Everyday Courage • Part 4 with Andy Stanley

Welcome to the Southside Church Podcast.

Weekly content that inspires all of us to follow Jesus.

Join us each week for a message from one of our fantastic communicators that provide practical ways to grow our faith, challenge ourselves, and to love others more.

And now, this week's message.

So I want to welcome all of our partner churches around the country, our Atlanta area churches, and a special shout out to our friends down at Lake O'Coney Church, the other Pastor Andy down there.

It's great to be a partnering with you guys and what you're doing in your community.

It's just amazing.

So about 20 years ago, I think it's actually more than 20 years ago, time goes by so fast, I ruptured a disc in my lower back.

But I didn't know that's what I did.

And so I self-diagnosed.

Anybody here ever self-diagnosed?

It's like, I got this.

And it's men we self-diagnose because our wives, our girlfriends, or fiance, you should go see a doctor.

I don't need a doctor.

It's like, how do you know that?

I just know.

And then anyway, so I self-diagnosed and I misdiagnosed, and I labeled my ruptured disc something other than what it actually was.

And then, of course, I treated it and mistreated it as if it was something other than it actually was.

And you'll be shocked to hear it didn't get better.

Um, it actually just kept getting worse.

Then, no exaggeration, after passing out twice from the pain, any of you have ever had this, it's like when it hits, boom, you're you're out.

And after canceling a family vacation, literally, our kids were little, we had the suitcases by the garage door to leave the next morning, and I could not get out of the bed.

It was just, it was just a disaster.

And then a few days later, I'm literally laying on my back in our bedroom, and I finally got comfortable.

I had my knees propped up, and I'm laying on my back looking at the ceiling, and I began not exaggerating, even though I wasn't serious when I did this, I began thinking about what career could I have from this position?

Because this is the only position that doesn't feel like I'm gonna pass out again.

The pain was so bad and so severe.

And the only thing I could come up with, now, if you're not uh from a Christian tradition or different faith tradition, or you're not a Christian at all, this is you're gonna think this is weird, and so I'm just letting you know this is weird, okay?

As I lay there, the only thing I could think about that I could do is I could be an intercessor.

So an intercessor is somebody who prays for other people.

That was the only thing I could think I could do from this position.

I could just lay here for the rest of my life and pray for other people and have Sandra bring me my meals.

Anyway, so um I, you know, I it dawned on me, you know, because I'm smart eventually, it dawned on me, I did not think this is um what I thought this is.

It's bad grammar, but I love Princess Bride.

So this was a anyway, anyway, so I do not think this is what I thought I thought this is, or what I think this is.

And so one MRI later, late later, one MRI later, and an out an outpatient surgery later, MRI and an outpatient surgery later, I sit up on the table after I, you know, came to and the pain was completely gone.

And FYI, because this is how my life is, my surgeon has long since retired.

So please don't email me and say, Who was your doctor?

He he's retired, okay?

Because I, if I were you and I was where I was, I'd be like, I want Andy's doctor.

Anyway, so the point is when you misdiagnose something, you know this, things don't get better.

They get worse.

And to the point of this series, when we misdiagnose fear, fear is really the culprit, but we call it something else.

When we misdiagnose fear, label it something else other than what it is, we're stuck.

We're stuck with the consequences of our fear.

And here's the thing, I don't know you, we've never met most of you, but I know this about you.

You you don't want to be stuck, and I don't want you to be stuck, and more importantly, way more importantly, your Heavenly Father doesn't want you to be stuck and to stay stuck.

And that's why we're talking about it.

Today we're wrapping up our series, Everyday Courage.

And the big idea for this series, if you haven't been with us, I'm gonna catch you up on the whole series in about three and a half minutes.

If you're here for the first time or the first time in a long time, or maybe this is the first time you've watched in a long time, or maybe the first time ever.

The big idea in this series is that a single act of courage, a single act of courage is often the catalyst for something extraordinary.

It's the catalyst for extraordinary.

And we've all, we all know of examples, uh, know examples of this as they've played out in history, but this same idea plays out or has the potential to play out in each of our individual lives as well.

Now, regarding examples from history, the names that come to mind when you think of, you know, whatever history you love and whatever history you know, when you think about somebody who did something heroic and it set something in motion, it changed the trajectory of something, it caused a new movement, a healthy, positive movement to begin.

When you think of those names, the names that come to mind, they come to mind because those men and women did not wait for their fear to disappear.

Because fear doesn't disappear, right?

You pack fear up and you carry it with you into the future because fear doesn't disappear until you address it.

You don't solve fear and then move.

And these men and women, the reason we know their names, is they didn't wait for fear to disappear.

They acted in spite of their fear.

And when we hear those stories or see them played out in movies or in historical fiction or history books, we think to ourselves, I think we all do, wow, I wonder if I would have done what they did if I were in their circumstances, and we hope that we would.

We hope that we could stand up and do the difficult thing and pack up our fear and carry it with us and not wait for our fear to disappear.

But back in the real world, back at home, we don't face those kind of epic circumstances.

Another, and you know, to use a biblical analogy, we we don't face literal Goliaths, but as we've said throughout this series and as we sing from time to time, we don't face literal Goliaths, but we all, me included, we all have our own giants to face.

Things that need to be addressed, things that need to be confessed, uh, things that we need to admit to, habits we need to admit to, relationships that we need to repair.

But we hesitate.

And we hesitate because, well, the truth is, the reason we hesitate, even though we label it a lot of different things, it's complicated and all those kinds of things we've talked about, the reason we hesitate when we know that something needs to be done, we hesitate because we're afraid.

And the reason, as I've made the case throughout this series, the reason we know it's fear, even though we don't want to admit we're afraid of anything, the reason we know it's fear is come on, after all, when you know what needs to be done, when um when you know what you need to do, when you know what you need to say, but you hesitate to do it, you hesitate to say it because of a potential outcome, that is fear.

That's how you know it's fear.

I'm worried about, we say worried instead of afraid.

I'm concerned about, we say concern instead of afraid.

I'm afraid of what might happen if I say that, if I approach that, if I address that, if I reveal that, if I confront that, if I say the thing I know I need to say, it's fear.

So in part one, and this was so important if you're a Jesus follower, if you're from a different faith tradition, you're not a Christian or used to be a Christian, this may not land with you, but for those of us who claim to be Jesus followers, in part one, I made the point that for Jesus followers, the outcomes, the potential outcomes, are not our primary concern because we don't control outcomes.

Our primary concern is Jesus followers is to say yes to our King in spite of what we might imagine the consequences turn out to be.

That for us, obedience, yes, submission is the win.

And once we say yes to our Savior and once we say yes to our King, our responsibility is over and we leave the consequences or the outcomes in the hands of God because we recognize we don't control outcomes.

And besides, we may be able to somewhat predict immediate outcomes, but we cannot predict ultimate outcomes.

And we should play to the ultimate, not the immediate.

In part two, then, we just we just discussed a specific expression of courage, the courage to forgive.

And we said that forgiveness is courageous because forgiveness is a sacrifice.

Forgiveness is giving somebody something they don't deserve without knowing what the outcome is gonna be.

We said that forgiveness is choosing independent of the person who hurt us, to be independent of the person who hurt us.

And then in part three, we discussed the courage.

This is last time we were together, we discussed the courage to admit and own our share of the blame, to own our share of the blame pie, even when our share is very, very small, we would say, in comparison to the person that hurt us.

So throughout the series, my hope has been, and this has been so challenging for me, because I work way, way ahead and to sit in this and to ask the question, where am I guilty of this?

My hope has been that you would and that we would diagnose our reluctance to act accurately.

That we would have the courage to admit to ourselves we're afraid.

And then that we would step up and be the hero in our own stories.

You have the opportunity to be the hero in your own story when you step up in spite of potential consequences to do the thing you know you need to do and to say the thing you know you need to say, and to confront the giant you know that needs to be confronted.

And here's the promise, and I can't make this promise to you, but you've lived long enough.

You've you've seen enough of this to know that once you look back on this moment when you did the thing you knew you needed to do in spite of the outcome, one day you'll look back and you'll be glad you did.

In fact, you'll wish you had done it sooner.

That's a good story.

So why not live?

A good story.

A story you will be proud to tell.

Because whatever the event is, whatever it is you confront, whatever it is you do, in the future, it becomes nothing but a story you tell.

It doesn't define your life, it is just a chapter in the story of your life.

And you are deciding, and I'm deciding, is this a story of courage, or is this a story of fear?

And it's up to me every single day.

It's everyday courage, and it's up to you every single day.

So, as we wrap this up, I want to address one more, one more specific expression of courage, one more specific fear that we have a tendency to mislabel, another expression of fear that we have a tendency to misdiagnose and call it something other than it is.

And this particular fear has three faces.

It's the fear of admitting we need help, it's the fear of asking for help, and it's the fear of submitting to the help that we need.

It's the fear that we have of admitting we need help.

We don't think that's fear, we think it's something else.

It's the fear of asking for help, and it's the fear of submitting to the help we need.

Now, look up here real quick.

Don't get too uncomfortable at all of our churches.

Anybody listening?

Especially if you're at one of our churches today, if it's any consolation, if it's any comfort to you, you should know that you are probably no more than 30 feet away from somebody right now.

You're probably no more than 30 feet away from somebody right now who, if they had the opportunity, they would look at you and say, I've been there.

I've been there.

I've been there.

You're not alone.

You feel isolated and alone in a big old church in a big old crowd where people, everybody looks like they got their act together, they would look at you and say, Hey, you're not alone.

I've been there.

And you know what else they would tell you?

They would tell you that their courage to admit that they needed help, and they would tell you that their courage to ask for help, and they would tell you that their courage to submit to the help they needed was in fact a catalyst for extraordinary in their lives and in the life of their family.

It was a catalyst for extraordinary for their future and even for their future families.

And they would assure you, don't take it from me, they would assure you, those that have been there, they would assure you that the issue isn't that it's complicated.

The issue is that you're afraid, and they would say, I understand because I have been there.

And then they would assure you that your fear will not disappear until you admit you need help, until you ask for help, and until you submit to the help that you ultimately need.

And once you do, they would tell you.

They would look in your eyes and they will say, once you do, you will wish you had not waited so long.

And last thing, do you know what else they would tell you?

They would tell you, they will actually they would let you in on a secret.

They would let you in on a secret.

Here's the secret they would let you in on.

Here's the secret they would tell you.

The fact that you need help is not a secret.

That the people closest to you, they know.

It's a secret you keep from yourself that the people who are closest to you hope that one day you'll have the courage, that you'll have the courage to let yourself in on.

It's a secret they're waiting for you to let yourself in on because it is no secret.

They may not know exactly what's going on.

They may not know exactly what's troubling you, they may not know exactly what's throwing you off and why it's different than it used to be and why you're not there.

They may not know exactly what's going on, but they know something is going on.

In the meantime, and again, you if you feel like, Andy, did somebody send you an email or did God send you?

I mean, how do you okay, because what you are experiencing and the resistance you experience, it is so common.

You feel like it's unique to you.

It is not God loves you as an individual, but your individual experience, I hate to break it to you, is not unique.

Your experience is not what makes you unique.

You've convinced yourself that you got this.

But the truth is, come on.

It's got you.

Right?

And something else has got you as well.

Fear.

And fear, this is what I just want you to recognize, even if you don't do anything with it.

Fear, fear has become your master, and you would never, ever, ever intentionally submit to fear.

If you had the option of fear being your master or something else being your master, you would say, I will never be mastered by fear.

But you are mastered by fear, and fear is a merciless, ruthless master.

Fear, we talked about this in part two.

Fear is a liar that will eventually turn you into a liar.

And perhaps, if you're honest, if you have the courage to be honest with yourself, you've already become a liar.

And fear is the one that whispers you've got this.

Fear is the one that whispers to you, your circumstances, your situation is unique.

It's like no other.

It's fear that whispers, you don't need help.

Again, you've got this.

It's fear that whispers, you're not like everybody else.

It's fear that whispers.

This is the big one.

Well, what are people gonna think?

What are people gonna think about me?

I mean, what's this gonna do to my reputation?

What's my family, what are my children, the people, the people I work with?

What are people gonna think?

And look up here.

I can actually answer this one for you.

Personally.

I mean, don't answer this out loud because I'm gonna do it anyway, but would you like to know what I think?

Of course you would.

It didn't matter.

Here's what I think.

And here's what the people who love you will think.

Personally, I think that the men and the women and the high school students and the college students and the successful and the not so successful, I think that people who recognize their fear for what it is, and then decide to pull back the curtain on their life and ask for help, I think those are the most courageous people I've ever encountered.

That's what I think.

Because part of it is this I'm not sure that I would have the courage to do that.

So, if you're here today, you're watching, you're listening to one of our churches, it's time.

It's time.

Come on.

It's time to admit out loud that you need help.

And it's time to ask for help.

And then it's time to submit to the help that you need, because you don't got this.

It's got you, but it doesn't have to keep you.

If you will acknowledge at the root, at the heart of what you struggle with, this is hard, especially for us guys, that you're afraid.

And until you do, and I'm about to tell you what you already know, you know it better than I know it.

Until you do, you'll just continue managing and navigating outcomes.

Managing and navigating the outcomes of your secret, which is exhausting, it's distracting, at times it's expensive, and ultimately it is destructive to you and the people you love the most.

And as I said, ultimately, it's gonna make you a liar.

And here's the thing you don't even like liars, which is one of the reasons that you don't like yourself anymore.

How do I know all this?

Because it is common.

You are unique, but your circumstances are not.

Fear whispers it's unique.

It's not.

That is a lie.

And the way out isn't unique either.

Now, here's the thing.

If you're a person of faith, the Christian faith, really, if you're a person of any faith, you've already prayed, right?

You've already, I mean, nobody had to say, you should probably ask God to say, are you kidding?

I wake up every morning and ask God.

I plead with God, I beg God, I got a rabbit's foot, a cross, a star of David, I got, I mean, I I've just, I don't want to offend anybody, anybody out there somewhere in the in, you know, in outer space, if there's a God, just tell me your name and please, please, please deliver me.

So I've got some great news.

If you've prayed that God would do something in this area of your life, the good news is today, today may be the answer to your prayer.

Not the answer you prayed for.

Because I know what you've prayed, I know how you prayed.

You prayed that one morning you would just wake up and be free.

Free from the dependence, free from the addiction, free from the temptation, that it just wouldn't even tempt you anymore.

She or he.

You prayed that you would wake up and that he or she would just disappear from your life so that you wouldn't have to do the courageous thing, which you see as the complicated thing.

But, and I don't have to tell you this, but maybe somebody needs to tell you this.

That's not how life works.

And it's not because there's something wrong with you or your prayers.

That's not how your created creator created life to work.

Here's how your creator created life to work.

You sow and you reap.

And you have you sowed your way into the place where you currently are.

It is your responsibility, but you can sow your way out, and that is the way God created the world to work.

But you do not have to sew alone.

And if you choose to sew your way out, that requires courage.

Specifically, the courage to admit that you need help, and the courage to ask for help, and the courage to submit to the help that you need.

Now, here's the amazing thing.

Maybe you didn't know this, maybe you weren't looking for it, so you don't see it.

You know, we see what we're looking for.

We rarely see what we're not looking for, right?

Peter, who knew Jesus intimately and spent three and a half years sitting at his feet and then just did the most horrible thing imaginable at the end.

Peter weighs in on this.

James, who grew up with Jesus, imagine Jesus as your older brother.

Having an older brother is hard enough as it is.

Imagine it's Jesus.

It's like, oh great, it's Jesus, right?

So grew up with Jesus and as an adult becomes a Jesus follower.

He weighs in on this.

The Apostle Paul, who, you know, hated Christians.

You know the story, we talk about it all the time.

If you're new to church, the Apostle Paul, who wrote half about half the New Testament, he comes, steps onto the pages of history as somebody who wants to have nothing to do with Jesus.

In fact, he wants to put Christianity out of business.

He has an encounter with Jesus that transforms his life, and he weighs in on this.

In fact, you know what Paul says?

He says this.

This is so amazing.

It's such an invitation.

He says, when I'm weak, and when I acknowledge my weakness, that's when I'm strong.

And he documents this so that anyone who ever reads his story knows right up front.

He's like, don't be confused.

I'm not Superman.

I'm not super spiritual.

I'm not super anything.

I am weak and I am a failure.

And for whatever reason, God chose to lift me up and use me.

But I'm telling you, on my own, I am a mess.

And he wrote half of the New Testament.

They all weigh in.

And here's the summary of what they would all tell you if they were here.

You can find this in their writings.

Admission is an invitation.

Admission is an invitation.

The courage to admit our weakness and our need is an invitation for God to intervene directly and personally in our lives.

It is ultimately the invitation to extraordinary.

Here's what James writes, okay?

This is so graphic.

And again, when you read the Bible, it's like we're we're all in our kind of holy mode.

But these are these are nitty, these are gritty people living in difficult times, and this language is so rich.

Here's what he says to a general audience.

He would write this to you.

He didn't have anybody specifically in mind.

This is a general promise.

He goes, Look, I want you to come near to God and he will come near to you.

And you're like, okay, I already tried that, I already prayed.

James is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, just just listen, listen.

I want you to come near to God and he will come near to you.

And as part of that, here's what you got to do: you gotta wash your hands, you sinners.

He's calling his audience out.

This isn't like me and God one-on-one, we're gonna figure this out.

He's like, no, no, no.

You got to, you know what, this in our language, this is what this is where you get the idea of come clean.

You gotta come clean.

You gotta come clean.

You gotta wash your hands, you sinners.

Admit it, be done with it, and do what you need to ensure that you quit quitting.

I love that phrase from that song, you quit quitting.

And then he says this, and and purify your hearts.

This is so powerful.

How did he know?

Purify your hearts.

In other words, it starts on the inside, but it's got to come to the outside.

Purify your hearts, you double-minded.

You know what a double-minded person is?

The fact is, we all do, even if we didn't know this is what this phrase referred to.

It's somebody who's living a double life.

It's on the outside, there's one person on the inside, there's somebody else, and then they have another life over here that reflects more of what's on the inside than what they hope people see on the outside.

He's like, you gotta purify your heart.

Those of you with a double life, those of you with a secret life that you think's a secret that's not a secret because everybody knows something's going on.

He's like, all the lying and the hiding and the pretending.

He's like, you gotta wash your hands of that.

You gotta come clean with that.

And if you want God to intervene, it's going to happen as you come clean to somebody else because that's how God created the world to work.

He continues, and this is the this is the graphic part.

These are the kind of verses that if you're kind of a normal Christian, kind of just doing your devotions, just like, I don't know about that.

Let's find, you know, find something else.

But this is so earthy, it's amazing.

He says, look at this.

Grieve.

Have you ever met somebody who's in grief?

People who are literally grieving, it is not private.

And you know what about I've been around hundreds of people who are grieving loss of I show up at, you know, I show up at in homes like every pastor does right after tragedy.

You know, parents who've lost a child in a car accident or an overdose.

When parents are grieving, it is not private.

It's personal, but it's not private.

It's agonizing.

There's just grief and it's loud.

And he's like, come on, pull the curtain back.

You need to grieve over this, you need to mourn, doubles down, and then he triples down and wail.

He says, That's the way out.

Why?

And he tells us this is so great.

He says, Because this is how, this is how you humble yourself before the Lord so that he can lift you up.

Come on, you've already prayed.

You've already prayed in private, you've already asked God, and God doesn't move, and you're so mad at God.

Why don't you do something this morning?

He's like, I'm doing something.

Pay attention to this guy.

He's not all that smart, but he's seen a lot.

And he's inviting you into the open where you will find the help you need.

Peter weighs in.

Again, if you knew his story, I don't have time to tell you this morning.

A lot of you know it.

He says, This is the same thing James does.

He says, look, all of you, he's writing into a general audience.

He didn't have anybody in mind.

He has everybody in mind.

All of you, clothe yourself with humility.

Look at this.

Toward one another.

This isn't just me and God.

This isn't vertical.

This is horizontal.

He says, you are to humble yourself to one another.

Because God opposes the proud.

Now come, I'm going to get up in your business a minute.

Here's the problem.

The reason you're trying to work this out between you and you, and between you and God, and because the reason you don't want to invite anybody in and you got this and you're going to handle this, it's going to be okay, is because of your pride.

And you are praying and asking God to help you, and God is opposing you.

Not because he doesn't love you, but because God opposes the proud.

And the reason you know that's a good thing is when you meet arrogant people, you oppose them.

Because the God in you, the image of God in you, knows that is not the way forward.

And you, it's an accident, you didn't do it on purpose.

But your unwillingness to pull the curtain back on your life because of your pride, you're actually working against the God who loves you.

Humble yourself, clothe yourself with humility toward one another.

Because God opposes the proud.

Go back, go back, go back.

There.

God opposes the proud, but he shows favor.

This is what you've been wondering.

Where's God's favor?

Where's God's goodness?

Where's God's deliverance?

He's going.

I'm I'm I'm standing on the threshold of your life.

If you will just humble yourself, he shows favor to the humble.

Then he goes on.

It says, so humble yourself, therefore, under God's mighty hand.

Look at this.

Under God's mighty hand that he might lift you up.

Under that is, this is why you admit it to yourself.

This is why you ask for help.

And then you submit to the help you need.

And when you submit to the help you need, you're coming under God's mighty hand.

And he in due time will lift you up and will lift you out.

And the people who are less than 30 feet from you would look you in the eye and say, that's exactly how it works.

But you're going to have to sow and sow and sow and sow.

And then Peter gives this general invitation.

He says, so, cast all of your memories.

And I use the Greek word not to show off, but because the English term just doesn't capture it.

This term captures the idea of fear with the concern of outcomes, fear related to outcomes.

The traditional understanding of anxiety, not anxiety that's diagnosed, but anxiety is as I think about the future, I'm held back.

As I consider the future, I'm held back.

As I consider the future, I'm afraid to move forward.

He says, I want you to bring all of that to the Lord.

I want you to open your life to the people who can help you.

And in terms of outcomes, that's what we said in week one.

I want you, Peter says, trust God with outcomes.

Trust God with outcomes.

Your crystal ball is broken, it's fractured.

There's something wrong with it.

Trust God with outcomes.

Cast all of your care, all of your fear on him.

All of what you're afraid you're going to lose, who you're going to lose, what's going to happen.

He says, just bring it.

And you can trust him.

This is the punchline.

Because, look what he writes, because he cares for you.

So expose your self-destructive behavior to the light and allow the transformation to begin.

That, a single act of courage, that single act of courage may in fact be the catalyst for extraordinary.

So here's the thing.

Are you ready for extraordinary?

Are you ready for extraordinary?

Let me ask you another question.

I know I'm pushing hard.

Have your secrets, has your double life, has it led to extraordinary?

Have your secrets, your double life, made your life less complicated or more complicated?

You know the answer to that.

So why not?

Why not?

Submit to your heavenly father.

Pull the curtain back.

Admit to yourself, I need help.

I'm afraid of the outcome.

But I'm going to ask for help anyway.

I'm not going to wait for my fear to disappear.

And to submit to the help that you need.

A few weeks ago, probably a couple months ago now, I was in Brazil.

I've told some of you about this.

I went, we're launched a new partner network in Brazil.

It was so exciting.

While I was there, Bruna, a woman who actually lives in Alpharetta, who's from Brazil, was visiting her family, heard I was at Red Church doing this conference, and I stayed and preached that Sunday, and she came to church because she was already there.

And I was out in the lobby just being amongst these people.

I couldn't understand a word.

Anybody was saying it was just wonderful.

All these, you know, a couple thousand people at this amazing church that we're partnering with.

She walked up to me, she had an envelope in her hand, and she said, Andy, she said, I didn't think I would have a chance to see you, but I wrote my story.

I just want you to have my story.

She handed it to me.

I said, Well, tell me your story.

And she told me her story.

And then she gave us, gave me permission to share her story with you.

Um and we're gonna share it with you.

And there's two things I need to define for you so you'll know what she's talking about, especially if we're at another one of our churches.

She references renew, and renew is an environment that we have at all of our churches designed to help individuals who are stuck in anything get unstuck.

And then she also references connections.

And connections is here at North Point Community Church.

We have something similar at all of our churches.

Connections is where people go after the service.

If they have a question, they need prayer, or they just need to talk to somebody.

So here's Bruna's example of modern day courage.

Check this out.

People sometimes ask me what it was like to leave Brazil and move to the United States with my husband and our three children.

I usually tell them the practical things: getting documents, finding a house, getting kids into school, all while we're learning how to communicate in another language.

I miss my old life, I miss feeling useful and confident.

I felt like I had lost my identity.

I started coming to North Point almost right away.

I was seeking Jesus and wanted to find a home church.

So I came week after week by myself.

Every Sunday at the end of his message and would invite anyone who needed help or was struggling with something to stop my connections.

Normally I would walk straight ahead to the parking lot.

But one Sunday it was different.

I remember sitting there.

I knew I need help.

But I kept thinking about my English.

But something inside me said go.

So I got up and walked to Connections.

A woman named Jessica welcomed me and asked me how she could help.

I don't remember everything I told her.

I only remember how relieved I felt that someone was listening to me.

A few days later, I received a call from Amy Todd, and she invited me to join the Renew program, and it changed my life.

Renew gave me a place where I could be honest about what was happening inside me.

God used that time to heal things in my heart that I didn't even know I was caring.

And for the first time since moving to the United States, I felt like I could breathe again.

And after that, God started making room in my heart to serve and help other women, and I became a renewed mentor.

When I started mentoring for the first time, I couldn't stop thinking about translating the material into Portuguese.

I just couldn't shake the feeling that I should do it.

I finished the translation at the same time that I finished mentoring my first care receiver.

I didn't know what God would ever do with it.

Fast forward to April of this year, I visited Transit thinking about being a small group leader.

During the service, I suddenly heard someone near me speaking Portuguese.

I turned around.

It was a group of church leaders from Brazil, from a church called Red Church.

They were visiting North Point.

I shared my story with them.

They wanted to know more about Renew.

And right there, I realized why I have translated it.

The very thing God used to heal me, now in my own language, could be used to help my people in Brazil.

I actually have an update about your translation from Red Church that I'd love for you to read out loud.

And now I have learned that Portuguese renew is not unplanned to be used at Red Church, but it's planned to be used in dozen of churches across Brazil.

That's true.

That's true.

Really?

Oh my god, I'm so glad about it.

Really?

I could never imagine imagine any of this.

One Sunday, I was afraid and through God, I took the courage to ask for help anyway.

I don't know the word to express this in English.

It's amazing, it's extraordinary, really.

I'm so so so grateful.

Isn't that a beautiful story?

Isn't that amazing?

You know, sometimes I think if you need a minute, you're a little emotional about that, it's because man, there's something in every single one of us we go, we won't we want to be known like that.

God's put a vision, he's put something in our hearts that we want to have happen.

And God wants that for you.

He loves you, he cares about you, he knows you.

And what I loved about Andy's talk is, and sometimes the first thing that we need to do is just go talk to somebody, ask for help.

You know, what I love about our church is that, man, we we have a great impact, right?

There's a lot of people we have a great impact, but it's really easy to just walk in on Sunday, drop your kids off, come in here, leave, and you just don't feel known.

You just don't feel known.

And so this area out in the lobby that Andy was talking about connections.

Man, we have amazing people out there who would love to get to know you for you to be able to share your story.

And this is who I am.

It doesn't have to be this great revelation where you know someone in a whole other different area of the world is going to start using this, but man, what if your story impacted other people in our community?

What if there was somebody, as Andy said, 30 feet away, who could use the encouragement that you have to offer just because of your story and what God's brought you through?

Could be pretty special.

So I want to encourage you.

This is how we wanted to end today's service, is that as you go get your kids, as you go on with your Sunday, and as you're thinking about joining a small group, right?

Take a time, take a moment, take some time.

Stop in connections, be able to talk to somebody, be able to make yourself known and share your story.

Thanks for being here today.

Thank you for watching online, and we'll see you next week.

You're dismissed.