On Broken Pieces

Hello everyone, I'm Dr.

Steve Holt.

I want to welcome you to the Road Church podcast.

Each week we go into God's Word.

We teach chapter by chapter, verse by verse.

We are here to build the Kingdom of God revolution through empowering people to change the world.

So we pray this will minister to you at your heart level and change your life.

Today, be encouraged by our guest speaker.

Good morning.

Let's try that one more time.

Good morning.

Thanks, bro.

Appreciate you.

How are you guys doing today?

Amen.

Well, let's pray real quick, then we'll get started.

Well, Heavenly Father, I thank you for this time.

Father, I thank you for this worship.

Lord, I'm asking, would you let that be the very cry of our heart?

Lord, would you let us be able to cry out to you?

Lord, would you let us be able to cry out for fire?

Lord, would you give us fire, revival fire, healing fire?

And Father, would you let that fire meet wind?

God, would you let us see revival in our homes?

Would you let us see revival in our hearts?

And would you let us see revival in this city?

Lord, I thank you for this time.

I thank you for this place.

Lord, anoint this word now.

Would you let it make sense?

Father, would you move me out of the way?

Lord, I can't preach this word without you.

Lord, I I I can't speak the words that you have put on my heart, Lord, unless you speak them for me.

And Lord, I don't want to.

Father, if you're not here, if you are not going to speak, then Lord, far be it from me to utter another word.

Lord, I'm asking now, would you speak through me?

Would you hide me behind the cross of Christ?

And would you let the only thing that we see and we hear today be Jesus and Jesus magnified?

Pray this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Well, this morning, you might be like, who the heck is this guy up behind this pulpit?

I'm not Pastor Steve.

My name is Marcus.

I'm one of the pastors here on staff at the road.

And I have the privilege of speaking to you this morning because we have 140 men, plus Pastor Steve, Pastor Al, and Pastor JR up at the Whole Heart Men's Advance being poured into all week.

And from the reports I've got, they've been having an amazing time.

So if you wouldn't mind sometime during the service or sometime today, just lift up a prayer for them.

Our heart and our hope is that when these men come off this mountain, it's not just a, you know, man, that was a great time, but we want them to come home completely transformed, completely emptied out of themselves and filled with God so that way they can continue leading their families, they can continue interceding for their families.

And so we we have that expectation.

And so if you won't mind praying for them on that, as well as keeping our small groups and connect uh director in your prayers.

Her name is Shanna Koram.

Her father has passed yesterday, and so we're praying for her.

Um Papa Kyle went home to be with the Lord, but uh we're just praying for uh peace and comfort for the family.

Shanna's on her way down to Texas.

I think she's already there now with her husband, so just keep them in your prayer as well.

Um, here at the road, we are a family, and so we grieve as a family.

Um, this morning I want to start this sermon off with a question.

And the and before I ask that question, I have two questions to get to first.

The first question is this can we agree here that God is absolutely sovereign?

Yeah?

Amen.

All right, and if we can agree with that, then here's the question.

Then can we also agree that that means that God is still absolutely sovereign in our suffering?

Alright.

Well then we can continue forward.

If you said no, I'd probably have to walk off the stage and I don't know what we would do for the next 40 minutes.

But I'm glad we can agree on that.

So God is still absolutely sovereign in our suffering, not merely that God sees broken things afterwards and figures out how to how to make something useful come from them.

Rather, God is never scrambling to redeem a situation because God already anticipated it.

God already knew it.

Here's the thing God's not waiting for a situation to happen, and he's like, I wonder what I can use with these, I wonder what type of Legos and what type of thing I can make with this, because I didn't anticipate this.

No, God already knew what was going to happen because he is sovereign, and because he is sovereign, he already is working something out for his glory and for your good.

Romans 8 28 says this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, and for those who are called according to his purpose.

Paul says that we know, and we know that those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

We know this truth is not something that we should ever forget, but something that we know, something that we remember in our time of struggle, our trial, or our affliction.

We know that God will work together all things for good.

Amen.

Matthew chapter 14.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

The title of my message this morning is On Broken Pieces.

On Broken Pieces.

Matthew chapter 14, we're gonna be looking, starting at verse 15, it says this.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

Now, when it was evening, the disciples came to him, him being Jesus.

Now, when it was even evening, the disciples came to him and said, This is a desolate place, and the day is now over.

Send the crowds away and go into the village and buy food into the villages and buy food for themselves.

And Jesus said, They need not go away.

You give them something to eat.

And they said to him, We only have five loaves here and two fish.

And he said, Bring them here to me.

Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said, A blessing, and then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

And they all ate and were satisfied.

And they took up the twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over, and those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Scripture says that Jesus broke the bread before he fed the people.

He looked up to heaven and he said a blessing, and then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and then and then the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate until they were satisfied.

You see, before Jesus blessed the masses, he broke the bread.

Jesus himself, being the bread of life, was broken through his crucifixion, and through that, he blessed his church with the new covenant and with eternal life.

Likewise, when we ask God to use us, many times he will allow circumstances to break us.

That way he can use us to bless others.

Now, you may have not heard that before.

And that sounds kind of anti-Western church.

Marcus, you're telling me that God will allow a circumstance to break me.

Well, in the Western church, we hear all the time well, the Lord will deliver you, like He has you, like you don't have to worry because you're not going to go through trial and tribulation.

If you've never been through trial and tribulation, do me a favor, raise your hand.

Not a single hand is raised.

You guys are honest people.

I like that.

I'm of the belief that seasons or trials or loss or shaking or suffering fall into one of two categories.

Category number one, God allows and at times causes these things to happen so we can have whatever is causing us to run from God.

God will allow these situations or God will cause these situations to shake us and or break us to run back to God.

To break whatever is inside of us, whether it's a besetting sin, whether it's pride, whether it's lust, whether it's unbelief, whatever it is that is keeping us from looking more like Christ, God will allow a season to shake us and possibly break us, to sanctify us and form us in the image of his son.

He will allow these seasons to cause us to walk in a deeper freedom and a deeper faith and a deeper relationship with him.

So that's the first category.

The second category that this season could possibly fall into is God will allow these seasons to happen to use us to bless other people.

I already know what you're thinking.

Well, Marcus, what about demonic attacks?

Well, the prophet Isaiah writes that no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

You see, the only weapon that the enemy had against the people of God was unforgiven sin.

Did you know that?

The only weapon that the enemy ever had against the people of God was unforgiven sin.

And that's why the prophet Karite in scripture makes it very clear that no weapon formed against us shall prosper.

Because we see that what Satan would have looked at as a victory, which is leading Christ to the slaughter, ended up actually being Satan signing his own death certificate.

Did you know that that Satan was used as a puppet for God to be able to bring salvation to mankind?

Satan's looking at this and he's celebrating, he's like, Yes, we got him.

We got him.

You left your throne and now you're going to the cross.

We got him.

We won.

Finally, one for Satan.

A million forgotten, no, finally I got one.

And God said, No, no, no, no.

You were nothing but a puppet to me because it is through you and your pride, oh Father of pride, that I am going to allow myself to die on the cross to be able to bring salvation.

The only weapon that you had against them was unforgiven sin.

Well, now I have taken that weapon away because now I have forgiven their sins because of what Jesus has done on the cross.

It was through Christ's death on the cross that the one weapon the enemy had against the people of God was stripped from him.

So even demonic attacks fall into category number two.

So this morning we're gonna look at four main points on brokenness.

We're gonna look at four main points on suffering.

Point number one is this not everything that hurts you is the devil attacking you.

Let me say that again.

Not everything that hurts you is the devil attacking you.

You see, in Western Christianity, this teaching of health and wealth has become so common in pulpits across the Western church.

The view that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and powerful is what's shaping young believers' theology.

And I don't know if you guys know this, but but in the Western church, in the Western world, there is a mass exodus of young people leaving charismatic, non-denominated, non-denominational churches and going to your more traditional denominations.

Because they're tired and they're sick and tired of sitting under a teaching of health, wealth, and being powerful and influential.

And so this view that God wants us to be healthy, wealthy, and powerful is what's shaping young believers' theology.

And the mere thought of trials and hardships seems like an attack on any believer.

If any hardship or suffering comes, then it must be anti-God and something is wrong.

Well, let me ask you this: who told you that Christians aren't supposed to be broken?

Who told you that Christians aren't supposed to be broken?

Well, Marcus, everything is going wrong, and I don't understand why.

Marcus, I feel like my life is falling apart around me, and I'm trying so hard to hold everything together, and I don't understand why.

Well, what if nothing is going wrong?

What if God is doing something in this breaking that you cannot see yet?

You see, we're going through the book of Acts here at the road, and we see many examples of believers who have been persecuted for the gospel.

They're being sacrificed, or they're not being sacrificed, but they are sacrificing for the gospel.

They are being tested for the gospel.

You see, this type of thinking is what is called gospel first.

What you read in the book of Acts.

It is gospel first, which is the exact opposite of today's thinking, which is believer first.

You see, believers today want to strive for this utopian Christianity.

They're looking and they're trying hard and they're sitting under teachings because it tickles the ears, and they're wanting this utopian Christianity.

And you know what I'm talking about too.

We want our lives as Jesus' disciples to be easy.

We want all the blessings, we want all the financial blessings, we want a blessing on our health, we want a blessing on our lives, we want God to make us wealthy, we want God to make us influential and to have a long life with no problems.

I'm guilty of this too.

You see, desiring these things is not wrong.

However, when we when we look at those as proof of God's love and favor on our lives, and we look at trials as shakings and difficult seasons as God's absence, then our thinking is misaligned with scripture.

You see, these seasons are what mold us and form us and create us, and they create in us a spiritual root system that is so deeply rooted into our dependency on God that we can grow and flourish and survive in any environment.

How many of you guys like to garden?

How many of you guys like you're like, I love flowers, I love to garden?

Awesome.

Let me ask you this what is the most stubborn, hardy, like can survive anywhere, doesn't need a lot of water or care plant that you can grow.

Yeah.

The first thing that comes to me is a sunflower.

As a kid, I remember like where we used to live, there was an empty field before they built the park there, and there were these sunflowers that grew up, and I was like, oh man, that's cool.

There's this girl I liked in fifth grade.

I remember I cut one and I brought it on her desk, and everyone's like, Why'd you put a weed on her desk?

It's a sunflower.

Nope, that's a weed, it's ugly.

Uh, first of all, a sunflower is not ugly.

Like, sunflower seeds are delicious.

My daughter loves drawing sunflowers.

And so a sunflower is a pretty sturdy plant.

Let me ask you this though.

What you put that next to a rose and you put that in the middle of a field next to I-25, which one is gonna flourish?

The sunflower or the rose?

The sunflower.

See, that's the thing that the Lord is doing with our faith.

He allows trials and hardships and seasons to happen so we as believers can survive in any season.

Not just seasons of wealth, not just seasons, not just seasons of health, not just seasons when things are going good, and then the minute that first storm hits, you're like, I'm dead, I'm done.

I don't want to do this anymore.

I'm about to have a panic attack, God.

No, see, the Lord allows these seasons to happen so that way we can have a spiritual root system that is so dependent on God that no matter what season comes, whether it's a dry season, whether it's a spiritual hurricane, whether it's a season of just mundaneness, we can still survive as believers.

So not everything that hurts you is the devil attacking you.

My wife and I were at, we were hanging out one night with uh Pastor Joey and Allie and with uh Jerry and Denise Forte, and I remember Pastor Joey sharing this uh illustration of a peach tree that they used to have in their yard.

And just I'll give you a spoiler warning, they don't they no longer have a peach tree.

But they had a peach tree in their yard, and they were saying one season it had so many peaches on it that the branches started hanging down, they started bending.

And they said the thing that they had to do to make sure that the branches weren't gonna break, to make sure that it can continue giving peaches was to actually cut the good branches, to be able to be able to cut some of the branches that had too many peaches on it.

See, this is called pruning.

Like when you prune something, you're not only cutting the bad branches, but you're actually cutting the thing that is also bearing fruit, so it can continue growing, so it can continue producing fruit, so it can continue thriving.

And so, what if some of these seasons that we are in are seasons of pruning and not a spiritual attack?

All right, listen to me on this.

We need to stop giving the devil credit for everything God is using to deal with your heart.

We need to stop giving the devil credit for everything God is using to deal with your heart.

Unfortunately, I hear many believers enter into these seasons with rebuke.

Well, I rebuke that in the name of Jesus.

Listen, don't rebuke what God is using to refine you.

We rebuke these seasons, claiming the devil and his demons are trying to grab a hold of whatever in our lives.

They're trying to grab a hold of this promise, or they're trying to grab a hold of our joy, or they're trying to grab a hold of our peace.

But I need to ask: have you ever thought that perhaps God is using and allowing this season to expose something inside of you?

What is God exposing inside of you?

Is it pride?

Is it self-sufficiency?

Is it bitterness?

Is it fear?

Is it love of reputation?

What is God exposing inside of you?

Is it dependency on a ministry position?

Is it dependency on a specific pastor?

Is it dependency on a specific church?

Is it dependency on a specific theological doctrine?

Is it a dependency on miracles rather than Christ?

That's number one.

Number two is this sometimes breaking isn't only about you.

Number two is sometimes breaking isn't only about you.

What if everything God has brought you through wasn't only about what he wanted to do in you?

What if part of what if part of it was preparation for what he wants to do through you?

Luke 22, 31 through 32 says this.

Jesus is talking to Peter and he says, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you that he might sift you like wheat.

But I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.

And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Notice that we did not read Simon, Simon, Satan has demanded you so he can sift you like wheat, but don't worry, I stopped him.

Don't worry, I rebuked him, and he's not gonna touch you.

No, no, no.

Jesus says, Don't worry because I've I've prayed for you.

I've prayed for you, Peter.

And when you turn and when you come back after the sifting, when you come back, strengthen your brothers also.

Question, did Peter not love Jesus?

Did Peter hate following Christ?

When you read scriptures, do you see as Peter, do you see Peter as a half-hearted disciple?

The easy answer is no.

No, Peter was a devout follower of Jesus.

He loved Jesus.

He loved Jesus so much that he was willing to risk his own life to try to save Jesus from being arrested.

Do you remember Peter drawing his sword and slicing off the high priest's servant's ear in the garden the night before Jesus was crucified?

You don't do that for someone you don't love.

Man, if we're out to lunch and like the cops coming to arrest you, I love you, brother, I love you, sister, but I'm not slicing off a cop's ear.

I don't, I love you, but I don't oh I don't love you like that.

My first question would be like, Well, what'd you do?

Well, were you where where were you that night?

Don't ask me to be a character witness.

You don't do that for someone you don't love.

So Peter loved Jesus, and so for Jesus to tell him that he is going to be sifted like Like wheat.

For Peter, he might be like, What the heck are you talking about?

John gives us a clearer understanding of what this means.

John chapter 13.

John 13 · chapter mention

John chapter 13, I'll read it.

John 13 · chapter mention

You don't have to turn there.

Starting in verse 36, it says this.

Simon Peter said to him, Lord, where are you going?

And Jesus answered him, Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.

And Peter said to him, Lord, why can I not follow you now?

I will lay down my life for you.

And Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me, Peter?

Truly, truly I say to you, that the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

So Satan wanting to sift Peter like wheat means that Satan is asking God, just like he had to ask God to do anything to Job, he's asking God to put Peter in a position where he will denounce even knowing Christ.

Not once, not twice, but three times.

Now, how in the world does that type of breaking help others?

Well, before we do, let's let's go back to what John says.

So it ended saying, Truly, truly I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you have denied me three times.

And then look back down the very next verse, chapter 14, verse 1, he tells Peter this Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me, and my father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, would I have uh what I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am going you may also be.

And you know the way to where I am going.

And so Jesus tells Peter, hey, Peter, you you're you're gonna denounce me three times.

Before the rooster even crows, you are gonna deny ever knowing me.

You're gonna turn your back on me, Peter.

You you are going to betray me, Peter.

But don't worry.

Because I've prayed for you, and don't worry, because I go to prepare a place for you.

You see, in the midst of our struggles, in the midst of our trials, in the midst of all of everything that's happening, Jesus isn't letting go of you.

Jesus is still holding on to you.

And so the Bible tells us to hold fast to God.

And I also want to add, hold fast to God because he is already holding fast to you.

So the question goes back to now, how in the world does this type of breaking help others?

You see, when this happens, scripture tells us that Peter wept bitterly.

This doesn't, this doesn't seem like it helps anybody.

What are bitter tears gonna do to help me in my time of need?

What are bitter tears gonna do to help me in my time of struggle?

Well, notice what Jesus says, though, in Luke.

He says, and when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

So Peter making it through the night without denying Jesus wasn't the end goal.

Jesus was thinking about the needs of others that would that would be met through Peter.

Others who have doubted, others who have backslidden, others, others who at times deny Christ because the world seems scary and intimidating.

Jesus is saying, Peter, I am going to allow Satan to do this because he is nothing but a puppet to me.

And the end goal of this is the testimony that will show others that I am a forgiving and a restoring savior.

Listen to me.

Maybe what God did for you was never meant to stop with you.

The saving grace, the faithfulness of him stepping into the trial or shakiness of this season, he isn't just going to do it for you, but he's gonna do it for those who love him and are called.

What if while you're asking God, God, why am I going through this?

God already sees somebody, you're gonna need a strengthen on the other side of it.

You see, Jesus blessed the bread and then he broke it.

He broke it before giving it to the multitude.

What was the breaking for?

Was the breaking for the bread?

Was the bread sitting there like, hmm, I wonder how I can be blessed in this?

No, the the breaking was for hungry people.

The bread wasn't broken because the bread needed something, it was broken because people were hungry.

So Jesus takes what is in his hands and he breaks it and he gives it to his disciples, and his disciples give it to hungry people.

Are you not a disciple of Christ?

Am I not a disciple of Christ?

The lives that we live, if the Lord breaks it, then are we not called to give our lives to hungry people?

Are we not called to give our lives to be able to reach the lost?

Are we not called to be able to give our lives to those who are hurting, to those who are downcast, to those who are absolutely humiliated?

Are we not called to be like Christ to them?

We ask God all the time, oh God, would you use me?

God, would you use me for your glory?

And the minute he says done and he starts ripping apart the bread, you're like, no, no, no, wait, wait, wait, not like that.

Don't use me like that.

Use me in a way where like I can like have a nice car and pick somebody up for church.

Use me in that way, God.

God said, No.

If I'm gonna use you, I'm gonna use all of you.

Because I've given all of me.

Church, sometimes God allows a breaking in your life, not merely because he's doing something in you, but because there's somebody hungry who's eventually going to need what he has produced through you.

Now we don't have time, but there are so many stories in the Bible of God doing this.

When you have a chance, go home and read the story of Joseph in Genesis.

This was a man who the Lord broke not just once, not just twice, but several times.

And through his brokenness, the Lord was birthing something inside of him that eventually fed the whole known world.

You see, God's faithfulness in breaking one man saved the entire world.

That sounds just like Jesus, doesn't it?

Jesus was broken, he was beaten, he was humiliated, he was nailed to a cross and died.

He was broken.

And we know that he didn't stay dead.

We wouldn't be here today in this church on Sunday singing these songs if he was still dead.

You see, Jesus came back to life on the third day, and because he was broken and died, but is now alive, we are saved.

So that's number two.

Number three is this some breaking is self-inflicted.

And I hope you wore steel toes today because I'm stepping on toes.

Some breaking is self-inflicted.

We see this with Samson.

You see, Samson didn't just wake up one day and was suddenly changed to pillars because the enemy randomly attacked him.

How many of you know the story of Samson?

Like Samson didn't just randomly wake up and his eyes are gone and he's like nailed to pillars.

No, Samson made decisions.

Samson made poor decisions.

Samson made ungodly decisions again and again and again.

Samson played with compromise until compromise finally led him to be chained to these pillars and await his own death.

This is the kind of brokenness that we don't need to rebuke Satan for, but this is the kind of brokenness that need we need to repent of.

God, I've messed up.

I've kept lusting after women online, and now my marriage is on is on the thinnest ice I've ever seen.

Repent.

God, forgive me.

I have coveted that position and that promotion.

I've lied, I've stabbed friends and co-workers in the back, and now nobody trusts me, and I'm feeling so alone.

Repent.

Lord, I kept having sex with a person who I am not married to, and now I am pregnant and I don't know what to do, and now I'm playing with the idea of abortion, or maybe I've already had an abortion.

Repent.

Whatever it is that led you to this brokenness, for some of you, that brokenness is only gonna get worse because you're staying silent about it.

Repent.

Well, Marcus, that is so legalistic, that is so judgmental, that is such a spirit of religion.

Why?

Because I'm saying run to run to God because He will forgive you?

Because I'm saying that being silent and avoiding it is not fixing it or healing you or picking up the broken pieces around you.

Only God can do that, so run to him.

You see, the word repent is not an ugly word, it is not a taboo word, it is not a holier than thou word.

It is a word that should be full of hope to the believer.

God is not demanding repayment, he is not coming to collect debt, he is saying, hey, repent, acknowledge what happened, and I will provide a grace over it that you can't find anywhere else.

You see, Samson's failure wasn't beyond God's redemption.

Your failure is not beyond God's redemption.

Your sin, your shortcoming, your struggle is not about, it's not, it's not, it's not out of God's grasp of redemption.

My failure is not beyond God's redemption.

And friends, let me tell you, I have a lot of failure.

And sometimes I'm sitting in my prayer closet and I'm like, God, do you ever get sick and tired of hearing me ask for repentance?

God, do you ever get sick and tired of me coming to you and saying, God, I've failed again, I've become prideful again, I've become angry again.

God, would you forgive me?

God, are you sick of me praying this?

And if you're asking that question, the answer is no, God's not sick of you praying that.

God would be concerned if you stopped.

So Samson's failure wasn't beyond God's redemption.

Look at what Judges 16, 28 through 30 says.

It says this, then Samson called to the Lord and said, Oh Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me.

Only this once.

Oh God, that I might be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.

And Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and he leaned his weight against them, his right hand on one and his left hand on the other.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines.

And then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords of the Philistines and upon all the people who were in it.

So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those that he killed during his life.

That part is key.

That that last line is key.

So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his life.

You see, Samson was a judge, and a judge of Israel is a person who protects the people.

They give wisdom to help guide the people, they judge the people, but they also kill the enemies of those who are invading and wanting to wage war against the people of God.

And so, with that line, those whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed during his life.

That means that the Lord restored Samson.

He restored his calling.

He was still called to protect the people until he died, and he and protect them, he did.

The Lord allowed him to have his strength back to be able to kill the lords and the enemies of the Philistines.

And the Lord restored his dignity because Samson's life ended with him fulfilling that calling that the Lord has called him to.

See, there is enough grace for every circumstance and every hardship in life.

There's a quote I love by Charles Spurgeon.

It says this, and I want to read it to you for those who feel like you are beyond God's redemption.

Charles Spurgeon says this it is folly to think the Lord provides grace for every trouble, but the one that you were in today.

That's point three.

Point four is this when everything gets shaky, God is faithful to use the broken pieces.

Come with me to Acts chapter 27.

Acts 27 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 27.

Acts 27 · chapter mention

We're gonna bring all this together and we're gonna see exactly what the Lord does with our seasons of brokenness, our seasons of shakiness, and our seasons of trials and despair.

You see, this storm that Luke records in Acts is going on for days.

They couldn't navigate, they couldn't control the ship, they couldn't stop the storm.

There was not a star in sight, but the Lord tells Paul in verse 22, he says, he says to Paul, he says, Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship.

Acts 27, starting in verse 39, it says this.

Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned, if possible, to run the ship ashore.

So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea.

At the time, loosening the ropes that tied the rudders, then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.

But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground.

The bow struck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.

The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.

But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept him kept them from carrying out their plan.

He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and to make for the land, and for the rest on planks or on pieces of ship.

And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

All were brought safely to land.

You see, those who could swim went first.

For those who couldn't, they were clinging to pieces of the ship that had just broken.

Did you notice that when we read that?

Those who couldn't swim were clinging to the pieces of the broken ship.

That means that the ship breaking was a blessing to those who couldn't swim in the storm.

These pieces of wood were what the Lord used to bring every person to safety.

And not just to bring every prisoner and guard and sailor alive to shore.

But there was an entire native group on Malta.

If you read, if you continue reading in the next chapter, there was an entire native group on a native group on Malta who needed to hear the gospel as well.

An entire group of people who were affected and blessed because the storm broke apart the ship.

Sometimes we look at the broken pieces and we call them wreckage.

While God looks at the broken pieces and he says, I'm going to use that.

I'm going to use that in your life.

I'm going to use that not just not to bless you, but I'm going to use that to bless others.

I'm going to use that to keep those who are drowning, to keep them afloat.

I'm going to use that to reach those who are lost so they can be found.

Church, I don't think I can, I don't think I have to convince anybody here that this has been a difficult year at the road.

We've experienced shaking, we've experienced change.

We've said goodbye to people we love, and we watched people leave.

We've experienced uncertainty, and for some of us there has been hurt.

Now I am not standing here this morning pretending to know or explain every reason why everything happened.

Maybe some of us have spent the last year looking at the broken pieces and asking, what the heck happened?

Maybe some of us have spent the last year coming in on Sundays and counting and saying, Where is everybody?

What happened?

Who's leaving next?

And that's not necessarily a wrong question.

There are things worth grieving about, and there are things worth learning from, and there may even, and I'm gonna be honest with you, there may be even things that require repentance from us.

But eventually the people of God must ask another question.

Lord, what do you want to do with these pieces?

Just like the shipwreck we just read, God used the shipwreck to send Paul out to reach the natives of Malta.

There have been people from the road who in this season have left, and I believe wholeheartedly that God orchestrated this uh orchestrated to use this season to call them out to reach more for the gospel?

Jesus broke the bread because people were hungry.

Friends, listen to me.

Colorado Springs is hungry.

What if the Lord has allowed this season of brokenness because he wants to reach the hungry spiritually?

What if the Lord has allowed this season of brokenness because he wants to reach the lost?

What if the Lord has allowed this season of brokenness because there are broken marriages?

There are addicted people, there are people carrying shame, there are teenagers without direction, there are parents terrified for their children.

There are people who have been hurt by churches.

What if the Lord allowed this season of brokenness to happen so he can reach them with our brokenness?

What if God has allowed or even guided our broken pieces because somebody in Colorado Springs is going to need what God has produced in us here at the road?

We can spend the next year staring at everything that broke, or we can look up and realize that God has put us in Colorado Springs for such a time as this.

And so our prayer for this coming year, knowing everything that has happened this past year, should not be, Lord, put everything back the way it was.

God, bring us back to the good old days.

Our prayer instead should be, Lord, take us, take our broken pieces, take our hurt, take our hardships and heal what needs healing, expose what needs exposing.

Bring repentance to what needs repenting of.

But Lord, use my trials and give my family here at the road victory.

Lord, use my trials and give my family and my home victory.

Lord, use my trials and make the name of Jesus known.

Lord, use it to help my friends at the road.

Use it to encourage the people I am worshiping next to.

Use it to lift up and encourage my small group.

God, will you use this season of trial and testing to give us this city and to make Colorado and to make Colorado Springs like it is in heaven?

Would you stand with me?

Before we close, the thing I need to end on is this.

What do we do in seasons of brokenness?

How do we respond in seasons of brokenness?

My favorite Bible verse is James chapter 4, verse 8.

James 4:8

And it says this draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

So when you're in a broken season, when you're in the midst of being broken, when you're in the midst of shaking, when you're in the midst of, Lord, what the heck is happening here?

Draw near to God.

And in that season, he will draw near to you.

Instead of looking at the winds and the waves that Peter did when he was walking on water, look to Jesus.

And you can walk where no man has walked before.

You can walk where no woman has walked before.

You can survive the season of brokenness, and the Lord can restore and he can put something in you to not just bless you, but to bless others around you.

To not just deepen your walk with him, but to help deepen the walk of others around you.

Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

If you're here today and you're in a season of brokenness and you're like, I don't know what to do.

I feel like I've been in this season for so long.

I feel like I've walked this season, not just for a week, Marcus, but I feel like I've walked the season for three years.

Three years of hell on earth.

My kids won't talk to me.

I haven't heard from them.

I don't even know if they're okay right now.

Maybe your season is, uh Marcus.

I I don't know.

I don't know how to mother well.

I don't know how to father well.

I feel like every time I try, I keep failing.

Time and time again.

I don't know what I'm doing.

Maybe you're here today and you're like, man, like I don't know what's going on with work.

I hate that place.

I hate it.

Or maybe you're like, man, I don't know what's going on with work.

I feel like they hate me there.

And I want to invite you to draw near to God in this moment and he will draw near to you.

If that's you today, I want to invite you to come forward.

I want you to come forward and we'll pray for you.

If you're in a season of brokenness, then this altar is open and we'll pray.

And if you if that's not you today, then I want you to encourage somebody who is.

I want you to find a person who is in a season of brokenness, and I want you to encourage them.

Not fix them, not be their counselor, but you encourage them.

Let's pray.

Well, Heavenly Father, I have spoke what you have put on my heart.

Lord, and I hope it makes sense.

Father, I'm asking now for my brothers and my sisters who are in a season of brokenness.

Maybe a season of confusion, Lord, maybe a season of looking for your hand.

Father, I ask, would you let us remember what the psalmist wrote?

That you prepare a table for us in the wilderness.

Lord, so if we're in a season of dryness and we're looking around, we're like, God, I can't feel you.

Lord, I feel like you're so distant right now.

God, would you help us look for that table of provision in the wilderness?

Father, for those who are in the middle of being broken, or those who have just come out of being broken, Father, I'm asking now, would you remind them and would you let them know that you are not far?

You were never far from them in this season.

But Lord, you were right there, being faithful as always.

Lord, I thank you for this time.

Would you let the Christ Jesus Christ receive all the glory?

Just be with us throughout this week.

Father, if we encounter brokenness throughout this week, would you let us look to you and say, God, what are you doing in this season?

Pray this in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

If you need prayer today, we're gonna have the the kingdom ministry team up here ready to pray for you.

If not, have a blessed day.

Do me a favor, turn to someone, uh, turn to someone you haven't seen today.

Give them a hug, a high five, or a handshake, and tell them you're excited to see them this morning.

God bless.

Thank you for listening to the Road Church Podcast.

We pray today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

For more information about the Road Church and to find more content like this, go to theroad.org.

That's theroad.org.