Hard Times

Reach a message, no series over the next few weeks, just kind of

standalone messages. And I want to preach y' to you. I guess if

I had to give a title to this one, it would be hard times.

Hard times. So if you got a Bible, go to mark chapter

thirteen. Mark chapter thirteen. We're gonna start reading in verse five and Jesus

answering them, begin to say, take heed that no one deceives you,

for many will come in my name saying I am he and will deceive many.

But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be

trouble, for such things must happen. But the end is not yet.

Listen, I want you to underline that. If you have a good old

paper Bible, underline that phrase. But the end is not yet. For

nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be

earthquakes in various places, and there'll be ams and troubles. These are the

beginnings of sorrows. But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you

up to counsels, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will

be brought before rulers and kings for my sake for a testimony to them.

And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. But when they

arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand or premeditate what you

will speak. But whatever has given you in that hour, speak that,

for it is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit. Now brother

will betray brother to death, and father his child, and children will rise

up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will

be hated by all for my name's sake, that he who endors to the

end shall be saved. Father, thank you for your word. This is

a change agent and the only one we have to bring true change. So

I pray today that you enlighten us, illuminate us, allow this to be

planted deep at the fabric of our being in Jesus' name. Amen. You

know, I think in today's climate, when we look at at what's going

on around us, there is a lot of fear in the world, at

least a lot of questioning that's happening in the world. And this passage of

scripture, Jesus is speaking to exactly what we're seeing, and he's speaking to

it. And it was happening then. So the things that we're worried about,

Jesus also saw that people were worried about them right then, and he

is addressing it and he is speaking to it in that moment. And basically

what Jesus is saying, if I had to give you the Steve interpretation of

this, is Hey, bad things are gonna happen. Tough times are gonna

come. You know, a lot of time, we think that nothing is

going to get bad and we're never going to have to suffer anything. We're

never gonna have to walk through anything, because before anything bad happens, the

tribulation is gonna come, that the rapture's gonna happen, and we're gonna be

out of here and we're gonna be dancing and shouting and everything's gonna be good.

But I want you to understand that bad things are already happening right now,

and bad things are going to continue to happen. And we have a

very Americanized view and perspective of scripture, because if you lived in a different

part of the world, you would view things very differently. See, our

thought process is that nothing bad is going to happen because we're going to be

raptured before anything bad could happen. But if you live in a place that's

already war torn, if you live in a place that's already in famine,

if you live in a place where there's not enough, you're looking forward to

the Lord coming because it's a reprieve from what you're already living in. But

as Americans, we think that we're somehow guaranteed that tough times are not going

to come. To ask anybody that's going through a health struggle right now,

if bad things can happen before Jesus comes back, anybody that just got laid

off, Can bad things happen before Jesus comes back? All those things can

certainly happen. And Jesus says bad things, tough times are going to come,

and they're going to happen. And how we pursue, how we move

through those hard times, it's what makes all the difference, the way we

view those things and understand those things. Because most of us in this room

right now, we talk about how much we love Jesus and how much we

trust Jesus, But what we really trust, what really makes us feel comfortable,

what really makes us keep our sanity, is the fact that we live

in a place where there's a whole bunch of stuff, where there are programs

to help me with everything. Come on, somebody, do you realize that

if you live in America and you are unemployed, that you have a higher

quality of life than over ninety percent of the people in the world. And

when we look at that and we say those things, oh, I'm trusting

Jesus. I believe Jesus. I believe he's keeping me. I believe.

What we really say is I believe he is because everything is still relatively okay.

Stop processing that through the American lens that we have. Then, certain

principles we talk about that I believe that we shout about in scripture look very

different like prosperity. Come on, somebody, I believe the Bible talks about

prosperity. I believe it talks about prosperity for the believer. But if you're

in a place where everybody gets one quarter of a cup of rice per day

to eat and you get a half a cup, that's prosperity. So we

have to stop viewing it through the lens that we have and understand that things

may not always look like they look right now. Jesus even goes as far

as saying, hey, they're coming for you. It's not even a political

statement. I'm not rationalizing this through any political lens. Jesus says, they

will eventually come for you. And when they beat you and put you in

prison, come on somebody. And when there's wars, and while the wars

are still going on, there's rumors and more wars, and when there's not

enough and then there's even less, hard times are coming. But listen,

I am still the Lord, and I want to tell you what separates last

days from end times. We have been living in the end times since Jesus

ascended into heaven, that's what he called them. But we will move into

last days, last days. That's when that's when the anti Christ comes on

the scene. That's when we're poised for rapture and tribulation and all those things.

And this message is not for that. But I want you to understand

that things can get tough before that, and our attitude towards things are what

allow us to live in the fullness of Christ and the covenant that He's for

us. If you got your Bible still, go go to Philippians chapter four

Philippians, Chapter four, verse ten. It says, but I rejoiced in

the Lord greatly now that at last your care for me has flourished again.

Though surely you did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak

in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am,

most of our most of our ability to carry on and live a life of

joy is based on being in a good state. Come on, somebody,

listen. I'm going on vacation in two weeks. I will have no problem

being overwhelmed with joy. When I meant to all you could eat buffet,

I'm gonna be like, thank you for plenty. Lord, my cup runneth

over. That's just but the apostle pause. He's saying something here, and

he's he's putting something into context here, and he's saying that, listen,

you need to be like me. You need to understand that situation doesn't move

you from your level of spirituality, that where you are with Jesus is more

important than where you are on the economic scale, That where you are in

your relationship with Him supersedes any temporary struggle that we may have. And you're

thinking, well, you don't know my struggle. I know it's temporary.

Oh I've been struggling since I was born, and it don't And it's temporary

because your body is temporary. We can struggle our whole lives, and our

struggle is still temporary. And the Bible says it's a vapor that in the

grand scheme of eternity is tiny, and what comes next is greater than anything

we could ever experience here and is more worthwhile than anything we would ever endure.

That's what eternity is. The Apostle Paul says, I begin to look

at things differently, I begin to posent. Now does that mean does that

mean I'm happy all the time? No? Joy's not happiness. Joy is

not happiness. Joy is the intestinal fortitude deep down on the inside, birth

by the Holy Spirit, that gives you the ability to realize that your strength

comes from Jesus, that that's where your strength is, and that when everything

around you collapses, there's still something on the inside of you. It will

allow you to be strong. And a sidebar here for you, lawyer,

sidebar. That's not easy to do. Let me tell you that's not easy

to do. It's not easy to think that everything's okay when it looks like

your world is collapsing around you. But it is a level of discipleship and

spiritual maturity that we can reach and that we aspire to and that we should

be looking for. That I'm okay even when things are going bad, for

I have learned in whatever I've learned, in whatever state I am, to

be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to

abound. Everywhere and in all things, I've learned to both be full and

to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do

all things through Christ, who strengthens me. The Apostle Paul said, Listen,

I've done each. I prefer one over the other. Come on,

somebody, I prefer the good times over the bad times. I don't look

forward to the hard times of life. But the reality is I have learned.

The Apostle Paul says, I have learned to be okay through each.

I've been hungry and I learned to be hungry. I've been full and I

learned to be full. Because both have their traps, we don't want to

talk about the traps of the good side, though, do we. We

don't want to talk about the fact that when things are good, we don't

have to have faith. I'm just saying we can say we have faith,

but do we? He said, Listen, I've learned to abound, I've

learned to suffer need. That means he's done all those things, and through

the process he has learned to manage those things. Now, let's see how,

let's see why. In Philippians chapter four, verse eight. So now

we're going to the preceding passage of scripture. This is how Paul opens up

this thought. He says, finally, brethren, whatever things are true,

whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are just,

Now not fair. There are modern translations of Scripture that actually translate that word

just, and that list includes the words fair. I need to tell you

something. Life isn't fair. Now I'm fixing to blow your mind. Neither

is Jesus. Jesus is not interested in being fair. He's interested in being

just. Just. That holiness is the God. Holiness is the measure in

which we are all measured by His justness is based in his own holiness,

and that is the measure that we look to. We don't look at the

person sitting on the road and say, hey, compared to them, I'm

a pretty good fellow. I mean, listen, if I want to pick

the very best part of Steve and compare it to the very worst part of

Dean, I'm gonna be shining. But also, if I'm a sadistic person,

I can compare the very best part of Dean to the very worst part

of me, and I can beat myself up and be a victim my entire

life. That's why he says, learn no matter what state you're in,

to find contentment, because true spiritual maturity is about living level. I should

probably name this living level that sounds better, but we'll keep it. Hard

times, don't change the title. Whatever things are just, whatever things are

pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if

there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these

things. Get them out of your head and into your heart. Meditation is

the discipline by which we ponder things, We hold on to things and allow

them to drip from the mental process to the seat of life our hearts that

it doesn't take a sinn apse. It takes just a wisp of Holy spirit

to awaken those things. On the inside of me. And you've all heard

the coffee filter story that I tell your mind is that filter. You have

to clean that filter. You have to do those things. You have to

allow those principles of God to steep and go down deep into the fabric of

your being. The Apostle Paul says, Then when you meditate on these things

and you allow these things to come, that is when I can do all

things through Christ, who strengthens me. Because my very first thought are the

things that are in my heart, and what's in my heart is Jesus.

Sorry, I wasn't expecting a whole lot of clapping today. The things which

you learned and received and heard in saw in me, these do and the

God of Peace will be with you. The Apostle Paul says, Listen,

you've seen these things. You've seen me go through these things. You've seen

me. You've seen them attack me. You've seen them put me in jail.

You've seen them beat me. You've seen them seen my name when I

walk down the street, and I'm always just me. It's those statements imitate

me as I imitate Christ. We don't like that. We want to push

back against those well who is that person to be the model of mine.

We don't need role models. Jesus as our role model. Most people don't

know where to look to see or to find him. Most people in the

church don't know where to look to find him. The Jesus that they see

is the Jesus that's alive in your heart. And Paul says, hey,

do what you've heard and seen me do and learn a thing. Let me

I want I want to stop ra throw that slide up real fast, and

I want to give you some information today about about care and some of those

things. So everybody get your phones out quickly, quickly, quickly, everybody

get your phones out and take a picture of this. You can also find

this at seastone dot church slash help. Is that right, Shaane, You

don't know either. Seastone dot church slash help. Yeah, seastone dot church

slash help. Yeah. Okay, so you can find this list and links.

Now, let me tell you something. When you get there, the

little bitty icon in each section is the thing you have to click, not

the whole section. So click the little icon and that's how you go to

where you're supposed to go. So, if you want to use the church.

I'm asking you to learn a thing right now. If you want to

use the church for a birthday party or a wedding or whatever it is,

go to seastone dot church slash event request for everything else, send an email

to Sean watch let me show y'all. Other you send an email to Steve

at seastone dot tv. That's me and you say, hey, Pastor,

I need to use the church for a birthday party. I'm gonna tell you

what I'm gonna say. Okay, And what you think that means is it's

booked. But what that means is I'm happy for you. I'm glad,

you're glad you're having a birthday. I'm because I don't know if anything is

happening that day or not right. And then I say, oh, just

email Sean. Sewan is seastone dot TV. So you email Sean and Sean

comes back. He says, oh, there are forty three things happening that

day. I don't think we're gonna be able to have it. Can you

do it another day? And you're like, well, Pastor said I could

have my birthday and you can have your birthday. It might just not be

here right. So the reason we ask you to do. That is because

Sean knows that's his job is to keep up with that calendar. If you

need to borrow chairs or tables or Sean had ceased on dot TV because you

say, hey, can I borrow some chairs and I'm gonna say yeah,

You're gonna say I'll be there one to pick them up, and I'll say

okay, and then the police come because you had to break into the building

to get them. Because I didn't mean I was meeting you. I thought

you were just letting me know because you had already talked to Sean Church office

seven seven O five O three one one one one. You shouldn't even need

to take a picture of that or office. It ceased on dot TV.

Listen, that's for anything. My giving statement is not right. I don't

know what time something starts. I don't know that. I don't know right

there because you call, say hey, what this has already happened? When

is vacation Bible School? And I can confidently say this summer, show up

every night this summer between four and ten, and it will happen at some

point. Right That's where you find that out. This is new pastoral care.

You need somebody to pray with you. You're in a bad way,

you're in a bad spot. This is the telephone number right here, four

seven O six six zero zero seven zero one. And that phone, this

is not it. It's laying in there on the table. So if you

call right now, nobody's coming to help. Just come to the altar if

you need help right now, the phone's gonna ring, and somebody's gonna answer

that phone. It might be me. It might be me, but it

might not be me. But I will tell you with one hundred percent assurance

that whoever answers that phone, I have complete confidence in helping you with whatever

you're going through. I would not put anyone on the other end of that

phone that I did not believe in one thousand percent to at least help you

as well as I would, if not better than I can. Amen,

So call that number right there, or an email to care at seastone dot

tv. I got surgery in two weeks. Send an email to care at

seastone dot tv and let us know when that surgery is. We want to

know those things. Send that email. Let me tell you what is not

valid putting it on on Facebook. If you put it on Facebook. A

pastor is probably not showing up because none of us have Facebook. Fight at

what expecting that? But who they don't have Facebook? Well I don't.

I don't have Facebook, so I don't know. Oh I put it in

the family page. I don't have Facebook. I don't have the family book

or the Facebook. I don't have the book. I don't see that,

right, So Charrett Seestone dot TV. That's that's how you let us know

that something is happening and you want somebody to be there. You need somebody

to be there. You're going through something. Oh I saw this, this

is a cool thing. Send it there right. And what that does is

it makes sure that you get your call answered, that somebody prays for you,

because what happens inevitably is as much as I love you, I can't

answer all of them. Do you realize that now? Even though y'all all

don't show up at one time and you should. I I'd look to the

people on vacation. They're in that camera there. There's like three hundred and

fifty something people. And I don't know how many times I'm on my way

to the hospital when somebody else calls and somebody's not getting the help that they

need and deserve. So this is our world attempt to try to give you

the very best pastoral care we can. Amen and listen. If you're on

the ledge getting ready to jump, they're gonna speak hoping to you, and

then they're gonna call me in. I'm probably gonna go drag you by the

collar back in the house. But it may be something that I don't need

to handle. It may be something that that I don't need to make a

follow up because the Lord moved and worked right there in that initial phone call.

And isn't that our goal is to hear from Jesus. I had this

conversation that one time in my life. Now, I'm not being critical of

your level of spiritual maturity. One time in my life I have come to

a place where I said, oh my gosh, I got to talk to

somebody or I'm not. I'm about to just just be imploded if I don't

talk to somebody right now. And that's when I left thirty six twenty two

Atlanta Highway on the night of that Fall Festival, and I was on my

way to the hospital after Jacob. Now listen, Jacob hit his self in

the chest with the pumpkin. I didn't hit him in the chest with a

pumpkin, but I didn't know what to do, and I needed somebody.

That was one of those moments where I had to have somebody right then to

speak into my life. So I called district superintendent and he answered, and

he spoke. That's what pastoral cares about. Jesus is available for you when

you get a hangnail, but there are moments where you need more than that.

And that's what that is for, for someone to have faith in those

moments where yours is absolutely falling apart, and the apostle Paul listen back to

his word. He said, I've learned. I've learned how to navigate the

hard times. I have learned because I've practiced navigating the hard times. We

want to help you navigate hard times, but the ultimate expression that we're doing

a good job is that you navigate the hard times and then you tell us

you navigated them, because then when I die, I don't have to lay

in the casket and worry about y'all because you learned to do it. Romans

chapter twelve, Man come and get ready, Romans chapter twelve, Verse two,

and do not be conformed to this world. What does the world want

you to think. The world wants you to think that you always need somebody

else. The world's system says, you've got to be dependent and rely on

somebody else. Now, are groups good yes? Should you be in a

group, yes, But when push comes to shove, Jesus is enough.

The world wants you dependent. They want you to the world wants you to

think you're not good enough. You're not smart enough, you're not strong enough,

you're not talented enough, you don't know enough, you haven't been to

enough places. You can't possibly do that. That's what the world wants you

to think, to beat you down and keep you press down so that you

can never step into everything that God has for you. The apostle paulses,

I've learned in those times, and in those times it's helped me be better

in the good times. Do not be conformed to this world, but be

transformed. Transformation. I don't look like what I used to look like in

those moments when hard times come. I don't find myself in the fetal position

on the side of my bed crying. You may not be there yet,

and that's okay. But be transformed. Transformational living is what God wants for

each and every one of us. But be transformed by the renewing of my

mind. What does that mean? Finally, Brethren, whatever things are true,

whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,

whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there's

any virtue, if there's anything praise worthy, meditate on these things. Train

your mind. This ain't normal summer preach. It is it, and this

is why that you may prove that there is evidence to show. That's proof,

that you may prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will

of God? And what is that good and perfect will of God? That

I can do all things. There's not one thing I can't do. I

can, I could, I can. I can overcome any obstacle. I

can speak to that mountain and see it cast into the sea. I don't

have to lay back like a second class citizen. I can be who God

called me to be. That I can do all things through Christ, who

strengthens me. That is the perfect and acceptable will of God. That the

Jesus in me is able to shape the foundations of reality, and the natural

is transformed into the supernatural. In my life. But you have to do

something. This is your moment right now. This is your moment right now

to make the decision to start the learning process, to stand up and say,

Jesus, I want to learn everything I can learn to be more like

you. Every time something goes cross ways, I get mad. I want

to learn how to not do that. And guess what when you ask the

Lord for something, guess what he's gonna do if it's gonna make you mad,

so you can learn how to handle it. Oh, I want to

see signs and wonders. I want to see miracles. Then he's gonna put

you in a place where you need one. You can't have a miracle if

you don't need a miracle. Lord, I want to strangle my kids.

Teach me patience. There, go and go nuts, and then you learn

how to navigate it with the help of Holy Spirit. You don't just go

in the room and slam the door and give up like you've done for years

and years and years. You get in the middle of it and say,

help me understand why you're so dysfunctional. Kid, Help me understand why you

think that goes in your mouth that came out of the letter box that doesn't

go in your mouth. Y'all are laughing, but that's where most of us

live each and every day. Those are the things that beat us down.

Listen, the Lord can take sorry for the Lord can take a cat turd

and disrupt your whole world with it, and we laugh now, But that's

the reality. That's where most of us stumble. We're not past that stage

to move on to the bigger and greater things the Lord has for us.

But today is where you make that decision, where every moment with the Lord

is my learning process. I'm growing up so I can grow out. Everybody

stand up altered team, don't. I don't need you to calm this morning.

Sorry this afternoon, this is your mind. I feel like you're falling

apart. It's one decision in a moment like this that begins to change that

and leads your dors transformational living, just one moment of insane blind faith to

step out and say I'm ready to change the way things are. I'm gonna

count to three if you're ready to stop living like you've been living and being

upset by the things that upset you and crushed by the things that crush you.

When I hit three. Just step out and come down here into this

altar. The band's gonna play and sing. You're gonna worship for the reckless,

abandon just you and Jesus. You're not a victim, You're not less

than You're more than a conqueror. Greater is he who is in you than

he who is in the world. He created everything else. He said,

it's good. He created you. He said, it's very good. You're

the very in God's eyes. One, two, three, Step out and

move right now, come on, come on, come on. I don't

want to be there anymore. I want to grow up because I know God's

got things for me to do. I got to get past something. The

same things can't keep tripping me up. Got to get past it, and

I got to get free Jesus. Today, I'm drawing the line in the

sand. Today, Today I'm saying never again. Today, I'm learning how

to navigate what I'm in. Right now, I'm learning the lessons so that

I can overcome. The altars are open. Come come, come, clip