It's almost as if uh Gerber found out they were missing something.

That ad campaign sparked a groundswell of people making their own Hello Trouble videos, and it was showing them going off into different adventures and encountering adversity, and they made this one amazing change.

Hello Trouble.

Perhaps it's you that's forgotten me.

Perhaps I need to come find you, remind you who I am.

And this time I'm bringing my friends.

What a friend we have in Jesus.

And what a friendship and fellowship that I see before me.

Don't you dare run and hide from it.

Don't you make excuses.

Don't you sit in that guilt and that shame and say, no one will understand.

No one will love me if they find out who I truly am.

Don't think that it's not a big deal.

Don't think that everyone else has it figured out, and you should know this already.

It is the gift of being yourself.

And the gift that you bring to this congregation, and that you bring to this kingdom.

So I say this to you, Graham Parkway.

Let's go create some mischief and mayhem in the kingdom of God.

You guys like to say it, let's set down the kingdom for people to see and taste and see that the Lord is good.

And let's do it in such a way that when we lock arms and lock eyes with one another, and then we've got a group of people that we do life with and who walk us through high highs and low lows.

I can see a time coming where the kingdom of darkness sees your small group, your little prayer circle, or a group of kids singing praise songs to the Lord, and they say, uh uh, here comes trouble.

Amen.

Amen.

We want to preach the Bible clearly and give your soul some space to respond.

So we'll put some questions up uh on the screen and let you process.

But more than anything, I want you to have an honest, an authentic encounter with Jesus.

So, Father, unto you all hearts are open, the secrets are hid.

Cleanse our thoughts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit and unite us as your body and your bride.

One who's not afraid of trouble.

Because greater is he that is in me, that is in the world.

Lord, thank you that when your word is taught, it goes out in power and has authority on it, and it never comes back void.

It accomplishes the purpose for which you sent it.

So our prayer today is that your word has gone out from Psalm 69.

But even now begin to accomplish the purpose which you sent it.

If there's anyone that needs to confess to break the secrecy of badness, the power of badness over their lives, but through confession, I pray they would practice that before they leave today.

Holy Spirit, we don't want to live in fear.

You've not given us a spirit of fear.

And so we renounce that in Jesus' name.

We repent of anything that is causing us to fear you, this moment, this place, these people.

So, Holy Spirit, we just say what Jesus said.

When you come, you lead us into all truth.

And so you're here now.

So lead us into the truth that sets us free.

Because this is our native environment, freedom.

We were not made for bondage.

So we renounce bondage and secrecy in Jesus' name.

And we just say freedom.

We speak freedom over ourselves and all of our relationships.

So, Lord, thank you for this word today.

Thank you.

May we just drink it in like parts to ground.

With gratitude, we say thank you in Jesus' name when everyone said.

Amen.

Amen.

If you're our guest today, I want to say thanks for being here.

You're always welcome, okay?

If you have any questions of anything you saw or heard this morning, some of our pastors and Chris will be available down front.

We'd love to help you process anything you got going on.

Well, we ask if you if you're if you're visiting with us today, uh, if you've never responded, if you just text the word welcome to that number on the screen behind me.

It gives us a record of your visit here.

We want to just we'll we'll shoot you a text back.

We want to help you understand your spiritual journey and take whatever the next step is for you in that spiritual journey, okay?

We always have things going on in the life of our church.

We'll make you aware of those by way of our video announcements.

So check out the screens this morning.

Here's what's happening at Grand Parkway Baptist Church.

This is week three of our October outreach.

Love your neighbor.

There will be cards at the front of the stage, at the mission center, and around the campus with instructions on how to love your neighbor.

Also stop by the Mission Center to record a 30-second long video sharing one way you loved your neighbor last week.

Calling all women.

The holidays are just around the corner, and things are about to get hectic.

That's why it is so important for you to come together and prepare your hearts for what lies ahead.

Come to the table on November 10th from 6:30 p.m.

to 8 30 p.m.

in the sanctuary.

There will be worship led by Lindsay Frelick, and Marcy McClendon will be sharing a powerful word and a timely message from God's Word.

There will be child care available from infant to fourth grade, but you must register before November 7th.

Come enjoy a great day at the farm on November 8th at 9.30 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

You and your preschooler will enjoy fishing, tractor rides, crafts, swinging, fall photos, and fellowship in the fresh country air.

The cost is$5 per family.

Finally, do you love to sing?

Do you have a child who loves to sing?

During the month of December, we have two opportunities to sing in our Sunday services.

The Kids Advent Choir is available for children in kindergarten through 6th grade.

They will be singing on December 15th.

The Adult Advent Choir is available for all adults and students in seventh grade through 12th grade.

They will be singing on December 22nd.

For more information or to register for these events, please visit our website at grandparkway.org.

If you have any questions or want someone to pray for you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.

These are the cards we're talking about.

If you're our guest today, our October outreach is just the theme of just loving your neighbor.

And each each week you get a different card and has four or five intentional things that you can do on here to engage the people around you.

God did not create you to live in silence and in solitude.

God created us to live in community.

This is why God looks down on Adam, who's in paradise, and says, It is not good that man should be alone.

So stop working to recreate an environment you were never created to be in in the first place, okay?

Does that make sense?

Say amen.

So in just a minute, when you're dismissed, Chris is gonna come.

He's on his way apart now, he's gonna speak a blessing over you.

Come grab a card, check on each other before you get out of here.

We use stairs here, bro.

What are you doing?

We love you.

Uh speak a blessing over us.

You guys stand and put your hands out in a posture of receiving if you're comfortable with that.

Hello, trouble.

May you welcome it this week like you've been expecting it.

Hello, trouble.

May you wrestle it and wrangle it with authority and audacity, like the sons and daughter of the living God that you are.

Hello, trouble.

And may you ring it for all it's worth.

Because you know, in the midst of that trouble, the devil's trying to destroy you and God's trying to develop you.

And you've decided you're partnering with God.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.