Yes, And

This is not our fight, . This is. This is just part of what is going to happen in this world, But praise be to God that we have him on our side. He fights our battles. And when we come in here and we praise God, what we're doing is we're lifting up our hands, We're lifting up our voices, lifting up our hearts, saying "I can't figure this out on my own, Lord, But I trust you to do what you need to do.

God, we thank you that you go before us, that you fight for us, that you work together for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purposes. We thank you that you're fighting with us so that, whatever fights against us, we don't have to stress about, We don't have to freak out about, We don't have to ruminate over all the opinions we could share or not share. We can simply lift up our voices to you, trusting that you have a plan that's far beyond what we've thought of, That you have a purpose for whatever is going on. You're building something beautiful And while we can't say it, it is frustrating, Lord, But we commit right now to try. Everybody say: "Try, Try to trust you".

I'm I'm trying to trust you. I don't know, I don't know how to? Very well, I like to look at Paul. I like to look at Peter. I like to look at Jesus.

I like to look at the donkey that you sat on the way in. All of us are just like that donkey. We don't know what you want to do, but we're here for it, And so it's my prayer right now that we would do this weird thing. It's like keeping our heads on a swivel, where we're trying to be bold for you, yet we're trying to wait on you. It's is a it's a dilemma.

But, God, my prayer right now is that, as we seek you, receiving Revelation from you that we would be able to operate in the way that you called us to. So God be with us right now. I know it's hard for some people this week. I know they started the week not anticipating some of the stuff that they encountered. I definitely don't think half the people in this room thought they were going to feel a certain way on Wednesday or Thursday or Friday.

They thought it was going to be a normal week. But, God, it's my prayer right now that, as we look at reality, we're able to see what's behind it cosmically, supernaturally, spiritually. And when we see that Lord, we see you And God, when we see you, we start to learn what you're doing. And so I thank you already for what you're doing in the midst of various tragedies in our country and across the world. I thank you for what you're doing right now to start bringing people to a knowledge of your son, Jesus.

I pray that right now we as a church, we would lift you up ultimately, that the time we spend in prayer, the time we spend in listening to your word, preach, I pray it would be encouraging, convicting but ultimately beneficial. God, we pray these things in Jesus's name. And all kinds of people shouted: nicely, Amen. I said: shout nicely. And you got all stressed out.

Everybody shouted: nicely, If you got to move your arm with Amen Got to move your arm with it, Do it, Let's go. Hey, so I recognize that we all experience life differently. I think I've learned over the years as a pastor to learn to be empathetic for someone who is different than me. In psychology, they would call this person the other right.

It's really easy for us to view life from our own perspectives, but it's hard to empathize with what somebody else is going through. And if there's something I've recognized this week, through tons of research, calling a lot of my pastoral friends and seeing what their congregations are dealing with, I've learned that everyone has experienced and encountered the last two weeks differently. So some of you, we're going to talk about some things today and you're going to be like "What, What, What happened". That's okay. Some of you, you felt something you haven't felt in a long time for an event like this And we're going to talk about that.

But here's what I want to ask from, from each of you. I want to ask you to seek diligently the ability to empathize with another person And I also want to ask for your grace. You know what that mean. Cuz.

Like I said in my prayer to God, I was talking to him, Y'all just heard it. I'm like that donkey that the disciples went and found who had never been ridden on before. He didn't know how to be ridden on. Do you ever think about that? Whoa, That's the Lord, the first, the first time.

The Lord is going to sit on me. This is, this is me. A lot of the time. I am baffled and bewildered about the things that I encounter and I feel like that donkey is like, I don't even know how to be ridden. Yo like, you want to ride in and there's palm branches in front of me.

It's special, but I'm special too, right, I'm trying to figure these things out, And many of us are in the same place where, when, when we encounter situations, we don't always know how to operate. So I want to ask, as a spiritual leader of at least a portion of this congregation, I, I just, I want to ask for your grace as I try to figure out what God's telling me so that I can deliver it to you. And there are two places that there's going to be a discrepancy: I don't always hear from God perfectly and I don't always deliver what God gave me perfectly. So again, I need your grace. Can I get your grace?

Just say: "Yeah, you don't really have an option. If you don't want to give me grace, just don't come back. I guess you know that's how it works". Well, give the new pastor you fund your grace, because chances are, if you leave here, don't give me grace, You're going to go ruin some other pastor's day.

Didn't mean to do that. It's my bad. See, give me grace. Give me grace. It's been a week.

Right, I talked about learning to empathize with another person, And again, there are some people in this room you're not feeling anything. Others of you're feeling weird, And so I want those of you who felt something powerful or weird or confusing this week, just for the perspective of the other people who aren't feeling what you're feeling in the room- can you just say, if you were impacted in some weird way this week, just say "Yeah". You hear that. So if that's not you, that's okay. You're experiencing something different than the people who just said "Yeah".

But as a pastor, I'm called to pastor all of the flock, And so what I want to do today is I want to speak specifically, to something that happened this week. I'm not going to do it yet. I'm going to do it later in my message for a second. I'm going to return to our regularly scheduled program. We're in Philippians, chapter 1, but we'll be starting in verse 12 today.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

But here here's the beautiful thing is, when God's in it, the regularly scheduled programming works just fine, . And so I was so excited because I prepped this message before anything happened this week. Here's what you can count on. I think I received it from the Lord and I didn't radically adjust it when things happened. However, you're going to see how it fits.

So, as we dive into the word in a moment, I want to encourage you to open your Bibles. If you have them, This is a good day to have your own Bibles. How do you know you can trust the preacher? Half of us don't even have education. You know what I'm saying Like.

How do you know? How do you know you can trust us? Read your own Bible, Bring your own Bible, But it will be on the screen for those of you who coming in for the first time or haven't yet bought your Bible. You haven't bought a Bible. Come ask me, I'll help you.

I give him. I give him my number all the time, don't I? What's my number? I had to tell him out loud: 501. Okay, 944, 9468.

I just making sure my wife had my number. Bad habits. You got to be able to call me. I'm the protector of our family. No, it's you, Lord.

I got you. So we're going to dive in, but let me catch you up to where we are. In the passage Last week we talked about how Philippians the letter is. It's really a love letter, about a love story between Paul and the Philippian church. Now, if you can picture this, Paul is a person who, who says in here he's set up, his calling is for the defense and proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus.

So he goes around and he preaches the Gospel, and the Philippian church is just one of the churches that he interacted with. Yet his interaction with them was so deep that I actually felt the need to call it a love letter last week. There's such a connection there, And hopefully you guys join small groups afterwards, because there can be a love story in your life, not some weird romantic love story, but one filled with spiritual intimacy- that you've been missing out on. And so last week that's what we talked about. And if there's one thing that I want to remind you of from last week, that is really Paul's goal for the Philippian church, that is God's goal for our church.

I think we'll toss it on the screen And here's what he says. Let me go back to where I started here. He says in verses 9-11, his prayer for the Philippian church: my prayer for you is that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern. Say: discern with me, Discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, Filled with the fruit. Bible says a tree is known by its fruit.

The fruit that we should be supplying is of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. As you read through that, thinking about the events of the past couple of weeks, you can see that there was a response necessary by those who actually follow Jesus that is filled with love, knowledge, depth of insight, discernment, innocence, fruit. And so this sets us up for today. We're we're going to dive into the passage and I'm not going to believe the point anymore. Here's what he says, starting in verse 12.

Now I want you to listen to this as if Paul is a person set out for the defense and proclamation of the Gospel all over the Roman Empire, and he really made an impact on you. He says this to the believers in Philippi. Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the Gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ and because of my chain. He doesn't say the Roman staff, you know it's sad.

He says I'm in chains for Christ. I'm not in chains by the Roman, I'm in chains for Christ and because of my chains most of my brothers and sisters have become confident. Don't you think you would become fearful? He's in prison, Yeah, For Christ, but by the Romans. We know it's by the.

His prison sentence has made us confident, has made his people confident to proclaim the Gospel ever more boldly. He says: "Confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the Gospel without fear". Yeah, Yeah, It's the anti. It's a weird response. I love it though, Verse 15.

It's true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the Gospel. So those people who are out there preaching the message that Paul had been preaching, the ones who are doing it right, are doing it out of love, knowing that Paul was put there not just by the Romans, not just because people are bad, but for the sake of the Gospel. You know the former preached Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I'm in chains. I love this response, But what does it matter?

The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or truth, Christ is preached, And because of this I rejoice. Let me give you my sermon title. It's in the next passage. Says this, finishing out verse 18. Yes, And I will continue to rejoice, Gross, For I know that, through your prayers and God's provision of the spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

It's interesting, Paul. When I read this, I always think he's talking about his physical deliverance. Later in the passage He's like: I think I'm going to be hanging out with you guys later, But the word deliverance isn't just a physical thing, Can be a cosmic thing. I wonder if Paul knows that, regardless of whether he lives or dies- I think he says it in a moment, doesn't he? Then he knows, whether he lives or dies, he will be delivered.

Verse 20, . I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that, now as always, Christ will be exalted in my body. Here's where he says it, Whether by life or by death, for to me, y'all say it with me, you know it, Say it like you're proud of it: To live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. What shall I choose?

I don't know. I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary. The Greek literal translation is: it is much more better for you that I remain in the body. Con, and convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, So that, through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

My sermon title: again yes, And it's a principle I want to teach you today. Y'all say it with me. Say yes. And anyone ever seen Whose Line Is It? Anyway, before For real, Raise your hand, Come on, I got to see it.

We're talking about boldness this week. That's it. I knew the. I knew the 1040. I knew the 1045 was younger, but I didn't know how much younger I'm.

Like I grew up. You mean to tell me half you people in here are younger. Oh gosh, Lord, it's better that I stay here for their sake. It's, It's what this is, but I, I desire to depart and be with you. Lord, Oh, my goodness gracious, I'm getting.

Let me shuffle off this mortal coil. Knock on wood. I don't want that to happen today. I, I got out of line there. I'm so sorry for that.

Whose Line Is It Anyway? If you don't know what, Whose Line Is It Anyway? Is it is an? What type of comedy is it? If you know improv comedy, I like improv comedy.

I used to watch it when I was a kid. I never knew I was going to be a preacher. I didn't become a Christian till I was about 15 years old, and until I was 19, I was scared to death to preach on a stage and so I had no clue. But I loved Whose Line Is It Anyways. Maybe it's cuz I'm left-handed.

They say left-handed are more creative, but I'm also a lot which makes me better than all of you, right? So, anyways. So I was watching Whose Line Is It? I'm joking, Just FYI, don't get too serious. It's offendable culture here.

I was watching Whose Li, Anyways when I was a kid and I loved it because you never knew what was going to happen next. As I was doing research on this sermon, I passed by this Yes, And I was supposed to be doing song titles for this series. Don't look this song up. It's like yes, and is a principle. In whose lie is it anyway?

In improv comedy that enables you to immediately accept a new reality and build on it quickly, Like if I were to bring one of you up here- she's shaking her head, though I got to wake up. If I were to bring one of you up here and give you a scenario, I'm going to do it for you, cuz I don't know that any of you could improv with me. We'll figure it out one day down the road maybe. But if I to give you a scenario, say we're going to a birthday party, Then one person starts in this improv comedy bit: Say we're going to a birthday party. It's for my third cousin's brother's mother.

They're about 25 years old and I'm really excited about it cuz, though they're older, they got a clown and then they got a bear in a cage. And then the other person's over here hearing that outlandish comment and they have to say "Yep" And the bear got loose out of the cage and it starts running around mauling people left and right. I had to grab two of my kids and then I ran out of there. I called the police, but by the time the police got there, everybody was gone. Where'd they go, Heaven?

So see, that's improv comedy, That, right. Don't laugh, Don't clap at that. That was terrible. That's improv comedy, right? It's.

Yes, I accept your reality and I'm going to build on this, And I think life is a lot like improv comedy. Amen, somebody. You don't know what's about to happen next. And we, as followers of the way, followers of Jesus, are called to everywhere we go. The Old Testament actually says this: we're called to restore shalom to any place that we enter.

That's why you say "Shalom be upon this house" when you walk in, when you, were in ancient Israel, because when you walk into this house, the idea is that my job, my role, is to build on what is currently reality, Thank God. And as Christians, we take that to the next level because we believe, wherever we go, we're supposed to be the fragrant aroma of Christ Jesus. I know a lot of church folk don't get it right, but we're supposed to be, say, supposed to be. Look at your neighbor, say: "You're supposed to be the fragrant aroma of Christ Jesus". I told the staff this week.

I said: "Everything you do, everywhere you go, people should be smelling Jesus on you a little bit". And so we're called to be the fragrant aroma. So what does that mean? It means everywhere we go, we look at reality but we say: "God's called me to build on it". That's what Paul says later to the Philippian church: "My view for you would be that you press toward the upward calling of God in Christ.

Build upward". That's why he says right here: "My goal for you is that you would attain to a level of righteousness, that you would attain to a level of innocence. You would be without blame as you encounter other people. We're supposed to build on it". And as I look at improv comedy, there are sometimes that.

I did a lot of videos this week. I was watching it. You think everybody's good at improv comedy, Yes or no? No, It's not for everybody. It's not for me either.

I just I did better this round than I did the first round. I was really bad in the first ever. It's not for everybody, because here's how we naturally operate. We have our own way that we want to go. And an improv comedy, if you have one person who starts the scenario and the next person who has where they wanted to go with it.

It's really easy for there to be an awkwardness between the yes and or in accepting what the person gave you, Because if you don't say yes, it's really difficult to build on what that person gave, And when a person in improv comedy doesn't build on it, it gets really awkward really quick. Here's an example. So we went to a birthday party and it was not a Kim's birthday party, It was someone's third cousin's first brother's mother. I don't even know if there's a first brother out there, but that's what they called him because he grew up really weird in West Virginia. I grew up in Arkansas, so I can say that Grew up really weird West Virginia.

They have some really weird, you know, items in their family And so we're going to this birthday party. We just really want to kind of see what they're doing. They're a different lifestyle than us. We're going to take some videos and then we're going to share it on social media And then this person's like I said: "It's a good day, It's a good day, It's a good day". In their mind they're like "I thought we were just going to a birthday party and now I got to build on it" And there's an awkwardness the longer it goes.

A lot of times when I'm preaching there can be an awkwardness. I've learned how to correct it once in a while. But what happens is I'll have a thought and I'm going there, but then someone stands up- and nothing wrong with you if you stand, or a baby screams, or somebody you know slaps their cousin. I don't know what happens in church. Anything can happen in church.

Someone coughs really, really loud and they sneeze in such a way that it's like you probably could have done it quieter. All this is going through my brain. You know what I'm saying- And so it happens, and then I lose my thought, and then it's, and then so you're filling the space, because the longer I go, the more awkward it is. This is real life, is we're presented with a reality, and the time period between u the reality and our- yes, our- acceptance of that current reality can sometimes be longer and longer and longer. And it's not just awkward and that, like in an improp, it's, it's, it's actually angering, it's frustrating, it's apathy in the real world, and this is one of those things we encountered in a lot of ways this week, but what I want to tell you is this: I want you to live by this yes and principle.

He says Yes And I will continue to rejoice. In light of all of the things that have happened to me. He could be frustrated, Paul could. He says, "Yeah, this happened, but it turned out for the advancement of the Gospel". Yeah, this happened, but aren't you more confident?

Yeah, this happened And God's still good. Yeah, these things happen to you, So accept it. But there are reasons we don't accept it. And so I was thinking about improv comedy. Sometimes thinking about life is too difficult, So I was just thinking about improv comedy and I asked the question: says that what are the things that would prevent me, in improv comedy, from immediate acceptance of the reality that I'm presented with?

Cuz, I want you to get immediate acceptance. The quicker you're able to accept the reality and build on it, That makes you a stronger leader, makes you a better parent, makes you a better spouse, makes you a better co-orker, makes you a better boss. It makes you better in life. In fact, I think it makes you a better believer When you look at people who faithfully follow Jesus. Don't you see how they roll with the punches?

I said: faithfully, follow it. I don't know what you've been seeing on your Tik Toks, but I said Tik Toks, like an old person would say. I look at those things all the time. I'm totally culturally relevant. Come on, guys, I the people who say yes, and that's what I want us to be as a church.

But what prevents you from immediate acceptance? I think there are three things. I made them up, so don't quote me on this, or do quote me on this. I don't know. Do whatever you want to do.

The first reason we, don't immediately accept the reality given to us is because you know it's just. It's a struggle sometimes to accept it. Sorry, I skipped forward too far. Let me see: Cool, There we go, Got it Because we're a victim, . That's why we struggle to accept.

It is because we see the, the victim situation we're in. We were a victim of something, or we feel like a victim because, or we feel like woe is me. Picture Paul for a second cuz. I don't want to. I don't want to diminish what happened to you.

I want to be so clear: What happened to you is bad, Shouldn't have happened to you. You're not in the best position and it's not all your fault, I recognize that. But sometimes we lean into that victimhood a little bit too long, Like Paul could have leaned into his victimhood, couldn't he? If you look at Paul, he's not where he anticipated he would be. He's in prison.

He got less follow. He has currently less followers than he used to. In second Timothy tells us Deeus has left him for the cares of the world, And we know he's not filled with followers like he was early on, Even in some components. Luke isn't with him any longer. He's with him for Acts, but he wasn't with him for second Timothy.

That's what he wants: to come along and be a part of it. Even in second Timothy, Paul tells him we believe this is the same prison sentence here as in Philippi. Paul tells, I think it was Timothy. Paul tells someone to bring him a coat because he's cold. This could, he could play the victim if he wanted to.

He could say: "Woe is me. Peter went to jail like I went to jail", Probably because he hung out with, his brethren as opposed to the Gentiles. Like I went to go reach like why would you let this happen to me. God, He could live in victimhood, But Paul, clearly in the text, is not living in victimhood, But we tend to live in victimhood. But I want to tell you this: , there are some dire desires that are unfulfillable, in your life.

The desire for control is unfulfillable in your life. The desire to go back and fix something that was broken. It's unfulfillable in your life. The desire to be in a financial state that you're not in right now. The desire to go back and have made different decisions: It's unfulfillable.

And so what you have to do when you're struggling with victimhood is you have to kill or bury those dead desires, And to you to bury it. I don't want to be insensitive, but some of the things you got to bury, cuz you're carrying around things that you can't do anything about and it's slowing you down, forcing you away from immediate acceptance of the reality that God has presented right in front of you. You're holding knots. I'll give you an example of what this is. I hope it's, I hope it's fun for you.

I remember when I was, July, like between June and July, I was in Alaska on a cruise, which is a huge blessing to get to go on And I get a call kind of around the middle of the trip and it's Kaylee, old Kaylee. Kayle's our children's minister. Now she was housesitting u for me while I was cat at the time. U still have a dog, cat, Anyways, . So she calls me and she's crying and I'm like Julie, what's going on?

She said "Well, she looked fine the night before" And I said "She died". Which sounds horrible. It's horrible, . I was trying to make her feel better, . Right, .

I was trying to make her feel better because she calls and she tells me my cat had died and it was kind of sad and she's crying and she didn't know what to do with it. The cat's in my bathroom laying there dead, and she's like "What do I do" And I'm like "Got to poop" And so she calls: Is he in here right now? Is Trey in here? Yeah, She calls Trey. It's one of the young adults and, and I guess maybe some other people went over and helped her and they helped her.

And the way that you have to dispose of a dead cat is here in Buckeye: you have to double bag it, You have to put it into a two black trash bags And we weren't going to be there for a couple days and trash was still a week, a week away. And so I'm like, " Haley, you got to put it in the fridge. Freezer, freezer, freezer. We have a deep freezer out in our out in our garage. But that deep freezer was filled with popsicles And so the popsicles had to melt.

Because I took this dead cat that was put in two double bag- or it was double bags- and we put it into the freezer And now I've got melted popsicles everywhere. But a dead cat sitting in there. Then I get home and I open the freezer and there's, it's filled with a dead cat. I couldn't put anything else in it. So I got this dead cat and I took the dead cat.

It was right before trash. I took it out, put it in the trash and they took it. I don't have the dead cat anymore. Here's my point. It's not about cats, I'm just picturing everybody in the room dragging around a bunch of double trash bags, Two trash bags filled with something that you don't need to be carrying any longer and you need to dispose of it because there's something good God wants to do in your life There's something you need to move forward with.

There's something God wants you to build on but you can't because you're too busy carrying cats- dead cats- in double trash bags. It's like you got to quit with that. You got to bury those things in your life that are now dead. You've got to move forward. Yes, it was terrible.

Yes, it shouldn't have happened to you. Yes, you struggle. Yes, you might need to go to therapy about some of these things. Yes, you've got a mindset. Yes, you need to feel it a little bit, But at some point, in order to follow what God has for your life, you need to say: "Yes, it happened and I'm going to move.

Yes, it happened and I'm going to bury those dead things so that I can be productive in life". You got to. You got to, Yes, And some of the things in your life that you need to get rid of. Yes, I'm in prison also. Yes, .

And it's a good thing because it's turned out to the advancement of the Gospel, . The. The second reason people don't immediately accept is because they're Debbie Downers. You know? Raise your hand if you know what a Debbie Downer is.

Yeah, Young people, Anyone- remember that SNL skit where she's. You remember that? I remember that I used to watch. I never forgot it because it was a Debbie Downer skit. I remember that that was improv too.

And so a Debbie Downer is a person who is perpetually negative, And they slowly erode their friendships because they cannot figure out how to be more positive. Does that sound accurate? Say yeah, No, it's accurate. A Debbie Downer is someone who's perpetually negative and they slowly erode their friendships because they can't figure out how to be positive. I guess I said: don't be a Debbie Downer.

But let me go further into that, because there's a reason we do that. But being negative perpetually impacts us heavily in our life, in our walk with God. It is really difficult to build when you're starting in a negative headsp space, And so I heard something from a pastor that I really respect. I think he's one of the tanamounts, of the greatest, greatest voices in our generation in some ways, but what he says is: what you need to do is you need to be a hummingbird, not a buzzer. Hummingbird, not a buzzer.

Let me tell you about a hummingbird. A hummingbird scour the landscape, No matter how deserted it is, and finds the one bit of nectar, the one plant that has nectar in it. It finds it and you see it hovering around. That one thing: No matter how desert, deserted the landscape is, I've seen, I've seen them in my backyard and I'm telling you, my backyard is desolate. I need to work on it, .

This is something I need to pay for, probably. It is desolate, But I see hummingbirds once in a while and they found something. I'm like: "Where'd you find it? Where'd you find the nectar?

It's not there, bro. You keep looking, Go somewhere else". But he found it. No matter how hard it was, he found it.

. And what's a buzzard do? Buzzard does the opposite. It scour the landscape, no matter how fruitfilled, and finds the one thing that is dead and continually circles around it. You got to be a hummingbird, not a buzzard.

This is what Paul is. Paul could have been a buzzard. He's got way better reason to be a buzzard than you. Again, he's sitting in prison, He's struggling, He's frustrated, He's losing his friends.

So many bad things are happening in Paul's life. I think he probably struggles with it at a level. He probably when he's writing the letter. He's gotten before he wrote the letter. He's probably struggling a little bit.

I want to empathize with Paul here. I don't think a perpetually positive guy, a perpetual hummingbird, splits up with Barnabas, argues with Peter, writes scathing letters to Corinthians and Galatians. Like I think Paul probably had to fight to be a hummingbird in this letter to the Philippian church. But he got there. And my encouragement to you is: I want you to get there.

Paul says this in verse 18. He says: "But what does it matter". The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And if Christ is preached, he says: "Regardless of how they do it- good motives, bad motives- if something good is happening because God's doing something, then I'm going to be excited about it. Because of that, I rejoice.

He's being a hummingbird, or be a hummingbird, not a buzzer". Now I took this recently and I'm really excited about it. I'm so excited about it that I've been a bad husband. I won't apologize publicly to why, because what happens is: I heard that and every time she says something borderline negative, I'm like: don't be a buzzer, get so sticky for me. And so I hope it'll be helpful for you.

What are we going to be? We're going to be a hummingbird. Let's go. I'm going to be no more Debbie Downers in this place. It just doesn't help anything.

So, first, if you're a victim, bury the dead. Second, if you're a Debbie Downer, be a hummingbird, not a buzzard. The third thing- and this is really to men, but it's to everybody if it, if it hits- Some of us are conspiracy theorists. Now, let me break that down. Some of you are really conspiracy theorists.

We should talk and have a- what do they call those things? Intervention. We should have an intervention, But some of you are just generalists when it comes to your conspiracy theory. Here's what I mean by being a conspiracy theorist: You ruminate so long on something before you make a decision that it paralyzes you rather than benefits that or amplifies your body. You're ruminating so long.

It's interesting because I know a lot of men. We, we will call them seekers. They're seeking God and then they're reading, reading, reading, reading. And sometimes I'm talking to them and I'm like, "Hey, no amount of reading will help you understand what forgiveness feels like. No amount of seeking and researching will show you whether the resurrection from the dead is true.

No amount of reading will show you what resurrection power is like. None of it. At some point you have to take a step and act. But a lot of the reason we're prevented from accepting our reality and moving forward and actually taking a couple steps is because we're just thinking too much. I'll tell you this: thinking is good.

How many of you think? What does Deart say? He says: "I think, therefore I am". All of you should think. If some of you don't think, then you are not, apparently.

But what I'll tell you is: thinking is good. Overthinking is paralyzing. Overthinking is paralyzing And. And. I think Paul's in a place where he could eas.

He's in prison. He's got plenty. He's had his thoughts with him. That's all he's got. He's got his thoughts.

He can think on his past, on his present, on the hypothetical about the plot that got him arrested in Jerusalem, The plot to kill him down the road, the preachers out there platforming themselves in his day and age who are doing it for selfish ambition, The reason people have left his ministry, the potential outcomes of his current situation, whether he dies or lives like. He could literally sit there and question whether he did, whether he should be alive or dead. He had plenty of time to ruminate. But what does he say? He says it's turned out for good because he didn't ruminate too long.

He said: "The whole palace guard knows about me, Everybody knows". I like to think I know, because Paul was in Philippi. So, he got put in prison there too. And what did he do? He was singing hymns, The prison gates open because of an earthquake, and then he wins a person for Christ And then he goes back to Lydia's house and they celebrate it.

So what's Paul doing in house arrest in Rome, Being productive? There's a book I read. It was called the lean startup. I don't read books all the way through. I read them for what I want and then I put them away and tell y'all I read them.

But the book Lean Startup is about this idea that sometimes we ruminate too much in the research and development department, And he gives an example of a of a company called Bodisen. Anyone ever heard of the company Bodism? They didn't work out very well. This company, Bodisen, did some like voting thing- I don't even know about it- In 2007 and they were really excited. They got tons of people to invest, venture capital, firms and everything.

They had millions of dollars invested into this thing. They started to implement it nationwide And when they finally went public with it. Nobody cared, . Then you have another group that just started posting pictures of shoes online and selling them, And that's Zapos. You heard of Zappos?

Yeah, What he says is, if you ruminate too long, you're not even going to understand what the step is going to bring you. You're not going to be able to add effectively because you spend too much time in your conspiracy theory mode trying to figure out what will this mean? What will this mean? What will this mean, Guys, that was me this week. I've been ruminating for years, scared to death to do anything about the things that God gives me in my spirit and my mind.

There have been a lot of things that have happened that I care about, but I've been scared to post or say anything about cuz I don't want to offend one person or the other. And I think it was the culmination of several events in two weeks: Person getting killed viscerally and visually in Charlotte. Person getting killed this week Viscerally. For those of you who saw what I saw, the things happening all over the country, all over the world, things are happening, And all of this it starts to weigh on you and you start ruminating and you're thinking: it's like I've got a role. Here's the reality.

I want to accept the reality and I'm called to build on it, but I don't know how to build on it because of the, the location. Our present reality is really difficult to build on sometimes because it takes the Lord to help you. And I'm sitting there on Wednesday, on my way back, from Las Vegas, I had a church planting cohort up there And on our way back I got some news. It was interesting news. At first I was like "Oh, that's crazy".

And then what happened within me- And it might not happen for everybody in this room, but I know it happened for others of you- What happened within me? I, I didn't listen to this person. I'll give you. I'll give you his name, cuz I don't want you to be offended at that: Charlie Kirk. I didn't listen to him a lot.

I'd seen him some on TikTok. I'd seen some of his good stuff. I'd heard about some of the stuff that people didn't like about what he said. I knew who he was, I knew he lived here, but I didn't know much about the guy at all. And I'm hearing this news and there was something happening within me and I didn't understand it.

Any of you feel like that this one day? Just something confusing. You didn't know what was happening And in that moment, I was provoked by the Lord. Here's reality, bro. What are you going to do with it?

And then I started to see stuff, I started to hear stuff. I'm talking within 2 to three hours after this moment occurring If, if you follow me on Instagram and Facebook, you know how early it was And I'm processing through this and, there's some like some frustration and weirdness, anger, and then there's some like righteous indignation, and then there's what the Bible says. Then there's a concern about how people are going to respond on both sides, And I'm, I'm thinking. I'm like God, I'm a pastor, I'm called to restore shalom to the community I'm a part of. I'm here.

I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do, but I don't want to ruminate myself to death. I want to do what you call me to do. So, yes. And then I wrote this post, and for the most part, I got great responses, very small minutia.

People had more constructive, constructive responses to what I posted. That's why I asked for grace, cuz I don't know what to do in this situation, But I felt in this moment that we as a church- not just me as a pastor- we as a church are called to be the voice of reason. We as a church are called to be the group that seeks to edify, not to dissolve or destroy. We're to be the group who responds by loving our enemy. And this is all sided by the way, praying for those who persecute us and seeking to have a reasonable and loving, a righteous response in a world that wants to go haywire all the different directions.

And so I post. It was best of all, it was early, It was quick, but I think in the middle of this sermon I was feeling the call of God to say yes and respond quickly. And what's so interesting is, you know, you saw different ways that people responded. Is that happened? And then by Friday afternoon I'm start.

I'm going to be honest with you, I'm seeing this, I'm emotional, It's visceral for me. I didn't know how to respond to it. I'm trying to figure all this stuff out. I'm sorry I'm going a little bit long. I don't really know how to like navigate all the layers, of this situation.

But what I do know is that, just like Paul right here, he's looking at this situation. He's not being a buzzard, He's being a hummingbird, He's moving forward, knowing that reality has set in, He's gotten rid of the desires he had in the past, so that he can focus on what God laid in for his future, And he's not overly ruminating, He's doing the ministry And he says: "It has worked out for the advancement of the Gospel". Verse 25 says this: "Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that, through my being with you again, your boasting in Christ will abound on account of me". And when I was reading this and thinking about this, yes and principle that we're called to immediate acceptance of reality so that we, quicker than anybody forget, can take the information, information, synthesize it the way that we need to take it to our creator, allow him to help us process with him, not in all the wrong ways, and then immediate, quick product to market, get it out there so that the people who are struggling, the people who don't know how to articulate what they're feeling, the people who don't know what to do in this moment, the people who are like: I don't know about God. But there's something happening within me.

I was looking at Tik Tok, and I don't look at Tik Tok, just I mean I look at it to be relevant. And I was looking at Tik Tok I showed a couple people this morning and in my feed- I know it's in my feed, It might not be in your feed, but I'm looking- and I saw one person say: "I, I never went to church. I never wanted to go to church. I never wanted to believe in God. I always just called myself an atheist.

But after this week I want to try to believe in God And I'm like you can say what you want. I don't know what your opinion is, I don't know what your view is. You can say whatever you want. But when I'm looking at this, on Wednesday I said I don't know what I feel. I don't want to be biased, I don't want to be pigeonholed into a political party or anything like that, but I know whatever happened here has substance for the kingdom of God And I want to work it well, And so I posted.

And then, two days later, I'm looking and I'm seeing people who don't know what they're feeling, but everyone has- at least everyone that I've seen who follows Christ Jesus is responding in a way that man- I'm man. There's a moment for you, regardless of what you think about somebody's opinions, when you see someone's wife stand up in front of the entire nation and not talk about the whole time how some political party is, but to spend 75 plus% of that time giving glory and honor to Christ Jesus. You can say what you want. I, I'm not again. I, I didn't watch what these people talked about, but I'll honor that Like it is moving to me, to see what God is doing and.

And I don't think this is a country moving to the right. I don't think we need to be a country casting aspersions on other people. What I see is not a horizontal shift. I see a shift from people who didn't know their left hand from their right, and now they're like: "What is this that I feel". I saw another one where somebody said: "I've never opened a Bible before, but I opened it today and I'm only in Genesis 1, but I can't stop crying".

What is this? I'm seeing it everywhere. Someone commented on Orbit's page and they're like: "I've never been to church before. I'm 30 years old. I, I, I need to go to church".

I, I, I'm not Paul, but I, I think I know what Paul might be thinking about. He's thinking about the jailers he's talking to. He's thinking about the people coming to visit him while he's in house arrest And he's sitting there and he's talking to them. He's like I'm in chains, but this is awesome to see And this week stunk, but it's turning into one of the most beautiful things that I, as a pastor, have ever seen in my life. And I, I don't.

I don't know if that sounds insensitive and I don't know if you feel otherred or disconnected because you're not feeling what I'm feeling. I don't want you to feel that way, but I need you to know something's happening. It's been happening. You're just seeing it now. I have- I have friends and pastors who have a way better connection with God than I do, who have been saying "Something's?

They've been saying it for a year and a half. This was just a tipping point the last two weeks, And it may take time for other people to get it, But here's my vision And I will close out. I'm so sorry for going late. We're going to pray for a moment, because this is really what we should be doing in this season. But I want you to know this: I want to be a church for all people And I want to be as balanced as I can be.

But balanced is not my job. Your approval is not my job. Biblical is my job, and I seek approval from the king, And so I- Hey- hey, don't hear me saying it- I'm going to be political. All I'm saying is I'm seeing something happen and I need it to continue. I've been praying my whole life that this would continue.

I don't know if it's going to be at our church or some other church or all the churches, but I'm excited to see what God does. And if you're amplified and ready for the same thing, don't let Satan come in and quench the fire of Jesus that is happening in your spirit right now. Don't stop it. So, without further ado, I need you all to stand up right now. What I want to do is I want to give those of you an opportunity.

I know someone came here for the first time today. They said: enough is enough. I need to go where someone told me to go this week. I need to go where everyone was saying: this is where you're going to find healing, This is where you're going to find grace. This is where you're going to find forgiveness and peace.

And this is where you find it if we do it right. And what the Bible tells us is that the right way to do things is the way that Jesus did it. And when you leave here, there's going to be a temptation to respond in anger and frustration. And you think I'm talking to one side. I'm not.

I'm talking to both sides. Here's how I know, Because I know in a couple months or a couple years, whatever so, and so is up for the death penalty, There's going to be people celebrating on that side too. But that's not how we respond. We respond by praying for the individuals who treat us harshly. We respond by praying for those who would persecute us.

We respond the way that Jesus did, who don't stand in a lofty place. They come down into a humble place. They dwell among people who aren't like them. They seek to empathize with the victim. They seek to empathize with the foreigner.

They seek to empathize with people who treated them with hostility. And we say the same thing that Jesus said: "Forgive them". They know not what they do, But I've got a message. I've got a message of hope. They don't know what they do, but I know what Christ did, so I know what he can do for them.

And if that's you, you came in here today and you want that message of peace to, to enable you to ruminate throughout your life, to dwell in the house of the Lord when you die. The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. That's it. It's that simple. We say: come as you are.

Some people might judge you on the way in, Some people judge me when I talk. It happens. But we say: come the way you are, because Jesus accepts you, right where you are, And all you have to do is confess. So if everybody would bow their heads and close their eyes, we're going to pray a prayer together for those who are praying it for the first time, to receive Jesus and peace into their life, Repeat after me, Say: "God, I believe that Jesus is your son. I believe he died on the cross and rose from the grave.

Forgive me of my sin, Help me to follow you, And I commit right now to give my whole life to you. God, I ask that you give me peace in return. We pray these things in Jesus's name, And all God's people said: "Hey, remain standing for a moment, We're going to worship for a second. I think it's important. We're going to pray for a second, but with I, I want.

I want to give you an opportunity to let us know about the decision you just made, and we're going to celebrate it very loudly. So if you just decided to put faith and trust in Jesus right now, today, at the count of three, I want you to shoot up your hands so we can celebrate it. Can we do that? One, two, three, Come on, let's celebrate those- Amen- who just trusted in Jesus.