Replay | Asking God for help works... with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

To get connected or to give online, go to hcv.church or give.htv.church.

If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text

change me to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

So we're continuing our series for the month of January when life throws a curve and what

we're doing for the month is we're looking back to look forward, meaning we're looking

back at 2020, what many people wrote off as a year to be forgotten, a dumpster fire, whatever

it is that you wanted to call it.

Yes, there was a lot of bad, a lot of change that happened in that year.

However, we want to learn from it.

I believe that there's many things that we can learn from those bad times, those events,

whatever came our way that ultimately God wants to use in us to make us better people.

Because here is the reality, difficulty is coming again.

It's not going to be a one bad year and then suddenly everything's going to be perfect.

Stress is going to come at us, unexpected things are going to happen and the question

that all of us have to answer is how do you navigate tough times?

In other words, when life throws a curve, how do you respond?

Well last year we learned in the midst of a pandemic for many Americans, coping mechanisms

became the forefront for how they survived.

Comfort foods were evident in everywhere, lots of ice cream, lots of dessert.

Do I say mac and cheese, anything that makes us feel better and to forget about what is

happening all around us.

To take our focus off the problem and to indulge in what is sitting in front of us.

Netflix, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime, we now have the ability to binge watch shows in a

day.

What used to be a year worth of programming can now be watched in a day or a week.

What does that mean?

We can escape reality real easy.

Social media, right?

Endless swiping on Facebook, Instagram, constant reading of the news, what's next, reports

that are happening by the very second.

It's just common that people plug in and make that a part of their lives.

Again, it allows us to escape.

Now those are just the common everyday mindless routines that allow us to cope when life throws

us a curve, but in the last year alone it was reported that alcohol sales in 2020, are

you ready for this, were up 300%.

After all, liquor stores were vital and had to remain open.

Pornography consumption has increased by 20% in the United States alone.

So the question for all of us this morning is, where do you run when the next crisis

hits?

Right?

Do you simply work harder trying to control the uncontrollable and just allow yourself

to be consumed by work?

Do you distract yourself, right, with the changes and the difficulty by overeating,

binge watching shows or indulging in pornography?

As followers of Jesus, we are supposed to be content in every situation.

After all, the Bible tells us we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.

We are supposed to be filled with the fruit of the spirit, experiencing joy, love, peace,

patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control.

So if all that is true, why do all of us still struggle to cope with the changes that happen

in our lives?

You know as I reflected on my own response to the crisis this past week, I came to this

conclusion.

Coping mechanisms are keeping me from finding strength and contentment in Jesus.

Jesus said this, I'm the vine, you are the branches.

If you remain in me, I in you, you will bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing.

Friends, instead of running to Jesus to be strengthened by Him, we run to our coping

mechanisms to escape.

But the problem is we can't be strengthened by our coping mechanisms and Jesus at the

same time.

Which leads us to our first thought this morning.

You see, God is strong.

Look at Proverbs 18.10.

The name of the Lord is a strong tower.

The godly run to Him and are safe.

See, in biblical times the tower pointed the people to the fortress of safety during

war times or when their land was being invaded by attacking marauders.

Here is what we all learn from the challenges of 2020.

We all have towers that we run to in times of trouble.

We all have something, whether it be an app or an addiction or for some dare I say politics

that allow us to get off or out of a difficult situation.

The question we have to ask is what are your towers doing for you?

What are your towers or what have they done for you lately?

You see, today I want to challenge you.

There's a name above every other name.

There's a name above every coping mechanism and that name is Jesus.

Psalm 37.39 says the Lord, Jesus, rescues the godly.

He is their strength in times of trouble.

And this morning what I want to do is I want to take a look at a man in the New Testament

named Paul and he faced so much adversity.

He endured and lived through trial after trial yet he persevered.

Friends, Paul embodies what it means to persevere in the faith which leads us to our next talk.

Life is full of difficulties.

John 16.33 from the message paraphrased, in this godless world you will continue.

And say continue to experience difficulties.

Now wouldn't it be nice if that verse said in this world life would be a party.

Life would be perfect.

There would be no pain.

There would be no suffering.

There would be no problems.

And dare I say we would all be friends.

But no, Jesus speaks to us and tells us that life on this earth is going to be full of

what?

Pandemics.

Political upheaval.

Systematic life change for every single person in the United States.

And see the crazy thing is we think we have it bad.

We think our life is full of trouble.

Well let's just take a look at Paul here in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 23 to 27.

2 Corinthians 11:23–27

I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number and

faced death again and again.

Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me 39 lashes.

Now let me put this into perspective for you.

39 lashes.

That is the same beating that Jesus experienced before he carried his cross.

The Romans believed that if they lashed a person 40 times they would die.

So in other words Paul was lashed 39 times brought to the edge of death five different

occasions.

And we think that lockdown is bad.

Let's continue.

Three times I was beaten with rods.

Once I was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked.

Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.

I have traveled on many long journeys.

I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers.

I have faced dangers from my own people, the Jews as well as from the Gentiles.

I have faced dangers in the cities, in the deserts and on the seas.

I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.

I have worked hard and long and during many sleepless nights.

I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food.

I have shivered in the cold without enough clothing to keep me warm.

Put yourself in Paul's shoes.

See Paul was writing these letters to the church that he planted or launched in Corinth.

In his first letter, 1 Corinthians, Paul challenges the church to change.

He began to address a number of issues or problems that were happening within the church

that he started and then of course the people revolted basically.

They began to call out Paul.

He doesn't know what he is talking about.

He is not a good leader.

We don't have to listen to him.

In other words, the letter was not received well.

Now many scholars believe that Paul actually wrote a second letter that is not recorded

in the Bible after he visited the church in person.

So in other words, the church wasn't listening to him.

He made a visit in person.

It didn't go very well.

He writes a second letter that challenges them once again.

That is not recorded in the Bible.

What we have recorded in the Bible, 2 Corinthians, is actually the third letter that he wrote

to the church.

And what we discover in this letter is Paul is writing to the church once again, reconciling

with the church as the church acknowledged that they had made mistakes and that they

were living in fact in sin.

So he begins to reconcile with the church that he started through the first seven chapters

of 2 Corinthians.

In verses 8 and 9, Paul then challenges the church, be generous.

See many of the people in the church at Corinth were successful.

They were well off.

They had made it in life.

And instead of being givers, they were boasting about their success.

You know as I was reading through 1 and 2 Corinthians this week, I began to realize

how just close knit these two letters are to the American culture.

I mean let's be honest.

The United States is the most successful country in the world.

Many of us living right now just as we are, it doesn't matter what we're going through.

It doesn't matter what our income bracket is.

It doesn't matter what challenge we have in our life compared to the rest of the world.

We're successful and we're rich.

In other words, we are successful.

Paul is saying to the people in the church, be givers.

Don't be takers.

Don't be boastful.

Be givers.

And in chapter 12, he supports his case by sharing with the Corinthians that one time

God actually took him up to heaven.

And he begins to explain to the church that he had this encounter with God where he was

literally in heaven and God began to reveal many truths to him.

But you don't see, then Paul goes on to say, you don't see me boasting about this experience,

do you?

Rather, leading us to our third thought, see, difficulties can last a lifetime.

Difficulties can last a lifetime.

So, the first six verses, Paul's sharing about this encounter he has and then in 2 Corinthians

12, 7 to 80, he writes this.

So, to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from

Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.

So, see, Paul, he shares with the church that he is being tormented.

Now, that word torment in the Greek was the word buffet, which meant a constant punch

in the gut.

So, just remember that and just think about that, a constant punch in the gut.

Now, scholars have debated for centuries what the thorn was that Paul was writing about.

Some say that it had something to do with his eyesight, that he couldn't see real clear,

he couldn't see far enough, he wasn't sure who he was interacting with.

Other scholars have said it was epilepsy, that Paul was so elegant in his writing and

his speeches, it was a means to keep him humble.

Here's the truth, no one knows.

No one really knows what the thorn was, but listen to how Paul felt about this thorn.

Paul says it was a messenger of Satan.

So, this issue or this thorn, dare I say it could be a person.

Now, I know some of you have some people in your life that you can point at and say, yes,

they're a messenger of Satan.

Now I know none of you would be judging that person.

If some of you say, well, I don't have anybody like that, Chris, in my life, come pastor

a church and I'll introduce you to a few.

Now the most important thing that you have to realize is Paul was consistently being

tormented.

That's what it says.

So he was consistently receiving punches in the gut for a lifetime.

And you say, well, Chris, what do you mean for a lifetime?

Well, notice three times Paul pleaded with God, take it away.

Remove this thorn.

Now, the most amazing thing that I've kind of realized this past week is think about

what he wrote in chapter 11.

He was imprisoned repeatedly, flogged, exposed to death time and time again, received 39

lashes near death five times, beaten with rods, pelted with stones, shipwrecked three

times.

But Paul didn't take any of those difficulties to God.

He didn't take that to God three times.

Say, God intervene, get me off this ship.

Hey God, help them to stop stoning me.

But whatever this struggle was, it was with him for the rest of his life.

And he is pleading with God.

Remove it.

Yet for so many of us, we struggle with temporary things that pull us away from God when yet

Jesus' words in John 16 33, in the Skyless World, you will continue to experience difficulties.

Continue.

So the next time we face a struggle or a difficulty or a curve ball, if you will, we just need

to remember what Paul went through and that he persevered, which leads us to our next

thought.

You see, strength comes in asking God for help.

Now, notice what Paul goes on to say.

2 Corinthians 12 9 through 10, each time God said, my grace is all you need.

My power works best in weakness.

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through

me.

That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in my insults, hardships, persecutions,

and troubles that I suffer for Christ.

For when I am weak, I am strong.

See Paul again pleads three times, set me free.

Now think about this.

Each time God says, nope.

Now if we're honest, when God says no, that's when we get mad at God.

That's when suddenly we get an attitude with God.

When in reality, what was God trying to do?

God wanted Paul to rely on him for the strength to make it through.

His grace is sufficient for you this morning.

That's what you need to hear.

It doesn't matter what you're going through.

It doesn't matter what you walked in here with.

His grace is sufficient for you.

See, our worst days is the greatest opportunity to experience God's power, His presence, and

His grace.

Does everyone hear that?

Our worst days.

Here's the problem with Americans.

Nobody wants to have a bad day.

Right?

Whenever we're having a bad day, we're like, God set me free.

Get me out of it.

Kill this person.

You know the messenger of Satan?

Nobody wants to go through anything to experience God's power.

We all just want the easy life.

There's a lot of our prayers, if we're honest, let's be honest here.

God remove all of my difficulties.

Remove my financial struggle.

Remove my addiction.

Get rid of it.

When in reality, it's in the problems, the difficulties, and the curve balls that we

experience God's grace and become a better person.

That's how God helps us to change.

This is truth.

Listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 6.

So when you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners

and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.

I tell you the truth, that is all the rural they ever get.

But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your father

in private.

Then your father who sees everything will reward you.

When you pray, don't babble on and on as the Gentiles do.

They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.

Don't be like them, for your father knows exactly what you need even before you ask.

So Jesus, this is what was happening.

He was addressing his disciples and he says, hey guys, everything you ever learned about

prayer, get rid of it.

Everything that you've ever been trained to do when guarding prayer, forget about it.

It doesn't work.

The prayer before this statement was made by Jesus was memorized words that were spoken

to God time and time again.

Same words recited over and over again.

I'm familiar with that, I grew up Episcopalian.

All memorized prayers, time and time and time again.

People would recite lines to God.

Religious leaders, he's addressing them, would use those recited lines, those memorized lines

as a way of showing I'm better than you.

Your common folk get lost.

You're not welcome in the synagogue.

You don't understand God.

Now, not only is Jesus saying get rid of everything you learned about prayer, he makes a revolutionary

statement that's never been made before when it comes to God and he says address your God

as a father.

And he's challenging his disciples to speak to their father or their dad.

The word that Jesus actually used is the word Abba, right?

And it's not some 80s rock band that gets you excited.

We're talking about Abba as in translated daddy.

For example, I have six kids.

My kids address me as dad.

My kids don't say, father, can I have a snow come?

No?

And again, if you address your dad that way, I'm not saying it's wrong.

I'm just saying my kids don't.

They use the word dad or daddy or Phoenix is not quite there yet.

He's just da, da.

So he's getting close.

Now why is it that my kids use the word dad?

Because it's approachable, right?

When father is like a formal statement, almost like you've got to get it all put together

before you come and talk to him, whereas dad is approachable.

And what Jesus is trying to say is it speaks of a closeness, a connection if you will,

that Jesus wanted for his disciples to relate to God in that way as a dad, as a daddy.

Now Matthew 6 is when Jesus goes on to share with the disciples the Lord's prayer.

The same prayer is also recorded in Luke's gospel and this is what we read in Luke 11

1 through 4.

Lord teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.

Now I want to stop there for a second.

I really found it interesting that I was breaking down the Lord's prayer that the disciples

asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

Now think about all the things they could have asked.

Hey Jesus, will you teach us how to heal people?

Hey Jesus, teach us to perform miracles.

After all, I mean you calmed the waves and the wind and we are freaked out.

Can you teach me how to do that?

Can you teach us Jesus how to be a better leader?

After all, you started the most transformational, life changing organization or community of

believers that's ever been throughout the world.

No, what do they ask?

They say hey Jesus, will you teach us how to pray?

Jesus says sure.

He says this, this is how you should pray.

Father may your name be kept holy.

May your kingdom come soon.

Give us each day the food we need and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against

us and don't let us yield to temptation.

Now hear me out, this prayer that he shared with them was just an outline.

It wasn't designed or a scripted prayer for people to memorize and share and recite time

and time and time again.

Though we've done that and a lot of people in different churches have done that.

I'm not saying it's wrong, but basically the Lord's Prayer if you will was a guide on the

issues and attitudes that we should be addressing when we talk to God.

When we're having a conversation with our daddy in heaven.

Jesus is saying we need to be honest about our need for his strength and guidance in

our life.

Friends prayer is asking God for help in our daily lives.

It's the connection, the commitment, the practical examples of relating to a father in heaven

and a daddy in heaven that just wants us to run to him and be honest.

So this morning I want to look at two different steps that allow us to find strength in God

when we are weak.

And the first is this, friends we got to fight against the I got this mentality.

We got to just fight against it.

We have to stop trying to figure it out on our own.

I mean there's so many opportunities and so many people now that sit around and watch

podcasts, read a book, download an app and they feel like they made it.

You know I got this.

We get it.

I get it.

We can fight with the click of a button, the swipe of a finger.

We can call out to Alexa or Google and we can have our questions answered in a second.

But are they really the answers that we're looking for?

Proverbs 3, 5 through 6.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Do not depend on your own understanding.

Take His will in all you do and He will show you which path to take.

See with all the modern day advances and swipes and clicks and Alexis, we don't sit and wait

long enough to simply invite God to speak to us.

We don't pause and slow down to invite Him to have the opportunity to give us direction.

We have to stop making decisions on our own especially in times of crisis, in times of

trouble, in times of stress because you know where those decisions are going to lead us

to our coping mechanisms, to binge eating, to drinking, to lying, to stealing, whatever,

whatever you're indulging in.

But the point is they're unhealthy and Jesus is inviting us to partner with Him.

In Corinthians 12, 9 through 10.

Each time God said, my grace is all you need.

My power works best in weakness.

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through

me.

That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses.

Think about that, pleasure.

And in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ for

when I'm weak, then I am strong.

I want to say to all you this morning, God's grace is all you need.

And you were here in this place and joining us online to hear those words.

His grace is all you need, which leads us to our second and final step.

You just got to invite God's Spirit to come.

And you say, Chris, that's just a cliche that you share every week.

No, it's not.

It's a simple prayer that Jesus is challenging us to live by.

Like at Romans 8.

So you have not received a Spirit that makes you fearful slaves.

Instead, you've received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.

Now we call Him Abba Father.

Now we call Him Daddy.

See, friends, we are adopted into His family.

We can share our intimate secrets, fears, and doubts.

You don't have to be a spiritual orphan.

We can share our struggles, our cares, our concerns, our doubts, even—now listen to

this—even when we see nothing changing, when we have no words to speak, we can still

pray.

Look at Romans 8.26.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.

For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray, but the Holy Spirit prays for

us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

This is my challenge to you this morning.

Our prayers need to go from.

Our prayers need to change from statements like, God, deliver me from this.

God, save me from this.

God, help me escape this.

Our prayers need to become.

God, meet me in this.

God, give me strength in this.

God, make me better through this.

Dear friends, when Paul understood about these difficulties, he knew that God was going to

meet him in the middle.

Just think about what he went through.

Flogged, death, 39 lashes, five times, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked.

He didn't call out to God in that.

He knew God was with him.

And even when he called out to God and God said no, he said, no, my grace.

It's all I need.

His grace is all I need.

And listen to the comforting words that Jesus shared with us in Luke 11.

So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will

your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?

Now that defines come Holy Spirit.

That is the challenge that all of us need to walk in.

Will you invite the Holy Spirit into the midst of your struggle, your coping mechanisms,

your sin, your habit, your addiction?

I don't care what it is.

Because I believe that God wants to reveal His grace to all of us in the middle of what

you're going to right now.

Right now.

Will you stand with me?

If you're joining us online, I want to challenge you to take a posture of openness.

Just stick your hands open.

You don't have to stand.

I know it's kind of weird.

But just open your hands.

Because I believe the Holy Spirit wants to just invade your place, your room, your bedroom,

wherever you are this morning.

Come Holy Spirit.

You can have me, oh you can have me, oh you can have me.

I surrender everything without you.