Springtime Renewal!

Ryan Best: Good morning, church.

Ryan Best: It's, uh, such a wonderful sight to be here again.

Ryan Best: Um, it's always a joy when I get to come out, uh, this way.

Ryan Best: This is.

Ryan Best: This is kind of close to where I grew up and, uh, spent a lot of

Ryan Best: time in my youth.

Ryan Best: In fact, brother Jim and I, for

Ryan Best: a short period were neighbors,

Ryan Best: uh, rode the school bus

Ryan Best: together.

Ryan Best: So, uh, we know each other quite well from our days of school.

Ryan Best: So, uh, when I get to come back this way, it's, uh.

Ryan Best: It's always a fun time.

Ryan Best: It brings.

Ryan Best: It brings joy to my heart that I get to come up, uh, in this area

Ryan Best: every now and then.

Ryan Best: So this morning, I want to talk

Ryan Best: a little bit about, uh, our

Ryan Best: renewal and in the springtime

Ryan Best: because, uh, it's springtime and

Ryan Best: this is the time when we have

Ryan Best: renewal.

Ryan Best: So I felt it just just worked together really well.

Ryan Best: So, you know, if you, if you're

Ryan Best: outside, although it's a little

Ryan Best: gloomy and cold this morning,

Ryan Best: but I'm sure if you look around,

Ryan Best: you're going to be able to tell

Ryan Best: that this is the season of

Ryan Best: spring.

Ryan Best: Um, the earth is waking up.

Ryan Best: All the bulbs are starting to push through the soil.

Ryan Best: The trees are starting to, uh,

Ryan Best: get some buds and leaves coming

Ryan Best: out.

Ryan Best: Um, the the air carries the

Ryan Best: promise of warmth and growth

Ryan Best: with it.

Ryan Best: A little bit of pollen too.

Ryan Best: So, uh, I'm going to take your allergy pills, but, um, you

Ryan Best: know, after winter's long rest, um, everything is finally

Ryan Best: starting to feel fresh.

Ryan Best: It's it's feeling a little hopeful and alive out there.

Ryan Best: You know, spring just isn't a change in the weather.

Ryan Best: Um, to me, it's it's a living picture of what God longs to do

Ryan Best: in every one of us.

Ryan Best: So this morning, as, as we

Ryan Best: gather in worship, uh, we'll

Ryan Best: explore the theme of renewal,

Ryan Best: which is the beautiful truth

Ryan Best: that our God specializes in new

Ryan Best: beginnings.

Ryan Best: The Bible is is filled with

Ryan Best: God's promises of renewal, and

Ryan Best: we're going to let His Word

Ryan Best: speak directly to our hearts

Ryan Best: this morning.

Ryan Best: So I'm going to I got a few

Ryan Best: passages, uh, that I'm going to

Ryan Best: read and I'll take after each

Ryan Best: one.

Ryan Best: I'm going to kind of pause a little bit to unpack what it

Ryan Best: means and just how it speaks to our lives right now, and how it

Ryan Best: should shape the way that we live and why it matters that we

Ryan Best: pay attention to these words.

Ryan Best: So first, I want to I want to

Ryan Best: speak the words from

Ryan Best: Lamentations chapter three,

Ryan Best: verses twenty two and twenty

Ryan Best: three.

Ryan Best: It says, the faithful love of the Lord never ends.

Ryan Best: His mercies never cease.

Ryan Best: Great is his faithfulness.

Ryan Best: His mercies begin afresh each morning.

Ryan Best: And what this scripture means

Ryan Best: is, is very simple, yet I think,

Ryan Best: profound.

Ryan Best: See, God's love and compassion are not limited or used up, so

Ryan Best: they don't expire.

Ryan Best: And every single morning he

Ryan Best: hands us a brand new supply of

Ryan Best: mercy and a brand new supply of

Ryan Best: faithfulness.

Ryan Best: It's kind of like a daily sunrise for the soul.

Ryan Best: And you know, no matter how hard yesterday was, today is a fresh

Ryan Best: start because of who he is.

Ryan Best: And, you know, today we we live in a world that keeps score and

Ryan Best: it keeps score on everything.

Ryan Best: Not just not just sports games.

Ryan Best: You know, I'm a hockey fan.

Ryan Best: Penguins won last night.

Ryan Best: Hooray.

Ryan Best: That's great.

Ryan Best: But that's not the kind of score

Ryan Best: that the that the world keeps it

Ryan Best: keeps score in ways like, um

Ryan Best: harsh words at work, financial

Ryan Best: setbacks, strained

Ryan Best: relationships, or just the, the

Ryan Best: sheer exhaustion of, of

Ryan Best: scrolling through Everyone's

Ryan Best: highlight reels on their social

Ryan Best: media.

Ryan Best: It really can lead us to feeling stuck in yesterday's failures.

Ryan Best: But spring reminds us that God

Ryan Best: isn't bound by our calendars or

Ryan Best: our mistakes.

Ryan Best: And you know, just as the season

Ryan Best: resets the landscape, God's

Ryan Best: mercies reset our hearts every

Ryan Best: morning.

Ryan Best: And you know this.

Ryan Best: This affects our lives because

Ryan Best: it frees us to begin each day

Ryan Best: with open hands instead of

Ryan Best: clenched fists.

Ryan Best: See, we get to we get to let go of yesterday's guilt or

Ryan Best: resentment and and step into today with gratitude.

Ryan Best: It changes how we treat our

Ryan Best: families, changes how we treat

Ryan Best: our coworkers.

Ryan Best: And it can even change how we

Ryan Best: treat ourselves, offering the

Ryan Best: same fresh start grace that

Ryan Best: we've received.

Ryan Best: And, you know, practically, it might look like a short morning

Ryan Best: prayer, like just saying, Lord, thank you for new mercies today.

Ryan Best: Uh, and help me walk in them.

Ryan Best: And it's important that we

Ryan Best: follow these words because

Ryan Best: without this daily renewal, we

Ryan Best: risk carrying the weight of

Ryan Best: winter all year long, the

Ryan Best: bitterness, the burnout of our

Ryan Best: spiritual numbness.

Ryan Best: But when we receive God's fresh

Ryan Best: mercies, we stay alive to his

Ryan Best: presence.

Ryan Best: We stay alive and resilient in trials, and we are ready to be a

Ryan Best: source of hope for others.

Ryan Best: See, in this weary world that we live in, people who live this

Ryan Best: way, well, they're living proof that God's faithfulness is real.

Ryan Best: Alright, now I'd like to to move

Ryan Best: on to Isaiah chapter forty

Ryan Best: three, verses eighteen and

Ryan Best: nineteen, which says, but forget

Ryan Best: all that.

Ryan Best: It is nothing compared to what I am going to do.

Ryan Best: For I am about to do something new.

Ryan Best: See, I have already begun.

Ryan Best: Do you not see it?

Ryan Best: I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

Ryan Best: I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

Ryan Best: See here God is speaking to

Ryan Best: people who feel trapped by their

Ryan Best: past exile, failure, or

Ryan Best: hardship.

Ryan Best: He says, stop dwelling on what was.

Ryan Best: I'm already at work doing something brand new.

Ryan Best: See, God creates roads where there were none and brings life,

Ryan Best: giving water to barren places.

Ryan Best: Renewal is not just wishful

Ryan Best: thinking, it's God's active

Ryan Best: creative work.

Ryan Best: And many of us are are walking through our wilderness.

Ryan Best: Maybe it's stalled career struggles in your marriage.

Ryan Best: You got a health challenge.

Ryan Best: Uh, or maybe even your faith just feels a little dry.

Ryan Best: And, you know, culture tells us to just push harder, just accept

Ryan Best: things the way they are, you know, pull yourself up by your

Ryan Best: bootstraps and keep on going.

Ryan Best: But God interrupts that narrative.

Ryan Best: He says, look, I am already doing something anew.

Ryan Best: And spring shows this, this every single year.

Ryan Best: It's life breaking through, concrete flowers blooming where

Ryan Best: nothing grew before.

Ryan Best: And you know what?

Ryan Best: God's doing the very same thing in us.

Ryan Best: And, and, and living this way

Ryan Best: calls us to, uh, release that

Ryan Best: rear view mirror that we have in

Ryan Best: our lives.

Ryan Best: We stop rehearsing the old stories that no longer define

Ryan Best: us, and we start watching expectantly for what God is up

Ryan Best: to right now.

Ryan Best: And that sometimes means saying

Ryan Best: yes to a new ministry

Ryan Best: opportunity.

Ryan Best: Um, it might mean mending a

Ryan Best: relationship or, you know,

Ryan Best: simply showing up differently in

Ryan Best: the daily routines that you

Ryan Best: have.

Ryan Best: See, this moves us from passive

Ryan Best: waiting to active participation

Ryan Best: in the new thing that God is

Ryan Best: planning.

Ryan Best: And it's important for us to follow these words because if we

Ryan Best: cling to the past, it keeps us stuck in this spiritual winter.

Ryan Best: But when we trust God's new work, we step into freedom,

Ryan Best: purpose, and joy.

Ryan Best: And that is how we become a part of his bigger story.

Ryan Best: People who bring life to dry places.

Ryan Best: Uh. Ignoring this promise means that we're missing the adventure

Ryan Best: that he's already begun.

Ryan Best: And I don't think missing out on

Ryan Best: the adventures that God started

Ryan Best: us is something that we want to

Ryan Best: do, right?

Ryan Best: All right.

Ryan Best: Let me read from Isaiah chapter

Ryan Best: forty, verses thirty and thirty

Ryan Best: one.

Ryan Best: Even youths will become weak and

Ryan Best: tired, and young men will fall

Ryan Best: in exhaustion.

Ryan Best: But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

Ryan Best: They will soar high on wings like eagles.

Ryan Best: They will run and not grow weary.

Ryan Best: They will walk and not faint.

Ryan Best: Now, what this scripture is

Ryan Best: telling us is that even the

Ryan Best: strong among us eventually grow

Ryan Best: weary physically, emotionally,

Ryan Best: or spiritually.

Ryan Best: Anybody here that goes to the gym on a regular basis, or does

Ryan Best: exercises at home and works out, or even just does enough work

Ryan Best: around the house, you feel like, man, you could pick that up.

Ryan Best: You could carry that around, And maybe you've.

Ryan Best: Maybe you've done it your entire life.

Ryan Best: Man, the older we get, though,

Ryan Best: it just seems like one little

Ryan Best: twist, one little turn, one

Ryan Best: little tweak, and oh, there goes

Ryan Best: the back.

Ryan Best: There goes the knees.

Ryan Best: The shoulder.

Ryan Best: I mean, we could, we could probably list all our ailments

Ryan Best: and, and spend the better part of the next thirty, forty

Ryan Best: minutes doing that.

Ryan Best: Right.

Ryan Best: And, you know, it doesn't matter

Ryan Best: how, how much we condition

Ryan Best: ourselves, how much we work out

Ryan Best: eventually, physically, we, we

Ryan Best: get weaker.

Ryan Best: We get a little more fragile spiritually.

Ryan Best: Um, that can happen to, we can,

Ryan Best: we can come to church every

Ryan Best: single Sunday and sit in our

Ryan Best: pews and we can listen to the

Ryan Best: message, but we can be in the

Ryan Best: sanctuary, but not in the

Ryan Best: message.

Ryan Best: And we can miss out on it and,

Ryan Best: you know, emotionally in our

Ryan Best: lives.

Ryan Best: You know, my wife and I have

Ryan Best: been married for twenty five

Ryan Best: years.

Ryan Best: And, you know, there's times

Ryan Best: where you can, you can check out

Ryan Best: emotionally, you can just get so

Ryan Best: wrapped up in other things that

Ryan Best: you're doing that you just, you

Ryan Best: kind of, you kind of miss some

Ryan Best: of the things that you need to

Ryan Best: do and things that would make

Ryan Best: you happy before just don't seem

Ryan Best: to bring you the same joy they

Ryan Best: used to.

Ryan Best: And it's not that.

Ryan Best: It's not that those things don't have the ability to bring that

Ryan Best: joy to you.

Ryan Best: It's just that we miss out on

Ryan Best: we, we take for granted the

Ryan Best: things that we have in our

Ryan Best: lives.

Ryan Best: And I think that what, uh, Isaiah forty is telling us here

Ryan Best: is that, yes, we will physically, emotionally, and

Ryan Best: spiritually grow weary.

Ryan Best: God offers supernatural renewal

Ryan Best: to those who wait on him with

Ryan Best: expectant trust.

Ryan Best: See, God doesn't just patch us up.

Ryan Best: He. He exchanges our exhaustion for eagle like strength that

Ryan Best: rises above any circumstances that we can be in.

Ryan Best: And now spring.

Ryan Best: It follows that that tired fatigue of winter.

Ryan Best: When.

Ryan Best: When the days feel short and energy is kind of low.

Ryan Best: Because, boy, nothing makes you more tired than when the sun's

Ryan Best: starting to go down.

Ryan Best: Right.

Ryan Best: That's it's just natural.

Ryan Best: We start to, we start to get a little a little exhausted.

Ryan Best: The days end a little bit quicker.

Ryan Best: And boy, in the winter time,

Ryan Best: it's just less and less

Ryan Best: daylight.

Ryan Best: And it's, it's pretty easy for us to, uh, to wear down.

Ryan Best: And, uh, just because the days are shorter, does that mean our

Ryan Best: lives and all the busyness we have shrink up?

Ryan Best: No, we got the same amount of stuff going on in our lives.

Ryan Best: We just got shorter days of of daylight to do it.

Ryan Best: And that's, man, our energy does it just starts to sap you.

Ryan Best: It's like your brain's telling you it's getting dark out.

Ryan Best: It's time to wind down.

Ryan Best: But man, it's like, what is it in the wintertime?

Ryan Best: It's like four thirty, five o'clock in the evening.

Ryan Best: The sun's starting to get a

Ryan Best: little low, and you're starting

Ryan Best: to feel tired and weary from the

Ryan Best: day, and it's cold outside, and

Ryan Best: that saps you and stuff too,

Ryan Best: right?

Ryan Best: So, so, you know, we got these fast paced lives and, you know,

Ryan Best: many of us are kind of running on empty at times.

Ryan Best: We're we're burned out from jobs.

Ryan Best: We're burned out from parenting, just the endless news cycles

Ryan Best: that we see all around us.

Ryan Best: Or maybe you're just carrying

Ryan Best: some heavy burdens all on your

Ryan Best: own.

Ryan Best: And I think this this piece of scripture right here meets us

Ryan Best: exactly in that spot.

Ryan Best: See, renewal isn't about trying harder in our own power, but

Ryan Best: it's learning to trust and wait on the Lord.

Ryan Best: And this invites us to slow down and to practice waiting through

Ryan Best: prayer, through worship, um, through rest on the Sabbath or

Ryan Best: just just having some quiet time in God's word.

Ryan Best: So instead of doing what the the world tries to tell us, which

Ryan Best: is, you know, push through it.

Ryan Best: We shouldn't be just pushing through exhaustion.

Ryan Best: We need to learn to, to lean into God's strength.

Ryan Best: Now, here's the hard part.

Ryan Best: This might mean that you have to say no to over commitment.

Ryan Best: I brought my family with me today.

Ryan Best: They'd probably be the first ones to tell you that the

Ryan Best: hardest thing that I struggle with is saying no. And and I

Ryan Best: totally mean that from saying no to my wife and daughter when it

Ryan Best: comes to getting something.

Ryan Best: Can we buy this?

Ryan Best: Can we go here?

Ryan Best: I can't say no. I want to sometimes.

Ryan Best: Right.

Ryan Best: But, uh, and it's not just that friends need something.

Ryan Best: Work needs something.

Ryan Best: I mean, I just, I just want to

Ryan Best: give and give and help and help

Ryan Best: and and do and do and and it's

Ryan Best: difficult sometimes.

Ryan Best: And that can wear on you and.

Ryan Best: Yes.

Ryan Best: Um, sometimes you're going to

Ryan Best: have to, you're going to have to

Ryan Best: do that.

Ryan Best: You're going to have to say, no, I, I, I can't do it, I can't

Ryan Best: commit to this thing.

Ryan Best: Uh, you may have to, to do that.

Ryan Best: You might have to seek accountability in some small

Ryan Best: groups or find an accountability partner, as they say, just

Ryan Best: someone that, that you trust that is not going to be afraid

Ryan Best: to tell you the truth.

Ryan Best: Like, hey, man, you, you need to relax a little bit.

Ryan Best: You know, it's okay to say no. And yes, the danger of getting

Ryan Best: really good at saying no means it gets easier to say no. So of

Ryan Best: course we have to balance that.

Ryan Best: But, um, you know, I, I think

Ryan Best: that, uh, having some ways to

Ryan Best: help keep you accountable, um,

Ryan Best: and to, you know, make sure that

Ryan Best: you're, you're leaning into the

Ryan Best: Lord not trusting yourself to

Ryan Best: like, like, I'm not going to get

Ryan Best: through this.

Ryan Best: Like if I, if I sat here and

Ryan Best: relied on my own strength and my

Ryan Best: own ability to get myself

Ryan Best: through all the trials and all

Ryan Best: of the things that I got going

Ryan Best: on every day in my life, I'd be

Ryan Best: a mess.

Ryan Best: I'd probably end each day just.

Ryan Best: I could just picture myself just sitting in a dark corner, knees

Ryan Best: pulled up to my chest, just, you know, head hanging, just like,

Ryan Best: man, how do I do this?

Ryan Best: Why do I do this?

Ryan Best: Right?

Ryan Best: But, you know, a good thing might be to just pause each day,

Ryan Best: just take a moment of silence and just declare, Lord, I trust

Ryan Best: you for new strength today.

Ryan Best: Because that's where the true strength comes from.

Ryan Best: And you know, if we if we don't

Ryan Best: get this renewal of strength,

Ryan Best: uh, we're going to risk crashing

Ryan Best: spiritually, relationally, and

Ryan Best: physically.

Ryan Best: You know, those who, who trust God, they become resilient

Ryan Best: witnesses in a weary culture that we live in.

Ryan Best: Uh, those people soar high above storms.

Ryan Best: Uh, they just keep running the race of faith.

Ryan Best: And you know what?

Ryan Best: They inspire others to hope.

Ryan Best: See, spring reminds us that after every winter comes

Ryan Best: strength for the journey ahead.

Ryan Best: All right.

Ryan Best: Let's, uh, there's a, there's a

Ryan Best: real powerful prayer about

Ryan Best: renewal.

Ryan Best: And it's in Psalm, Psalm fifty

Ryan Best: one, verse ten, and it says,

Ryan Best: create in me a clean heart, O

Ryan Best: God.

Ryan Best: Renew a loyal spirit within me.

Ryan Best: And so King David, uh, after a very deep failure, cries out for

Ryan Best: God to basically do heart surgery, create something brand

Ryan Best: new and pure while restoring a spirit that stays faithful.

Ryan Best: And I think that's a humble

Ryan Best: request for an inner cleansing

Ryan Best: and steadfastness that only God

Ryan Best: can provide.

Ryan Best: So, you know, like, like a like

Ryan Best: a springtime rain that washes

Ryan Best: away all the grime in the

Ryan Best: winter.

Ryan Best: We all need regular heart cleaning things like guilt,

Ryan Best: shame, divided loyalties, or just hidden sin.

Ryan Best: Those things can all weigh us down.

Ryan Best: And it's it's in this

Ryan Best: distracting this, this world is

Ryan Best: just full of distractions and,

Ryan Best: and temptations.

Ryan Best: Uh, that's where, uh, our loyalty to God can waver.

Ryan Best: And I think this, this verse reminds us that renewal starts

Ryan Best: inside with a clean heart and a spirit that is realigned to God.

Ryan Best: I think it calls us to honest confession and repentance, then

Ryan Best: to invite God to reshape our desires and our attitudes.

Ryan Best: So practically this.

Ryan Best: This looks like regular

Ryan Best: self-examination, self

Ryan Best: accountability with other

Ryan Best: trusted believers.

Ryan Best: Um, and choosing daily habits that nurture loyalty, such as,

Ryan Best: uh, reading scripture, uh, doing meditation, uh, uh, acts of

Ryan Best: obedience, things like that.

Ryan Best: Um, it changes how we respond when we stumble because we're

Ryan Best: going to, and when we stumble instead of hiding.

Ryan Best: This helps us learn to run to God for renewal.

Ryan Best: You see, um, a dirty or disloyal heart, it leads to spiritual

Ryan Best: stagnation and it creates a distance from God.

Ryan Best: But a clean heart and a renewed

Ryan Best: spirit brings joy and intimacy

Ryan Best: with the father and the power to

Ryan Best: live faithfully.

Ryan Best: So in spring and all this fresh beauty that's coming out.

Ryan Best: We see the possibility that God can make our inner lives bloom

Ryan Best: again, no matter what the past is, and no matter how, how dark,

Ryan Best: how how dirty the the winter of your lives have been.

Ryan Best: God can make it new.

Ryan Best: Amen.

Ryan Best: All right.

Ryan Best: Uh, here's a little word of hope

Ryan Best: from Romans chapter twelve verse

Ryan Best: two.

Ryan Best: I like this one.

Ryan Best: This was, uh, I used to be a youth director and, uh, this was

Ryan Best: one of my favorite ones to, to, uh, teach the youth because as

Ryan Best: you know, uh, they get confronted with all kinds of,

Ryan Best: uh, worldly temptations and, um, themes and, uh, fads and stuff

Ryan Best: that's going on.

Ryan Best: So I'd like to read this one to them quite often.

Ryan Best: It says, don't copy the behavior

Ryan Best: and customs of this world, but

Ryan Best: let God transform you into a new

Ryan Best: person by changing the way you

Ryan Best: think.

Ryan Best: Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is

Ryan Best: good and pleasing and perfect.

Ryan Best: And you can imagine how that

Ryan Best: could apply to some of our

Ryan Best: youth.

Ryan Best: Walking to walk into a school someday.

Ryan Best: If you could just be a fly on a wall in a school.

Ryan Best: Boy, the stuff that goes on there.

Ryan Best: And sorry, parents, our kids are the greatest.

Ryan Best: They're the best.

Ryan Best: They're the most honest, good kids.

Ryan Best: But man, they get around some other kids and it is easy.

Ryan Best: It's easy to fall into those temptations because everybody

Ryan Best: wants to fit in.

Ryan Best: Everybody wants to have a place, and no one wants to feel like

Ryan Best: they're the odd person out.

Ryan Best: And so they find that it's easy

Ryan Best: to copy the behaviors of the

Ryan Best: world because that is what

Ryan Best: that's what makes their day

Ryan Best: better.

Ryan Best: They just want someone to like them and they want to fit in.

Ryan Best: And that sometimes means they just have to go with the flow.

Ryan Best: But I read this verse and I remind them that like, that's

Ryan Best: not what God calls us to do.

Ryan Best: You're going to you're going to follow God.

Ryan Best: You're going to be different.

Ryan Best: You're going to stand out, that's for sure.

Ryan Best: Especially, especially if you're in a school.

Ryan Best: But even even as adults in our

Ryan Best: communities, in our workplaces,

Ryan Best: how many of you have been to a

Ryan Best: restaurant and had have been

Ryan Best: sitting around and it's kind of

Ryan Best: busy?

Ryan Best: Have you ever heard anyone having a faith based

Ryan Best: conversation really loud?

Ryan Best: It's not very common anymore.

Ryan Best: And if you do, it draws your attention.

Ryan Best: Why?

Ryan Best: Because it's out of the ordinary.

Ryan Best: Some people won't have those

Ryan Best: conversations in public because

Ryan Best: they don't want to rock the

Ryan Best: boat.

Ryan Best: They don't want to offend anyone.

Ryan Best: Believers.

Ryan Best: We don't want to offend someone with our faith.

Ryan Best: Woohoo!

Ryan Best: Right?

Ryan Best: But you can see how even adults can struggle with this.

Ryan Best: Imagine the struggles that that youth go through.

Ryan Best: This, this can be this can be very difficult.

Ryan Best: So again, don't copy the behaviors of this world.

Ryan Best: That's not what God calls us to do.

Ryan Best: Um, this, this piece of scripture tells us that true

Ryan Best: renewal is not superficial.

Ryan Best: True renewal is a deep

Ryan Best: transformation that begins in

Ryan Best: the mind.

Ryan Best: So instead of conforming to

Ryan Best: culture's patterns, all the

Ryan Best: things that are going on around

Ryan Best: us that the world is telling us

Ryan Best: is cool and fun and right and

Ryan Best: and good.

Ryan Best: We instead allow God to renew our thoughts so we can discern

Ryan Best: and live out his perfect will.

Ryan Best: Springtime is is a time of very visible change, but real growth

Ryan Best: happens beneath the surface.

Ryan Best: Our our culture constantly, constantly pressures us to think

Ryan Best: and live like everybody else.

Ryan Best: Chase success, chase, comfort,

Ryan Best: chase approval on the world's

Ryan Best: terms.

Ryan Best: Not.

Ryan Best: Not God's.

Ryan Best: If you.

Ryan Best: If you.

Ryan Best: If you want.

Ryan Best: If you want.

Ryan Best: I know I was going to say the mall, but man, you probably

Ryan Best: wouldn't find anybody there.

Ryan Best: But if you, you know, you went to a Friday night football game

Ryan Best: and you walked around the stadium and you started asking

Ryan Best: everybody a question, just, you know, man on the street had

Ryan Best: yourself a little recorder.

Ryan Best: You said, tell me what success is.

Ryan Best: You're going to hear a lot of answers and you're going to hear

Ryan Best: very few of them.

Ryan Best: Uh, be rooted in faith.

Ryan Best: They're going to say, big bank account, I got money.

Ryan Best: Uh, I got a promotion.

Ryan Best: I got a job.

Ryan Best: Um, I if they're if they're kids, they might say I got an A

Ryan Best: in my math class or I graduated.

Ryan Best: I'm going to.

Ryan Best: There'd be all kinds of answers.

Ryan Best: There'd probably be very few that that would say, you know,

Ryan Best: hey, what do I, what do I measure a success?

Ryan Best: You know what?

Ryan Best: I'm, I'm trusting in God and, and advancing his kingdom and

Ryan Best: living out his his will on this earth and spreading the good

Ryan Best: news to everyone that I see.

Ryan Best: That's what I would define as success.

Ryan Best: Probably not many people you're

Ryan Best: going to hear give an answer

Ryan Best: like that.

Ryan Best: So I think that this this verse counters the, the viewpoint that

Ryan Best: we need to go along with everything that culture tells us

Ryan Best: on their terms with an invitation, uh, to a renewal of

Ryan Best: the mind through God's truth.

Ryan Best: You see, this challenges us to filter our inputs.

Ryan Best: Now listen here, because this is hard.

Ryan Best: Things that we read, things that

Ryan Best: we watch, things that we

Ryan Best: consume.

Ryan Best: We've got we've got to filter that out.

Ryan Best: And we got to fill our minds

Ryan Best: with scripture worship and godly

Ryan Best: community.

Ryan Best: It's not easy, man.

Ryan Best: Those Avenger movies were sure fun.

Ryan Best: I've seen two people nod their heads so they knew that the

Ryan Best: Avenger movies were okay.

Ryan Best: Cool.

Ryan Best: You're with me.

Ryan Best: That's all right.

Ryan Best: But there's some good movies out there.

Ryan Best: There's some good music out there.

Ryan Best: We all like them.

Ryan Best: We want to watch them.

Ryan Best: Right?

Ryan Best: But sometimes.

Ryan Best: Sometimes if you don't like, if

Ryan Best: you don't know how to, if you

Ryan Best: don't know how to filter out

Ryan Best: what what's coming into your

Ryan Best: life.

Ryan Best: Uh, boy, you can really start,

Ryan Best: uh, allowing those things to

Ryan Best: really base how you live your

Ryan Best: life now.

Ryan Best: I mean, I know when I was a

Ryan Best: little kid, I wanted to be a

Ryan Best: superhero too.

Ryan Best: For those of you that didn't

Ryan Best: know the Avengers superhero

Ryan Best: movie, right?

Ryan Best: So yeah, I read comic books and watched Saturday morning

Ryan Best: cartoons that had superheroes, and I wanted to be a superhero.

Ryan Best: That was the coolest thing ever.

Ryan Best: Now, one of my favorite superheroes was Superman because

Ryan Best: he could fly.

Ryan Best: And you know what?

Ryan Best: After reading a lot of comic books and watching a lot of

Ryan Best: movies, you know what?

Ryan Best: You know what Ryan thought he could do.

Ryan Best: He was pretty sure he could do it.

Ryan Best: Climbed up in a tree and took a jump.

Ryan Best: And praise the Lord.

Ryan Best: I didn't break anything.

Ryan Best: But boy, did my dad yell at me.

Ryan Best: He. I mean, he had he was pointing out something about how

Ryan Best: stupid I was and what made me think that I could fly.

Ryan Best: And I was like, I don't know, you know?

Ryan Best: Well, Superman's not real.

Ryan Best: I don't know, he looks pretty real on the TV and he flies.

Ryan Best: So. And although that's a that's a that's a nice, funny analogy.

Ryan Best: You can see how the things that

Ryan Best: we allow to come into our minds

Ryan Best: and into our lives can have that

Ryan Best: effect.

Ryan Best: Things that you, uh, today, you might be very strong in your, in

Ryan Best: your convictions and your belief on how this works today.

Ryan Best: Watch enough.

Ryan Best: Listen to enough things that are against that and your mind

Ryan Best: starts to soften.

Ryan Best: You'll find yourself very easily shifting because, I mean, that's

Ryan Best: how influence works.

Ryan Best: So you gotta, you gotta learn how to filter that out.

Ryan Best: And, um, when we, when, when we do this, we'll avoid, um,

Ryan Best: drifting into, uh, conformity and because if we, if we drift

Ryan Best: into conformity, then I think we really miss God's best for us.

Ryan Best: But if we just let him transform

Ryan Best: our thoughts, then you know

Ryan Best: what?

Ryan Best: We discover freedom.

Ryan Best: We get clarity and.

Ryan Best: And the joy of living his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Ryan Best: And I think that that springs new growth.

Ryan Best: It mirrors this.

Ryan Best: It renewed minds produce renewed

Ryan Best: lives that bless the world

Ryan Best: around us.

Ryan Best: All right.

Ryan Best: Last piece of scripture this morning, second Corinthians

Ryan Best: chapter five, verse seventeen.

Ryan Best: This means that anyone who

Ryan Best: belongs to Christ has become a

Ryan Best: new person.

Ryan Best: The old life is gone.

Ryan Best: A new life has begun.

Ryan Best: See, when we belong to Jesus, we

Ryan Best: are not just improved, we are

Ryan Best: completely remade.

Ryan Best: That old identity, the old patterns of sin and shame, the

Ryan Best: old way of living, everything that we did, it's gone.

Ryan Best: And then place that is a brand

Ryan Best: new life powered by the Holy

Ryan Best: Spirit.

Ryan Best: It's resurrection reality right now.

Ryan Best: And man, and I like to talk a

Ryan Best: lot about the culture we live in

Ryan Best: right now.

Ryan Best: But boy, it's obsessed with

Ryan Best: self-help makeovers,

Ryan Best: reinvention, you know, and and

Ryan Best: this, this though this is the

Ryan Best: ultimate upgrade.

Ryan Best: It doesn't matter whether you're battling anxiety, addiction,

Ryan Best: perfectionism, or, or just that, that slow drift of complacency,

Ryan Best: Christ doesn't offer a better version of the old you.

Ryan Best: He offers a new you.

Ryan Best: Spring is the perfect picture of that.

Ryan Best: What looked dead is suddenly alive and fruitful.

Ryan Best: So we stop living like the old person that we were.

Ryan Best: Our choices, our words, our priorities, and our

Ryan Best: relationships begin to reflect this new identity.

Ryan Best: We forgive more quickly.

Ryan Best: We love more boldly, we serve more profoundly.

Ryan Best: And we pursue holiness not out of guilt, but out of gratitude.

Ryan Best: It touches it touches everything in our lives, how we parent, how

Ryan Best: we work, how we spend our time and our money.

Ryan Best: But without this, this new life in Christ, well, we're just

Ryan Best: going to end up trapped in the old cycle of striving for things

Ryan Best: and falling short.

Ryan Best: And then, well, I'm going to do it better next time.

Ryan Best: So I'm going to work harder and we're going to fall short.

Ryan Best: But if we embrace our identity

Ryan Best: as new creations, well then that

Ryan Best: is going to bring freedom,

Ryan Best: peace, and power to live the

Ryan Best: abundant life that Jesus

Ryan Best: promised.

Ryan Best: And I think it's the very heart of the gospel, and it's the

Ryan Best: reason that the church exists.

Ryan Best: We are here to display this renewal to a watching world.

Ryan Best: And you know what?

Ryan Best: When we have those conversations that catch people's attention

Ryan Best: because we're in a restaurant and we're not supposed to be

Ryan Best: having these types of words said when others are in there because

Ryan Best: we might offend them.

Ryan Best: They hear, they see.

Ryan Best: And you know what?

Ryan Best: Just because we don't fit in, and just because it might make

Ryan Best: them uncomfortable doesn't mean we should stop doing it.

Ryan Best: So spring is here, and so is God's invitation.

Ryan Best: His mercies.

Ryan Best: They are new every morning.

Ryan Best: He is already doing a new thing in your life.

Ryan Best: In Christ, you are a brand new

Ryan Best: person and I think that he

Ryan Best: renews your strength as you wait

Ryan Best: on him and he creates a clean

Ryan Best: heart when you ask, and he will

Ryan Best: transform your mind as you yield

Ryan Best: to him.

Ryan Best: So this this week, I challenge you.

Ryan Best: A few things begin each morning claiming Lamentations three,

Ryan Best: twenty two, and twenty three.

Ryan Best: I want you to look for the new

Ryan Best: thing that God is doing in your

Ryan Best: life, and I want you to say yes

Ryan Best: to it.

Ryan Best: I want you to live today as the new creation that you already

Ryan Best: are in Christ.

Ryan Best: And as Isaiah chapter forty told

Ryan Best: us, wait on the Lord for fresh

Ryan Best: strength.

Ryan Best: Pray Psalm fifty one ten for a clean heart.

Ryan Best: and finally allow God to renew your mind through His Word.

Ryan Best: If you've never fully

Ryan Best: surrendered your life to Jesus,

Ryan Best: or if you just need a fresh

Ryan Best: start today, this is the time to

Ryan Best: do it.

Ryan Best: This is the place to do it.

Ryan Best: I just want to close this

Ryan Best: message this morning with a

Ryan Best: prayer.

Ryan Best: So if you would join me, please.

Ryan Best: Gracious God, just thank you for

Ryan Best: the gift of spring and the the

Ryan Best: greater gift of spiritual

Ryan Best: renewal.

Ryan Best: Father, we just ask that you

Ryan Best: wash us clean with your fresh

Ryan Best: mercies.

Ryan Best: Just open our eyes to to the new thing that you're doing.

Ryan Best: And father, renew our strength.

Ryan Best: Create clean hearts within us, transform our minds and make us

Ryan Best: new creations in Christ.

Ryan Best: Just eager to live for your glory.

Ryan Best: And it's in the name of Jesus,

Ryan Best: our risen Lord and Savior, we

Ryan Best: pray.

Ryan Best: Amen.