Sabbatical Sermons - Three Believes

Well, hey, good morning, everybody. My name's

Gregg, and I am one of the pastors here at the

house. If you've never been here before, you

had no idea that I was just gone for three months

on a sabbatical, but I am really, really happy

to be back from that sabbatical. It's been a

minute since I have preached or led worship.

I didn't preach or lead worship in any environment

for the entire time. Visited a lot of places

and experienced a lot of worship, but I didn't

lead any of that. So forgive me if I am a little

rusty. We'll see how it goes. In those three

months, I did a bunch of little projects around

the house. Like yesterday, I just decided, oh,

I need a new downspout for the gutter that's

been broken for years on our garage. And I did

that. I visited 12 different churches. It was

nice to go and see some of my pastor friends

and their environments. It's kind of like when

you go to Starbucks and you have the same barista

all the time, and you're like, well, I come and

visit you at your work all the time. Why don't

you ever come visit me at my work? And it was

nice to be able to go see some of my pastor friends

at the place that they work because we all work

at the same time on the same day. I wrote one

new song that we'll do next week. We'll sing

together. And I finished almost 50 ,000 words

of a book that I'm working on. So I still have

a ways to go. And I'm sure there'll be a lot

of edits that need to be done. I traveled almost

3 ,500 miles going back and forth to Chicago

a bunch of times, up to Kalamazoo, Zeeland, Allegan,

Michigan. Got friends up there. Worked at a camp

up there years ago. So I went and spent some

time writing there. I also went to Omaha, Nebraska,

and Ames, Iowa, where I will be again in just

a handful of weeks as our second son, Liam, moves

to Ames for Iowa State University for his first

year of college, so that's exciting. One of the

reasons that this sabbatical was so well -timed

is that all four of our kids are at these transition

points in their lives. Brennan is 21 and has

been going to Augie, but has lived at home so

that there isn't that added expense. But for

his senior year, Brennan is moving out, going

to live with some of the guys from his fraternity.

And that's happening here in a couple weeks,

beginning of August, I think. And Liam is obviously

off to Iowa State, and Wallace is starting Rocky.

He's going to be a high schooler in Adley. He's

starting Washington. He's going to be a junior

high student. So most of my travel was actually

with my kids, creating memories at these transition

moments like Brooke mentioned. I specifically

wanted to make sure that we had these moments

together. I took Brennan and Liam to see Hamilton

in Chicago. Walsh and I went to Omaha for a couple

days and saw a band that we really love called

Josiah in the Bonnevilles. We also happened to

go to, apparently it's the best zoo in America.

We had no idea. It is phenomenal. Like, if you

can handle the four -something -hour drive, it

is worth it. In Omaha, yeah, yeah, Omaha. Yeah,

yeah. I mean, you can walk for, yeah. I think

we spent four hours there, and we only saw, like,

70 % of what they had. Adley and I went to Chicago.

We visited a couple museums and the zoo and the

aquarium. And then Liam and I went again to Chicago.

We saw a Cubs game one day. The next day we saw

a White Sox game. Why? Because a few years ago,

the students, well... A few years ago... Oh,

they cheated first, too. A few years ago... A

few years ago, the Shed took all the students

to Chicago, and one of the things they did was

they went to a White Sox game. And ever since

then, Liam has been a White Sox fan. And so it

was nice to see my team one day and his team

the next day. My team lost, his team won. So

he had the best time. And then this past May,

Cindy and I also went to Chicago for a day celebrating

24 years of marriage and 25 years together. So

that was pretty awesome. And then there's just

the moment that we're in right now. Right now

is when we were moving back to the Quad Cities

13 years ago. We felt this sense that we needed

to come back to Rock Island, be part of starting

a new church here that would call prodigals home

and be a place for the spiritually homeless.

And so Cindy and I, we just passed 13 years of

pastoring and leading this church and this community.

Even though Sunday mornings didn't start till

January, this is when it started. And so more

than half of my 25 years of full -time ministry

has been in this church. So that's, yeah, that's

special. And I want to make sure that you all

know that you are an anomaly. You are an anomaly.

This church is an anomaly, especially if we're

talking about rest, because most pastors never

get a single sabbatical, let alone a regularly

scheduled sabbatical. So thank you. Thank you

to everyone that served. Thank you for creating

space for rest. Thank you for trusting the process,

for believing that God is at work in this place,

even if one or all the pastors happen to be out

of town. Because I know there were a couple Sundays

where I was like, wait, Jen's not here either?

I want to say thank you to the elders. Thank

you for your continued... care for this congregation

because it's not just me it's not just jen it's

not just marissa it's the elders that continue

to pray for you and to support you spiritually

and then in particular you know just thank you

marissa and thank you jen to the pastors that

continue to carry the responsibilities yeah and

the next thing my note was will you thank them

with me yeah it's a special thing i mean Marissa

is probably going on five or six years, and I'll

lose track. But Jen was the first text message

that we made in January of 2013 when we prayed

and felt like we were meant to do this. We texted,

hey, so would you want to be a part of this?

So she's been a part of it ever since. I consider

her a founding pastor of this church. About three

weeks ago, I was... Pretty ready to be back.

I actually met up with Andy and I was like, I

think I might ask Jen if I can come back a week

early. I'm ready. So I started thinking about

the sermon and what I should preach. And so I

don't normally name my sermons, but this one

I'm going to call the three believes. Not beliefs.

The three believes. Most of you probably already

know that our son Liam, he's 18 and he recently

had. back surgery and the doctor said that it

went as well as it could have it went very well

we stayed in the hospital for eight days and

it's hard to think you know with him moving soon

and with being in the hospital again it's hard

not to reflect back on the experiences we had

uh when he was in the hospital for the first

time and so i was just thinking about it reflecting

on getting to be his dad it's transition time

in his life and i found something that i had

written to him Gosh, dang. When he was 11. And

with his permission, I'm going to share it with

you. It says this. Hey, Liam, this week is the

five -year marker of when you got sick. I have

always told you that I don't know exactly what

will happen, but I do believe that you will have

an amazing life. I wonder what you will do as

an adult. Brooke, you're right. I practiced.

I wonder if you'll get married and who you'll

fall in love with. I wonder if you'll have kids.

I wonder where you'll live and if you'll change

the world. With all your ideas and intelligence.

I don't know the answers to any of those questions,

but I believe you will have a very good life.

And I believe an amazing life is connected to

a couple of things. One, believing God wants

the best for you and is always guiding you towards

his greatest hope for your life. This doesn't

mean you'll always know the right thing to do.

But it means that God cares about you and is

working in your life to show you how to love

and be loved and live life well. Two, believing

the best about others. We can be hard on ourselves

or about ourselves. Believe the best about yourself.

We can be hard on ourselves. If we make mistakes

or if our bodies don't work the way we want,

we can be mean to ourselves. But we have to believe

the best about ourselves as well. We are God's

creation, and we are amazing creations. Three,

believe the best about others. Other people will

make mistakes, and at times we may need to end

a friendship or limit how much time we spend

with a certain person based on their actions.

But first, we have to learn to give them the

benefit of the doubt, to believe the best about

them until we know their intentions and can make

good decisions for ourselves. Never feel bad

for making good decisions for yourself and your

health, but also never rush to cut someone out

of your life unless they are hurting you on purpose.

Grace and forgiveness are important. God will

guide you in these as well, and I'm always here

to talk to you. I love you, boy, dad. Let's pray.

God of every tribe, every tongue, every color.

and every nation. Thank you for this church,

for family, for what you have done in the past,

what you are doing now in the present, and what

you will continue to do in the future. Amen.

The first, believe. Believe God wants the best

for you and is always guiding you towards the

greatest hope for your life. There's this idea

out there that for God to be good, he has to

give us all the good things we need, regardless

of the free will in us or of those around us.

That idea might expand to, if we're missing something

that we need, it's because God just chose not

to help. Or worse, that God planned for us to

fail. Jeremiah 29, 11. It says, for I know the

plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans

to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to

give you a hope and a future. Now this verse

can be taken out of context and exaggerated.

It can get used by wealth and prosperity preachers

to say that God wants you to be rich. And if

you're not rich, then you must be rebelling and

doing something wrong. That's just silliness.

If you have less than your neighbor, it's not

because you're rebelling against God or because

you didn't tithe 10%. The verse has nothing to

do with your financial wealth. It's about the

heart of God for you. It's about the nature of

God. God has no plans to harm you. God wants

to give you hope. God wants to give you a future.

And so God is always working to guide you to...

His greatest hope for you. The trouble in the

equation isn't God. It's usually us, humans.

Not because we're bad. God says that we are very

good. He looked at his creation and said, this

is very good. We bear the image of God, but we

are fallible. We do make mistakes. Think about

it like this. My wife and kids can be standing

right next to me and say something and I can

still mishear or misunderstand what they said.

They can attest, right? If I can be standing

right next to someone and misunderstand them,

what are the odds that I'm always going to hear

and understand what God has said? Even if we

do understand, even if we do hear clearly, we

may not always choose. God's way because we're

not perfect. It's why so many of the Proverbs

remind us how to follow God. Trust in the Lord

with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge him and he will

make your paths straight. There is a role that

we play in moving into the greatest hope that

God has for us. That is hearing, not leaning

on our own way, trusting him and walking in whatever

path he has made straight. We may misunderstand

or ignore, but that does not change that God

will always be trying to lead you to his greatest

hope. for your life. All right, so first, believe

God wants what is best for you. Second, believe

the best about yourself. Don't raise your hand,

but how many of us have had negative thoughts

about ourselves just this morning? Don't raise

your hand. Just since you woke up this morning,

had a negative thought about yourself. How many

of us have had negative thoughts about ourselves

just during this sermon? I'm supposed to believe

the best about God, that God wants the best for

me. What's wrong with me? Why can't I believe

that? Why are we so hard on ourselves? Why are

we so mean to ourselves? Jesus told us to love

our neighbor as we love ourselves because he

wants us to love ourselves well. The better we

love ourselves and understand ourselves in the

light of God, the better we might love someone

else. Now, I'm honestly not talking about pride.

I'm not saying, like, let's be prideful. Humility

matters. Jesus taught that the last will be first,

the first will be last. But that doesn't mean

that we're meant to treat ourselves badly. So

let's see what another scripture says. Romans

12 .3 says, Do not think of yourself more highly

than you ought, but rather think of yourself

with sober judgment. In accordance with the faith

God has distributed to each of us. There's a

lot of big words in there. A lot of words maybe

we don't use often. Sober judgment. Let me read

to you the way that Eugene Peterson translated

that in the message. Eugene wrote, the only accurate

way to understand ourselves is by what God is.

And by what he has done for us, not by what we

are. or what we do for him. And I want to take

a moment here. I'm going to ask you to do me

a favor. I'm going to ask you to just center

yourself for a second, to close your eyes, and

to just hear, to just practice listening to the

word of God as translated in the message. I'll

read it again. The only accurate way to understand

ourselves. is by what God is and by what he does

for us, not by what we are and what we do for

him. Just let that settle. The only accurate

way to understand ourselves is by what God is.

Okay, so if that's how we're supposed to understand,

what is God? 1 John 4 tells us that we rely on

the love of God, the love that God has for us,

because God is love. Thomas Merton put it like

this. To say that I am made in the image of God

is to say that love is the reason for my existence,

for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness

is my true self. Love is my character. Love is

my name. God is love. And so you are loved. Love

is your character and name. You can be kind to

yourself. You can love yourself because God loves

you more than you know. Part of the hope in the

future that he has for you is for you to find

your way into the path that leads directly into

knowing that you are loved. And if we're meant

to understand ourselves by what God has done,

then here's just a few things that God has done.

Ephesians 1, in him we have redemption through

his blood. 2 Timothy 1, God saved us and called

us with a holy calling. Colossians 1, He has

rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred

us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. All three

of those things are at the very beginning of

a letter to somebody. Because at the very beginning,

the author, Paul, wanted to remind the person

he was writing to who they were and what God

has done for them. You are loved, and this is

what God has done for you. And in the words of

Jesus in John 8, if the Son makes you free, you

will be free indeed. Any and all of your wrongness

has been covered by love. We are free. It's our

old thinking that tells us that we are worthless.

Oh, everyone's going to notice that mistake.

How will I ever live that down? But it is good

and right to believe the best about yourself.

You are reconciled to God through Jesus, and

you are loved by the God that is love. Believe

God wants what is best for you. Believe the best

about yourself. because of who God is and what

he's done. And now maybe this is the really hard

one for some of us, believing the best about

others. I'm not talking about giving space to

abusers. I know it, that abusers will use the

concept of forgiveness to hold proximity to the

pain that they've created. That's not what I'm

talking about. Forgiveness and believing the

best doesn't mean that we lose all sense of boundaries

and health. What I am saying is this. If God

wants the best for me, then God wants the best

for everyone. Everything that I already said

about God wanting the best for us, for me, believing

the best about ourselves, that is all just as

true. for the person that we don't like. That

is all just as true for our perceived enemy,

for our real enemy, for our political opponent,

for the guy that cut us off on the road, for

the person that hurt our feelings, the person

that keeps hurting our feelings. If I'm supposed

to view myself in light of what God is, what

God has done. then I am meant to view everyone

in the light of who God is and what God has done.

And that's hard. I know. I know. I know. The

good news... is that we are not alone in the

three beliefs. We have each other. We are filled

with the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus has made his

home in our hearts. And the Father loves us.

Today I hope that... You start to believe just

a little bit more that God wants what is best

for you. God is always leading you toward his

best hope for you in your life. And I hope that

you believe even better things about yourself

than you have before. And I hope that we can

all look to Jesus and see the people around us.

The way that they are. Loved by the God that

is love. Amen? Let us pray. Heavenly Father,

thank you for all the scriptures that we read.

Thank you for all the ways that your spirit was

guiding us to see your hope for us. Thank you

for this congregation. I pray they will lean

on each other, that they will be with each other

in the three beliefs that when one of us struggles

to believe the best about someone, someone else

shows us how to do it. When one of us struggles

to believe the best about ourselves, someone

else will show us how to do it. And when anyone

struggles to believe the best about you, that

we will show them how to do it. Amen.