Tell Your Story | Austin Turner

Well, good morning, Heights family. Man, yes.

Hey, all I'm saying is that we're playing a game

every single week at the 8 o 'clock service because

you guys are alive. All right? We are. I'm telling

you right now. Next week, you just got to get

ready. Okay? Hey, I want to welcome you. If you

live last week. at Easter, which is wild that

it was already a week ago, by the way. If last

week at Easter was your first time here with

our church family and you're like, man, I think

I'm going to go back next week. And then you

show up and then you have people in wigs on stage

to start off. And then you're like, hey, ice

family, we're going to play a game. And you're

like, what church did I come to? Like, what is

happening? Hey, I just want to say welcome, all

right? It is not like this every week. It can

be, all right? Just email john at heightschurch

.com, okay? It can be, but it doesn't have to

be, all right? But here's the deal is, I hope...

I hope that when you walked on campus, you saw

a whole bunch of students and our adult leaders

welcoming you from the moment you left the parking

lot, walked through the door, serving you coffee.

I don't know if you saw, but in the back when

we were doing our awesome game, we had a whole

line of our students ready to help and serve.

And obviously all of the students we have on

stage, guys, some of them have been here since

5 .30 this morning. All right, I know, like,

yeah, it's impressive. Also, if you want to know,

if you want to know some behind -the -scenes

look of what about 645 looked like for us to

get ready this morning for just our church family,

I want to show you a picture of kind of what

we looked like backstage, just getting ready,

all right? And it's actually wild that they're

still wearing the wigs over there. And so when

I look, I just I'm shocked every time. So if

I don't look in your guys's direction, I'm sorry.

All right. It's because of them. All right. I

was just I get distracted. But hey. We're so

glad to worship together. And you know what's

awesome is even stuff as silly as just like a

game, which some of us get way too competitive

at, all right? I saw us, some of us, like our

inner high school athlete came out and we're

gonna pay for that later. Our shoulders are gonna

be a little sore. All right, get some icy hot

on that later. That's okay. But... But again,

something is that it's mind blowing to me that,

man, God goes, man, that is also worship. All

right. A few weeks ago, we talked about how life

is worship. And so what we want to do and what

we call Youth Takeover Weekend is that, man,

what we do all the time is worship. It's not

just this hour long service on a Sunday. It's

not just when we sing. It's everything. And so

what are we doing that goes? Man, I get to glorify

God. And if you're sitting here going, how in

the world is hitting beach balls glorifying God?

Can I just tell you that God made fun for us,

all right, to have fun, to enjoy life. And so

for the next few moments, like I want to talk

just briefly about, gosh, like what is the story

that God is creating in us, that God is creating

not just in our youth group and our youth family,

but. but also like the greater church family,

just like Todd was saying, gosh, we feel like

when on a Sunday we're so isolated, but you know

that on Wednesday night, we get to do a little

bit of what you guys experienced here. We get

to do that every week. All right, the church

family is so much bigger than what's just in

this room. And so as we move on, as we continue

to jump into the story of God and how the story

of God actually plays out in our life, I would

love to. to just pray, to invite God into this

space, into this message. Because honestly, if

it's just my words up here, like it doesn't matter

what I say. What matters is what the Holy Spirit

has got for you in this moment. So I'd love to

just pray before we kind of dive into God's word.

So let's pray. God, thank you. Thank you for

just this moment. Thank you, God, that we get

to have fun, that we get to come together every

single week as a church family, that we get to

worship you all the time, that God, you created

us for worship and that God, your story, your

story of redemption is playing out in our life

every single day. And so, Father, I just ask

that you would bring comfort and peace to those

in the room that walked in just a little chaotic.

Spirit, would you speak words of life into our

church family? Would it be, God, would you just

help explain your word to us? God, would you

help explain your story to us in these moments?

I ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Just real quick,

has anybody in here ever heard, ever read? this,

this story that like this book that you couldn't

put down, just raise your hand real quick. You

read this book. You're like, man, I could not,

that's perfect. That's awesome. Like you couldn't

put it down, right? You're just like page after

page. And then a few hours later, next thing

you know, you finished a 400 page book and you're

like, whoa, I just got sucked into the story,

right? Well, not me. All right. Um, I can count

on maybe both hands. The amount of books I've

read cover to cover, total, all right? I start

a lot of books. I just don't finish them, all

right? That's the deal. But here's the deal.

That is me with movies, though, right? It might

not be me in books, okay? But that's me in movies,

all right? The movie, the story is so good. It's

told so well that it just captivates you, right?

It just sucks you into the plot, and you're just

like, man, I could watch this over and over and

over. And one of those for me growing up. was

the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. All right,

thank you. Thank you, one person over here. But

for me, because I was like, obviously I'm a pirate,

okay? And so I was like, that's me. And so I

remember every time those movies would come out,

I would just watch them over and over. And I

still do, by the way. Sometimes I just go on

this binge of, man, I just gotta watch them all

because the story is just so fun. It's so brilliant.

But man, isn't that what stories do? Stories

are used, right? Either to entertain us, to teach

us, to help us remember things. You know what's

wild is God created each one of us to tell a

story. All right, every single one of us were

created to be storytellers. And if you don't

believe me, I want you to think about this week,

how many times just in your next seven days.

you either hear the words of like, hey, I gotta

tell you something. I gotta tell you the story.

Or you hear yourself go, hey, back in my day,

I walked to school 10 miles uphill both ways

in the snow. Right? And so if you don't believe

me, you are a storyteller because we were created

to be storytellers because God is the ultimate.

Storyteller. For me, I love telling stories.

I don't like writing them because for me, when

I was in middle school and high school, one of

the things that always plagued me was writing.

All right, I would always have to write. And

every time I turned in my paper, my teachers

would give it back, which some of them are actually

in this room. And so they would give them back

and they'd be like, Austin, it was fine. But

it just sounded robotic. It didn't sound like

you. We wanted to sound more like you. And I

said, if it sounded like me, I would fail the

paper. All right? I would fail. Just let me talk

the paper. Right? We're created to be storytellers.

And sometimes, I'll admit, like sometimes my

stories are awesome. Don't laugh. Sometimes they're

awesome, but sometimes. Just like all of us,

sometimes my stories get lost in the details.

Sometimes they fall a little bit short, right?

Because I just get lost. And by the end of it,

you're kind of sitting there and you're going,

what was the point? Like, why did you tell that

story? And I just go, I don't know. I just like

to talk a little bit. And so, but man, sometimes

the stories are great. And sometimes you're just

like, I could have done without that. I want

to jump into Psalms where the psalmist talks

about the importance of telling a story, the

importance of why we're created to be storytellers

and the importance of what happens if we don't,

if we choose to not tell our story. So Psalm

78, if you want to turn there, go to your phone,

wherever it is. Psalm 78, starting in verse one.

My people. Hear my teaching, listen to the words

of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable.

I will utter hidden things from of old, things

we have heard and known, things our ancestors

have told us. We will not hide them from their

descendants. We will tell the next generation

the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power

and the wonders he has done. And so we jump into

this psalm, right? It's different than most psalms.

This one is like a historical proverb or a historical

parable. So what is it for? It's for us to learn.

It's to teach us, right? Verse two through three,

these are things that they already know. Why

have they known them? Because in verse three,

it says, our ancestors have told us. So their

parents, their parents' parents, their parents'

parents' parents, right? These stories have been

passed down, so they know them, but this psalmist

is reminding them, hey, remember those stories,

continue to tell them to the next generation.

Why? So that the next generation knows, verse

four, God's deeds, powers, and his wonders that

he's done. I wanna focus on that last part, the

wonders part. So in the Hebrew, that wondrous

could really mean more wondrous miracles, right?

Wondrous miracles. And what that translates to,

it's things that are only explainable because

God. AKA things that are only explainable because

God stepped in. All right, that is what, when

we say wondrous miracles, so when it says, tell

the next generations the wondrous. miracles of

God. It's the times when only you can only go

because God, literally. How did this happen?

Because God. Why did this happen? Because God.

And so when we step in, the psalmist continues

in verse five, right? He says, he decreed statutes

for Jacob and established the law in Israel,

which he commanded our ancestors to teach their

children so the next generation would know them,

even the children yet to be born. and they in

turn would tell their children, then they would

put their trust in God and would not forget his

deeds, but would keep his commands. They would

not be like their ancestors, a stubborn and rebellious

generation whose hearts were not loyal to God,

whose spirits were not faithful to them. So classic

if -then statement. If we listen to the commands

that the psalmist says and teach our children

and they would teach their children, then...

They would put their trust in God. Isn't that

the point of sharing our story? Isn't that the

great commission? Go and make disciples, right?

Tell our story, tell the story of God so that

they would put their trust in God. Why? So why?

Why is that important? Why teach them? Why tell

them the stories of old? Because so they wouldn't

wander and get lost like their ancestors. I'm

reminded of in Exodus after they... After they

cross the Red Sea and they're in the wilderness,

things happen and they choose to worship idols.

And so God allows them to wander in the wilderness

for years and years and years on end. All right,

and then we're brought to this moment. We're

brought to this moment where finally one generation

dies off because they were unfaithful. They had

forgotten the wondrous miracles of God. And then

they're brought to this moment where God says,

now it's time to cross into the promised land.

And so God goes, take the Ark of the Covenant.

And as soon as the people carrying the Ark stepped

on the banks of the Jordan River, the Jordan

will dry up and you'll walk across. And sure

enough, Joshua leads the nation of Israel across

the Jordan on dry land. And you know what God

tells them to do right after? He says, stack

12 stones up so that... When people walk by,

when the next generation walks by, they remember

what God has done. Why? Why is that important?

Those stacks of rocks, in English, we call them

rock cairns. All right, not cairns. All right,

rock cairns. And so we look and we go, man, okay,

so these stacks of rock, they're important. Why?

Because God goes, it's a story. These stacks

of rocks are a story. Can you imagine the kids

not born yet? Okay, their family, they're walking

by the Jordan and all of a sudden they see these

stacks of rocks, this rock cairn right by the

river, right? And they say, hey, mom, dad, why

is that there? And then their parents go, let

me tell you a story of what God has done for

us. And then all of a sudden that story gets

passed down and passed down. Why? So that we

will not forget what God has done for us. Because

let me be honest, we are a forgetful people.

I think a lot of the times we criticize, especially

if you read all of the Old Testament, we criticize

the Israelites for not remembering who God is.

But yet we spend every single day of our life

forgetting who God is regularly because it's

so easy to take life into our own hands. It's

so easy to just go honestly a day without God,

right? Because it's, man, we just get into our

rhythms. I'll tell you from me personally, it

is so, like I started, so I've been at Heights

for a while. All right, I was here when I was

11 years old. All right, I met Pastor John when

I was 12 years old. All right, so he's known

me for a little bit in my prime as a middle schooler.

All right, which is awesome. I remember I was

going, God, can you help me? Like, what story

do I tell? And all of a sudden, God just brings

back story after story, remembrance after remembrance

of going, look what I have done for you. Because

I look back at my story and I look at people

are actually these stacks of rocks in my life.

They're like rock cairns in my life. Did you

know that your life, more than your words, is

a living story? Did you know that when you walk

out of this space, when you walk your day -to

-day life, Your life is a living story. Your

actions speak louder than your words. And so

when you walk, how are you walking, right? Because

when I look at my life, I look at people that

God has put in my life to remind me of who I

am in Christ, even when I got lost. See, five

years ago, five years ago, I was in full -time

ministry. I had just taken over our high school

ministry. And to be honest, I was lost because

I didn't know who I was. Because for a long time,

for a long time, my story was more about me than

it was about God. Because when I started in ministry,

I was just out of college and I knew everything.

All right, everything. And so I got out of college

and I was like, I'm going to take on the world.

And quickly, I realized the gifts that God has

given me. But instead of going, God, this is

for you, I started building my own trophies.

And so five years of ministry go by. And then

all of a sudden, I'm faced with this fact of

like, I can't do this. What am I doing? I'm just

building my own kingdom instead of God's. The

story of my life was more about me than it was

about God. And so then people came along. Todd

is one of them, by the way, who goes, man. Austin,

remember the story of God's wondrous miracles

that brought you here. And so then my life started

to change, but then three years ago, three years

ago, I was faced with something I never thought

I'd be faced with because again, I forgot. Man,

am I quick to forget. I would love to tell you

that I can stand on this stage and I've been

going, man, I've been doing this for years now

and I feel like I've got it. That could not be

further from the truth because then three years

ago, three years ago, I was confronted with this

moment where, man, the stress, the anxiety, the

depression had gotten so, so high in my life

that I was faced with a medical issue. And I

was like, man, life, something has to change.

But instead, instead of people going, man, you're

done, you're finished. People, again, these rock

cairns in my life as remembrance is going, remember

where you were. Remember where God has brought

you from. And so then all of a sudden the things

became clear. Things started opening up in my

life. I started getting healthy. Why? Because

my life became less about me and more about what

God was doing. But then all of a sudden, again,

you just keep going years. Things get good again.

And all of a sudden you're like, wow, I'm doing

pretty awesome. I feel pretty good about myself.

And then what happens? Gosh, just like the Israelites,

I forget. And what happens if we don't have these

stories like the psalmist reminds us of where

he goes, you need to pass these stories down.

What is the story your life is telling? Because

if we don't tell stories with our lives, we will

forget. And people around us will forget. And

praise God that he has. that he has put people

in my life to point me back to Jesus. Because

just like when we see those stacks of rocks,

those rock cairns on the trail, right? We know

that they're a wayfinder, they're a marker. So

I wanna ask how many of us, when we look at our

lives as those stacks of rocks, how many of us

are pointing people to Jesus or are we pointing

people towards ourselves, towards our own kingdom,

our own accomplishments, our own trophy cabinet

going, look at what I have done. Instead of going,

looking back and going, let me tell you the wondrous

miracles that God has done in my life. Because

I can tell you right now, I am standing here

today because people in my life have pointed

me back to God's wondrous miracles. And I'm like,

you're right. You're right. I need to be there.

And so I'm brought to the story. We were in teaching

team this week and Pastor Ben, who is at our

PV location, he reminded me of the story of Lazarus.

When we talk about the idea of miracles, right?

We're talking about, man, what does your life

point to? Does it point to Jesus or does it point

to something else? Does it point to your accomplishments?

Does it point to your kids' accomplishments?

What does it point to? Does it point back to

Jesus or anything else? And so I'm reminded of

the story of Lazarus. If you've been around church,

you might know who he is. He's one of Jesus's

closest friends, right? And he dies, right? He

gets sick. Jesus gets word. And all of a sudden,

Jesus stays where he's at. He's in no rush, okay?

And then Lazarus ends up dying. Jesus then starts

to go on his journey to go see a dead man. And

so when Jesus gets there, Lazarus has already

been dead. People are mourning, they're weeping.

And Jesus, he weeps. That's the famous verse

where it says Jesus wept. All right, and so Jesus

experiences that emotion, but he knows how the

end is. And so what happens later is Jesus goes

to the tomb and tells Lazarus to come out. Lazarus

comes out probably like a mummy because he was

still wrapped in grave clothes is what it says.

And Jesus says, That man is now alive. And so

take off those grave clothes because he is not

dead anymore. And so I'm reminded, can you imagine

Lazarus walking around after that? Can you imagine

the story his life told from there on after?

Where he looks, where people look at him and

go, that guy was dead. That guy was in a tomb.

He's alive now. Can you see the story? His life,

just walking, his life pointed to the wondrous

miracles of Jesus just because Jesus made him

alive again. Can you imagine that story? I go,

man, I want that story. Can you imagine if Lazarus

walked around and he goes, yeah, I'm pretty cool,

huh? Look at me. I'm alive now because of me.

Like Lazarus was dead. And Jesus says, take off

those grave clothes because those no longer define

you. We just celebrated Easter last week. Easter

is the culmination of everything in the church

calendar going, we are here because of the celebration

of Easter. We are here because Jesus looks at

you and says, you are no longer dead. So take

off those grave clothes and live differently.

Your life. Your life is no longer pointing to

you. It actually should be pointing to the one

who made you walk out of that grave. And so I

look at it and I go, man, man, how do we wrap

this up? How do we go, man, like, I want my life.

to look like that. I wanna be more like Lazarus

who walks around and goes, let me tell you a

story about God's wondrous miracles in my life.

Let me tell you a story of who God is because

my life is a walking example of who God is. Can

I tell you that my hope and my dream is that

I am more. like Lazarus, walking around, pointing

people to the miracle that God goes, Austin,

I love you so much that I have brought you out

of the grave and into life so that you can tell

my story. And so I just wanna tell you, I wanna

tell you a few stories that I've heard, a few

stories of God's wondrous miracles that have

been happening in this community that maybe you

know or don't know about. But I just wanna tell

you, because again, what does the Bible tells

us? It says, tell of God's wondrous miracles.

And so if you don't know, I get to coach track

and field for one of our high schools, our public

high schools here in the area. And this year.

We have almost a whole new coaching staff. And

can I tell you something? God has brought people

who love him to a dark place, to a public high

school sports team. And can I tell you something?

That now, because of these coaches who have stepped

out boldly in their faith in a public school

situation, we now have students who are praying

together at practices because of our coaches.

Can I tell you that it is not me because I'll

tell you right now, those coaches have encouraged

me to go, man, we can do more. And God has gone,

man, look at these rock cairns, right? These

stones of remembrance, use them as reminders

of what God is doing. We have students now that

are freely talking about their faith, that are

freely asking questions during practice because...

of our coaches. We also, if you're going, well,

okay, that's cool. That's one team at one school.

Can I also tell you something? There is something

happening inside of our public high schools.

We have a thing called Youth Alive, which is

a Christian club that meets during lunches. Can

I tell you something? In Northern Arizona, the

three high schools that we have are some of the

biggest Youth Alive clubs in the entire state

because God has done something inside of our

public schools that allows them, you know, some

of the schools go, you are so big, sure, you

can use our gym every single Thursday. A public

school said we can do that. That's right, we

can celebrate that. So don't tell me that God's

not moving because God is and sometimes we just

forget. And so maybe this moment is that rock

carrying moment for you to go, man, I remember.

Maybe it's this spark in you to go, man, I remember

what God has done for me and I wanna tell people

because that's what we're commanded to do is

to tell people the wondrous miracles that God

has done. Why? So that they can believe in him.

Another story is that we had a leader a few years

ago diagnosed with cancer. And so we as a youth

team prayed for this leader. And we just prayed

God, we prayed boldly, said, God, would you please

take the cancer away? And the next time that

they went in for a checkup, the doctor said,

we don't know what happened, but the cancer is

gone. One of my favorite stories is that we had

a student who I've known for a long time. There

was a family, this student's best friend in his

family, they started inviting him to church.

And so he started going to church with them regularly.

And it was a few years later that all of a sudden

he goes, man, I think I want Jesus in my life.

And so he accepts Jesus. And, you know, again,

just like all of us, right? Life wasn't perfect

at first. And so for a little bit in high school,

like he accepts Jesus, but still trying to figure

things out, making a lot of mistakes. And then

finally something clicks. At the end of his junior

year and his senior year was totally different.

And you know what's wild is because of his senior

year and then how he left to go into college

last year, his life was a living example of how

the wondrous miracles of God that we got to,

that he was able to baptize all of his siblings

because they said, man, you're different and

we want that. Talking about the last, probably

the most, God's, not probably, God's biggest

wondrous miracle is what we celebrated last weekend,

the resurrection of Jesus. God's wondrous miracle

that God chose to bring salvation to all those

who believe by sending his son to die on a cross

so that we could live. And then three days later,

he rises from the grave. He does that so that

your story can be lived telling the life, the

wondrous miracles that God has done. And so I

wanna leave you with this. I wanna encourage

you, man, tell your story because it matters.

It doesn't matter how old you are and it doesn't

matter what your story is. If God has come and

he has changed your life and he has gone, man,

here's the wondrous miracles I've done in your

life. Your story is worth telling because that

story can change someone else's life. But it's

not just through our words. It's what we do,

every step we take. It's all of our actions.

It's when people aren't looking. It's also when

people are looking because our story is a living

story. It's not just when we talk. It's not just

when we write, but it's all of the above. And

so I wanna encourage you, what is... What is

the story your life is telling? If anything,

look at your life and go, what is the story that

my finances are telling? What is the story that

my time management is telling? What is the story

that even my words are telling? Do they even

match what my actions say? And that's not a pointing

finger. That's not a condemnation. That's just

a, that's an encouragement. That's the same for

me too. Going, man, what is my story? What is

my life actually saying? And is it pointing to

me or is it pointing to God? We're gonna continue

to worship together through song. And this is

one of my favorite songs. We get to sing it in

youth and we're gonna sing it in here for the

first time with our church, the rest of our church

family. But it says, if my life is a story, let

it be for you only. And so as we sing that, man,

I just pray. I pray that that is your declaration.

If my life is but a story, let it be for you

only. Would you pray with me? Father, we just

ask forgiveness for the parts of our life that

are not pointing to you. The parts in our life

that God, you have brought to our attention that

we need to change. Spirit, would you give us

the courage to make changes right here, right

now? God, would you give us the courage to give

our life to you and let it be your story? Let

it be of you only. Would you give us the wisdom,

your supernatural wisdom to God to make it your

story? And so Father, I stand here in just thankfulness.

Thank you. that you have brought me here, that

this is part of my story. God, thank you that

our church family is together in this moment

and this is part of our story. God, thank you.

Thank you for your provision. Thank you that

you are everywhere, that God, no matter where

we go, we have you. And so God, would our story

be yours? God, we give this time to you. We're

thankful for you. It's in Jesus' name. Amen.