Character Development | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Man.

I'm not sure if you can feel this online, but God is stirring us and He's doing something significant in us.

I want to go ahead and take this moment to invite all of our middle and high school students to go ahead and slip out and we have a great service as is planned just for you.

We got great leaders that are going to meet you there.

And while they're stepping out, would you mind turning to someone around you?

Welcome out to church and getting ready for what God wants to speak to us today.

Amen.

As we know, um the Eagles will be going against uh the Tampa Bay Buccaneers tomorrow.

Um and and and what I know, I've done a little bit of preliminary research, what what I know um is that Buccaneers is basically an extension of pirates, demonic.

Um so there's room for you here.

You're welcome here at Celebration Orlando, but by the end of this service, we're all working towards people getting saved and joining God's team.

There's always room for more.

And so we're believing God for miracles.

Um and I want y'all to pray for Pastor Nate because that's his team.

And here's the thing, I'm telling y'all right now.

Like, if they lose, he's gonna need help.

If my team loses, I'm going on another sabbatical.

So one way or another, um, we're gonna need the hand of God to move and be with us.

Um, I'm so glad that everyone is here with us to celebrate um not only just a milestone um service, but also I think a milestone um moment as we're bringing to um conclusion, um, the series that we've been in over the past couple of weeks changed uh the narrative.

Um, the first week we talked about the woman at the well and the plot twist and how Jesus can show up and just completely uh change the narrative.

And then last week, can we show some love to Pastor Vinny from last week and just the amazing message that he preached?

I'm so grateful um for him.

He preached an amazing message um with Saul with a P, just an incredible message.

If you missed any of them, um go back and check them out.

Um, but today we're gonna be concluding uh the service or or the series rather, and I want to re um I want to re-engage um our theme scripture for this, because I think it helps frame everything up.

Looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 5, um verse 17, it says this This is therefore, if any person is engrafted in Christ the Messiah, he is a new creation, a new creature altogether.

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

The old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away.

Behold, the fresh and new has come.

This idea that when we have an encounter with God, that it has the ability to change our narratives.

One moment I was living this way, and now I've had an encounter, and now I'm living a completely different way.

But the fact of the matter is, it can happen in a moment, but it's a journey, and it's a part of our process, and that's really what I want to spend some time talking to us about today.

Looking at uh Matthew's gospel, chapter number 16, we're we're gonna we're gonna dig in here and we're gonna flip over to Matthew 26.

So if you're taking notes, you can um write these down for your reference later.

But starting here at 13, here's what Matthew says.

This is Jesus engaging with his disciples, and he says, And when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say that the Son of Man is?

They replied, Well, some say that you're John the Baptist, others say Elijah, still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

But you, he asked them, Who do you say that I am?

Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.

Jesus responded, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father in heaven.

And also I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

This is this is a shining moment in the discipleship journey of the apostle Peter.

He has this revelatory moment where he looks at Jesus and he's able to cut through all the culture, all the drama, and he's able to see Jesus for who he really is, and that is the Messiah.

This this figure they had been waiting for to bring healing and restoration to the people.

So Peter was able to see this, and he was able to declare it.

And then Jesus says, as a result of this revelation, I'm going to build my church on the idea of me being the Messiah.

Not only that, but I'm also going to give you authority.

I'm going to give you the keys that if you declare my word from heaven, you're going to see it in earth.

There's this powerful moment that takes place as a result of acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah.

It happens to all of us.

But there's also some challenges that we may face.

Ten short chapters later, Jesus has just been arrested.

And now that he's going through the process of going through his trials, Peter begins to follow Jesus at a distance.

And the same man that said, I believe that you are the Messiah, you are you are the Son of the living God, you are Him.

Couple chapters later, let's look at how things can change.

Now Peter was sitting outside the courtyard, and a servant girl approached him and said, You were with Jesus, the Galilean, too.

But he denied it in front of everyone.

I don't even know what you're talking about.

When he had gone away outside the gateway, another woman saw him and told those who were there, This man was with Jesus to Nazarene.

And again he denied it with an oath, I don't know the man.

After a little while, those who were there approached Peter and said, You really are one of them, since your accent gives it away.

There's something about you that shows that you were connected to Jesus.

Then he started to curse and swear with an oath, I don't know the man.

Immediately the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus where he said, Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

And he went outside and he wept bitterly.

What a juxtaposition from Peter's perspective.

That in one environment I can recognize that Jesus is Lord and I'm willing to give him my undying loyalty.

But in another environment, when a pressure is applied, I can distance myself and almost say that I don't even know him.

I don't have any association with him.

What happens in our lives, that in some environments we can declare that Jesus is Lord, but in other areas we act as if he's not who he said he is.

Today I wanted to conclude this series by talking about the progressive nature of our narrative and showing that we have highs, we have lows, that we're all a work in progress.

And I believe that Peter is a perfect example of that.

So if you're taking notes, I want you to simply write down this message titled Character Development.

Let's pray and let's see what God wants to speak to us today.

Lord, we thank you for your goodness.

We thank you for your faithfulness and what you've done in and through our community over the past nine years and beyond.

We are just getting started.

So, Father, I pray for your people.

Those who are joining us online, those who are over in the family lounge, listen to the podcast, those who are sitting right in front of me.

Father, I pray for us all that you can give us open eyes to see you, open ears to hear you, and open hearts to receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Character development is a crucial aspect of any story that's that's being told, typically.

You typically need to have some measure of intentional character development so that you can truly engage in the journey of whatever person um that you're currently looking into in hopes of understanding the things that are happening in their lives.

So character development has a lot of different components that are connected to it, but I want to just give you a few of what character development looks like and a good story that helps us to really have buy-in with the character that we're watching.

At some point in any narrative, the character is introduced.

That's when they come onto the screen and we see them and they're establishing a little bit of background context.

We're learning some nuances about who they are.

Then we begin to learn a little bit about their goals, what's motivating them?

Are they are they coming from uh an impoverished background?

Are they coming from some struggle?

But we typically learn some aspects about them so that we can understand their motivation.

Why do they function the way that they function?

What's inspiring them?

That's all a part of character development when we're understanding stories.

The third thing that typically happens is then there's conflict.

There's that thing that happens in our life.

It could be uh a dynamic.

Let's think about like finding Nemo.

Nemo's gone, and the name insinuates finding Nemo.

I have to find Nemo.

That's the issue that now creates the opportunity for him to now grow and to evolve into whatever is next for him as he's developing as a character.

So there's the conflict.

And then hopefully, through the conflict, some things are revealed, some decisions are made, the person is made better, and then we're able to see the conflict resolve.

And now they've grown as a character, character development.

It helps us to understand the journey that a person's on so we can also chart how they're navigating through challenges and so forth.

So whenever we're watching a movie or TV show, reading a book, character development is important and understanding the arcs of the story.

So if we ever jump into a show or a movie or whatever, and we jump into part two or season two or something and we didn't watch season one, it may be its own unique storyline, but we've missed out on opportunities of watching the character to development, so we may not fully understand their motivation.

We may not fully understand why they move the way that they move.

Let me give us an example.

I I grew up as a as a Star Wars fan.

I got any Star Wars fans in the house with us today.

Okay, okay.

The nine o'clock had a little bit more, but that makes sense.

Um I I grew up, I grew up as a Star Wars fan.

Now, let me let me make be very clear.

I'm not dressing up and going to any conventions or anything.

I'm not doing any of that.

But but I did grow up as a Star Wars fan of some of the main franchise films.

And so I just recall watching the stories and and all these different things going on.

But if you're if we know anything about Star Wars, there's tons of spin-off stories and tons of other characters, and they're all intertwined, and it can be a little bit overwhelming.

And so whenever you go to watch something new from Star Wars, sometimes it's like I don't understand what's fully going on because I don't know how that person is integrated to that, so it can be a little bit confusing.

So just yesterday, um, I decided that I was like, hey, you know what?

I'm sitting at home, it's a great Saturday.

I'm gonna go ahead and get caught up on some of my shows that I haven't watched in a while.

And so I decided, hey, I'm gonna watch the Ahsoka.

Ahsoka.

Yeah, I got it.

Okay, Danny, you get it.

So I decided, hey, I'm gonna put on the Ahsoka show so I can get caught up because I knew that it got some good reviews.

So I began to watch it, but if I'm honest with you, there was a lot of things that were happening in the show that I just didn't fully understand because there were dynamics that had happened in the other show and then things that had to go back.

I began to Google things, and they were like, oh, you gotta go watch Clone Wars if you really want to fully understand it.

And if you get and I'm like, I don't got time to go back and watch all these old seasons in order for me to understand this stuff.

Like, can somebody just give me a bulleted list of the motivation behind this character?

Because I didn't understand why she had certain decisions, I didn't understand why she harbored such anger at certain moments.

So I'm trying to watch this new show, but because I skipped the previous seasons, I didn't understand how her character to develop to be where she was.

See, I believe that that's a shining example of how life can be for some of us sometimes.

We are all on a journey.

And if we're honest with ourselves, there are some seasons that we just don't want to engage in.

So what ends up happening is we try to skip past those seasons, but unfortunately, we miss the character, the development of the season that we skipped.

And when we step into a new room, we don't have what it takes to be equipped for where we are.

Have you ever noticed that wherever you are, there's somewhere else you want to be?

Like Megan and I are in grad school right now, and so every time I'm up late at night writing 10-page papers that I feel like make no sense.

I can't tell you how many times a week I'm like, I cannot wait for this to be over.

Can my college student say a good amen?

I can't wait for this to be over.

I I can't wait until I don't have to write another paper.

I can't wait until I'm past this.

But but watch this.

If I'm not careful, I can skip past the season of me learning how to develop the skills that are necessary in order for me when I get into the other season that I am equipped to handle what I am about to face.

Let let me let me go a little bit further.

Have you ever noticed that when you're single, you can't wait until you're married?

Right?

That's a that's a good thing.

But but here's what I've here's what I've learned.

I've learned that the marriage doesn't make me happy, I make the marriage happy.

So if I'm not careful, I am not actually learning how to develop my character in my single seasons so that when I step into my marriage season, I still have a single mindset and I'm wondering why I don't have peace and I'm not making progress.

Maybe it's because I skipped past the character development that I needed in our current season.

It seems that no matter where we are, there's somewhere else that we want to be.

And I can honestly tell you that sometimes the church has been complicit.

Because what we'll often do is we'll give you three points on how to avoid that season instead of three points on how to endure it.

But what I believe God is saying to us in this season is that there's some things you just can't skip by, you can only go through it.

And I don't believe we're supposed to just go through seasons.

I think we're called to grow through them.

No matter where we are, there's somewhere else that we want to be.

That one that now that we're married, now I want to have children.

That's beautiful.

The Bible said, be fruitful and multiply.

Praise the Lord for the blessing.

But but watch this.

If I haven't learned how to become one with my spouse, me bringing a child into the equation is not going to draw us closer together.

And now we have conflict and generational drama that continues to get passed down from one generation to the next because we're not appreciating the season where we're just learning to get to know one another.

And then, interestingly enough, when I become a parent, I'm reminiscent about the days when I was single.

The days when I can go and do whatever I wanted to do, but I didn't understand my season.

What I truly believe that God wants us to understand is that we need to be fully present in our season and allow him to develop us so that we can be molded into the image that he has for us.

Write this down.

Time ages you, but seasons mature you.

Time ages you, but it's the seasons that mature you as long as you don't skip it.

This is why you can have conversations with people and they can say, Oh, we've we've been married for 10 years, but you're starting to see these foundational issues that still remain.

You haven't been married for 10 years, you've been married for one year ten times.

What God wants us to do when we find ourselves in these different seasons is don't try to skip it.

Allow him to do the work in you so that when you get to the next season, you're equipped for what God wants to do in your life.

Can I get a good amen?

I know I'm stepping on some toes, but it's going to get better.

I promise you it is.

I just want to give us some perspective.

Here's what Romans 5, verses 3 and 4 says.

Romans 5:3

This is Paul talking about the trials that sometimes we try to skip past.

But this is Paul reinforcing, like, hey, don't skip past it because God's doing something in it.

He says this not only that, but we are also boasting in our afflictions.

Who does that, Paul?

Nobody.

But he says, because we know that affliction produces endurance.

And endurance produces proven character.

And proven character produces hope.

Paul is helping us to understand that this may be an uncomfortable season, but if you allow yourself to stay there and develop the endurance while you're there, that when you come out of this, you will be as shiny as pure gold.

It's a part of our development.

Proven character produces hope.

See, character is a comprehensive set of traits that make up our intellectual and ethical substance.

It's the part of us that as we're on journeys, we learn how to grow and to become better as a result of the trials and the tribulations, but then we use that as wisdom that then translates into the way that we live our lives and we make decisions and we grow as a result of it.

We don't just go through seasons, we grow through them.

And when I look at the life of Peter, I believe that he is the perfect example of someone that we can see was a work in progress.

Because a lot of times what ends up happening is when we look at Peter, we can either have two, one of two extremes.

The one extreme is we can overly focus on his shortcomings and mistakes and use it as a cautionary tale, or we can skip past his struggles and only see him as a super apostle without recognizing that he was both.

That he was a man of faith, but he also was a man of fear.

That he was a man of focus, but he was also a man who was incredibly impetuous.

That he was a man of courage, but he also was a man who had insecurities.

And these are all happening at the same time.

A lot of times we think it's a transaction.

Yes to Jesus, everything is good.

But the reality of it is we say yes to Jesus, and then there becomes some challenges and some trials, and we're working some things out, and we overcome it.

Then we get into a new space, and God continues to do a work, and what allows the work to go through us is that we keep showing up.

So I want to share three thoughts with us from the life of Peter that I hope can be an encouragement for us as we all recognize that we're in a season of character development.

Here's the first thing I want us to write down.

Our stories start with a decision.

Every story has a critical moment and it starts with a decision.

Matthew chapter 4, verses 18 through 20.

Matthew 4:18–20

It says this.

It says, as he, this is Jesus, was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew, and they were casting nets into the sea, for they were fishermen.

Follow me, he told them, and I will make you fish for people.

Immediately they dropped their nets and they followed him.

See, we see that, and that sounds like, okay, great.

They saw Jesus, they dropped their nets, they followed him.

But when you read this in the synoptic gospels, which is Matthew, Mark, and Luke all together, you actually get a different perspective that happens.

Let me let me give you the full detailed version of this.

Peter and his brother Andrew and James and John, they all had a fishing business, and it was also connected to Peter's father.

It's a family business.

And while they're on this family business, they're out there fishing, like they always do.

But on this particular day, they are not being successful.

So they're about to call it a day.

Jesus is walking by, he sees them and says, Hey, do you mind if I use your boat as a pulpit?

People are crowding around me.

I want to use the acoustics from the environment and I want to use your boat as a platform to speak from.

Peter's like, Man, I'm not catching any fish, man, go for it.

Jesus gets up, he preaches, he inspires people.

Jesus is so thankful for Peter's generosity that he says to him, like, hey, um, can you just drop your net?

Um Peter's like, Man, I've been out here fishing all day.

I'm an expert at this.

But hey, if you're telling me to drop my net, I'll do it because why not?

Peter drops his net, and then what ends up happening as a result of that, he ends up getting so many fish that the nets begin to break.

He has to call all of his partners over and have to wield and bring the fish in.

This is an amazing payday for them.

This is this is a substantial increase.

It's in this moment, after they have this, Peter recognizes that the hand of God is clearly on Jesus' life, and it's in that moment that Jesus says to him, Hey, what you just saw with that, I'm calling you to do that in my kingdom.

Forget that and follow me.

And Peter had to make a decision.

I can either be a person that seeks the hand of God, or I can be a person that seeks his face.

I can be a person that wants to benefit from God's blessings, or I can be a person that benefits from God's presence.

Peter had to make a decision that on his biggest payday ever, that Jesus was saying, Are you willing to lay it down and follow me?

But Lord, can I get rid of these fish first?

No, are you willing to lay it down and just and follow me?

But Lord, if I can just catch up with you later.

No, are you willing to lay down your greatest successes?

Are you willing to lay down your greatest strength?

Are you willing to lay down your pride?

Are you willing to lay down your ego?

Are you willing to lay down your goals and plans?

Are you willing to lay those things down and follow me?

And Peter had to make a decision.

I think every single one of us, we have to make a decision on what it is we're going to do with Jesus.

Are we going to be people that say, I will follow Jesus when it's convenient?

I will follow Jesus when it all works out.

I will follow Jesus when it doesn't really cost me any sacrifice.

I will follow Jesus when everything works out.

Or am I willing to be a person that says, I am saying yes to Jesus, and then I'm going to steward my life in such a way that shows evidence that Jesus is my filter.

That's not easy.

It's hard and it's sacrificial, but nonetheless, it's what God is inviting us into.

Peter had to leave behind a family business.

He had to leave behind all his expectations to step into the unknown, but I believe it's in these moments that God can do the most powerful things in our lives.

I remember when I had my radical encounter with God that I had to make a decision on what my life was going to look like going forward.

I understood enough from my mom's preaching that I could not be lukewarm.

That means one foot in and one foot out.

So I knew I needed to make a decision.

I knew I had to make some adjustments in my life, and I knew I needed to steward every decision after that.

As for me, And my house, we're going to serve the Lord.

I'm going to lay before you life and death.

What are you going to choose?

I'm going to choose life.

And I just remember stewarding that decision every single day.

And it wasn't easy.

And I remember friends and they were wondering, Keith, we want to come to this party.

I would love to come.

But I've said yes to Jesus and I got to steward my decisions as a result of what I've already decided.

Keith, if you want to come over here and hang out, I would love to do that, but that's not an environment that's going to help me to grow spiritually.

So I've decided that I'm going to follow Jesus.

So all of my subsequent decisions need to support the decision that I've made to Him.

If we don't understand that God is inviting us into a one-time decision that we have to steward for the rest of our lives and it never becomes easy, I firmly believe this family, that we are born looking like our parents, but we die looking like our decisions.

That we're born into a situation, we're born into a context, we're born into a narrative, and we may have made some decisions that have allowed us to deal with the residue of some of that.

But at some point, we have to make a decision on what we're going to do with Jesus.

I have decided that Jesus is Lord.

I've decided I'm going to put him first.

I've decided that I'm the head of nothing.

I've decided that God's best for me is still ahead of me.

I've decided that I'm going to live my life following Jesus, and it may get uncomfortable and may be some challenges, but I have decided that Jesus is Lord and my life is going to reflect him.

I've decided that I'm going to walk in the promises of God and my life is going to reflect.

We got to make a decision that if we want to truly see our narratives change, it starts with us making a decision.

It takes time.

Peter made a decision to follow Jesus, and I wish that it was just as easy as that.

Yes to Jesus, now I'm good, autopilot, no more struggles.

But we understand by looking at Peter, but also by looking in the mirror, that transformation does not happen overnight.

That transformation is not linear, it's actually cyclical.

It's one of those things that just takes time and it's uncomfortable, but it's a part of our developmental process.

I want us to imagine for a moment a potter working with some clay.

That they have this moment where the potter has a vision, but he has a lump of clay that doesn't have any definition.

And then he begins to mold this piece of clay that's without form and void.

He uses the potter's wheel, which goes in a circle, and he begins to use it to rub out some rough spots.

He begins to use it to shape some things and what he intended that piece of clay to do.

And it just seems as he's going in one big circle.

But if we actually can look at it from the potter's perspective, he's molding it and working it.

And every now and then there may be some stubborn parts in the clay that the potter has to put a little extra pressure on, that he may have to put a little bit more water on, but he's working it and smoothing some things out because he knows the vision that he has for it.

Now, if you're the clay, if I could personify why am I walking through this again?

Why am I struggling with this again?

I feel like I'm making progress, but I'm also going backward.

But from the potter's perspective, you're back around here again because there's some things that I still need to work out of your life.

And if you can ever get to the place where you can carry the thing that I called you to carry, we got to deal with these cracks.

So we're gonna go around this thing again, but you're not going backwards.

It's a work in progress.

God is doing a work inside of all of us, and what I believe we see with the person of Peter is we see that he has moments where his everything is good, he has other moments when there's a setback.

But if there's one narrative that I think brings it all together, it's found in Matthew chapter 14.

Matthew 14 · chapter mention

This is where Jesus is walking on water, and the the disciples are freaking out a little bit.

So Peter says, Lord, if it's you, command me to come onto the water.

And Jesus says, Come.

And and climbing out of the boat, Peter starts walking on the water and he came towards Jesus.

If you didn't catch that, Peter is literally walking on water right now.

Who would have ever thought?

But watch what it says here.

But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid and began to sink and he cried out, Lord, save me.

That he stepped out in faith.

He responded to the words of Jesus.

But the moment that he began to recognize the strength of the waves, he began to recognize the rain, he took his eyes off of Jesus and he began to sink.

Does this sound familiar to anybody?

These moments that we hear the calling of God on our lives and we step out in faith and say, Yes, Lord, I'm going to respond to him.

I'm standing on things that other people are sinking in, and it seems as if I'm making progress.

But the moment that we take our eyes off of Jesus, why am I sinking in my fear when I know that Jesus is Lord?

Why am I sinking in insecurity when I know that God is good?

We can still find ourselves sinking into environments that we thought we overcame.

Some of us feel these moments and we wonder if we failed God as a result of it.

Lord, it seems as if every time I take a step forward, I'm taking three steps backwards.

It seems that everything that I thought that I conquered, I find that it still seems to be conquering me.

But be encouraged, friends, that in Peter's journey, every time he had hit a stumbling block, Jesus was there with him.

The Bible says that when he began to sink, he said, Lord, save me.

And Jesus was right there to extend a hand and he lifted him up and said, Will you just believe?

I believe that for every one of us that we have these moments where we have great success, but we then begin to sink.

We find ourselves drifting backwards at times.

But if we only could look at Peter as our example and just simply say, Lord, I'm struggling.

Can you still save me?

I know that I bypassed this last year, and I don't know why this temptation is rising up anymore, but I'm gonna ask that you save me.

Peter becomes a perfect example of what it looks like to walk by faith and not by sight, but to still simultaneously be afraid of the things that you see.

Peter is a man that we see that he reaches out his hand and says, Lord, will you save me?

We see in Peter's narrative that when he's in the Garden of Gethsemane, that Jesus says, Man, it's gonna be all good, and they're gonna arrest me, but I'm gonna rise again.

But when Jesus is arrested, Peter pulls out a sword and cuts off a man's ear.

You need them type of people in your circle, that's all I'm saying.

But he pulls out a sword, he cuts off a man's ear, this man who was impulsive, this man who was passionate.

And Jesus said, No, you're missing the mark, you're being overly zealous.

I never wanted my people to become very aggressive and harming people when they need to hear the gospel and not be beat down with the sword of the gospel.

That's a message for another time.

Peter, who was now learning this lesson of understanding, well, I can't be too aggressive.

Then he begins to follow Jesus from a distance, but Jesus was there.

Jesus said, The day is gonna come when you're gonna deny me.

Lord, I will never deny you.

But even after he denied him, Jesus looked at him and he restored him because Jesus was there.

I'm here to encourage somebody.

Maybe you've had some setbacks, but Jesus is there.

Maybe you've had some struggles, but Jesus is there.

No matter what your struggle is, no matter what you're sinking in, Jesus is there with you, but you just gotta be willing to reach out a hand and ask him, Lord, save me.

Lord, save me.

The Bible tells us that with Peter that as he began to sink, that God didn't give up on him.

What do we learn in this third point that I want to share with us is that we learn that our stories are also seeds.

I'll explain this in a second that our stories, they're seeds.

Seeds have such incredible potential.

When they're planted in the right conditions, they're nurtured, they're watered, they're bathed in light, these seeds that have so much potential have the ability to grow into trees that ultimately will bear fruit.

But it all depends on what I'm doing with the seed.

There are so many scriptures that refer to God as the as the divine gardener.

We see this from the beginning in Genesis.

We see this all through the book of Revelation that there's always this connection to God and water and agriculture, and there's this connection to how putting things into the hands of God, no matter how bad off they may seem, that He is a divine gardener, is able to use it as a seed that is capable of producing some incredible fruit.

Romans 8, chapter 28, I think, beautifully encapsulates this.

It says that we know that all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to his purpose.

This passage is a beautiful reminder of how God can take even our messy stories and use them for his glory, but we gotta be willing to put them into his hands.

That the God is able to use our high moments to be inspiration for some people, but he also can use our low moments as repetitions for people because we put it into the hands of God.

I have countless stories of things that I've walked through personally and things that I've seen, of things that look like they're pure chaos, but when they are put into the hands of God, how he's able to still create life out of the most dark and dim situations.

Last week, Megan went to DC to be with some dear friends of ours.

She was there to support one of her best friends who was who was sponsoring a walk on suicide awareness.

Many of you guys may remember a few months ago, we had shared how my son Caleb had lost his best friend to death by suicide.

It's a very dark time for us.

It still continues to be.

So they had a walk to commemorate not only him but other people that have experienced this, family members, people who maybe have attempted.

But nonetheless, this is walk that was meant to just kind of show honor and love.

While Becca was there, she was saying how, of course, it was a very weighty and challenging moment.

But she said she was so inspired when she began to hear the stories of people talking about what God has been doing ever since they've experienced it.

She heard people tell stories of how family members came to faith because they knew that in their own strength they couldn't overcome it.

That she heard stories of people who actually attempted it, but then they weren't successful, and they can tell stories of how the hand of God literally intervened.

It was all these beautiful and powerful stories that were that were birthed out of messiness, but when you take that and put it into the hands of God, how it can still create something that will bring him glory.

It may not always make sense to us.

I've shared my story with you guys in regards to me losing family members, my cousin who got killed in a car accident.

God used that messy situation, but it was from that that I said yes to Jesus, that nothing is out of reach when grace gets involved, that nothing is beyond redemption, that nothing is beyond hope, that God can even take our moments of despair and still use it for his glory.

Our stories, our seeds that have the potential of bringing life or bringing stagnation.

It's a matter of what we choose to do with it.

It's a matter of whose hand do we decide to put it in.

When we look at the life of Peter, we see a man who denied Jesus, but then there's a moment when he repents and then he is restored.

And what Jesus says to him is, Peter, I'm giving you the responsibility of sharing the story, talking about me, and watching people come into the kingdom.

You mean that Peter that denied Jesus was now being trusted with preaching the gospel?

Absolutely.

What we find in Acts chapter number one that Peter he hits the ground running, he begins to recognize that since Judas had betrayed them, that they needed to bring another disciple in to replace them.

So Peter was instrumental in establishing new kingdom leadership.

In Acts chapter number two, the day of Pentecost comes, the Holy Spirit arrives, and now we begin to see revival take place, and he preaches the gospel with boldness.

And 3,000 people get saved at the end of his sermon.

And in Acts chapter number three, the Bible says that Peter is on his way to the temple and he comes across a man who is paralyzed.

And the man says, Can you just give me some money?

But he says, I don't have any silver and gold to give you, but what I can give you is Jesus.

In the name of Jesus, get up and walk.

And we see Peter perform his first miracle since Jesus has ascended into heaven.

In Acts chapter number four, Peter gets arrested as a result of performing that miracle.

And the same men that crucified Jesus was telling Peter not to declare Jesus anymore.

This man who once was afraid, but he developed and he grew as a result of it.

He said, It is more better that I am obedient to God to be fearful of man.

I don't care what you can do to me.

How this man was able to continue to grow and evolve.

The Bible tells us that Peter was so anointed that they would bring sick people outside so that his shadow could touch them and they could eventually get healed.

This man who went from denying Jesus, this man who went from doubting, this man who went from distancing himself was the same man that God had set up to be a major pillar inside of the church because he didn't give up.

But he still was not without fault.

Check this out.

Peter was the one that was responsible for issuing basically the deciding vote on what happens with the church with Jews and Gentiles.

Peter gets up and says, like, no, no, I had a vision, and God has the Holy Spirit for them the same way that it has for us as Jews, and we need to be integrated and connected.

It's a powerful moment.

God uses him to do that.

But not long after that, he still had that insecurity and fear.

Paul tells us that he began to recognize how Peter, who was instrumental in bringing integration, that when he was around other Jews, he would still distance himself from Gentiles.

That fear, that that side of him was still there where he was still working through it.

And then Paul comes up to him and says, Hey bro, you're acting like a racist, knock it off.

You know better.

And you know what Peter does?

He grows and gets better.

Because what maturity allows you to do, it allows you to be corrected so that you can move forward instead of offended and continue to stay backwards.

Peter continued to be a work in progress because he continued to put his trust in Jesus.

He made a decision and he continued to steward it day after day.

I believe that if we could just pick up this idea that transformation doesn't happen overnight.

You're gonna have high moments, you're gonna have low moments, but if we can redefine what it means to win in the kingdom, it could bring us so much peace.

A good friend of mine, he used to play in the NFL.

And I remember one year I got a chance to sit with him during one of the NFL drafts.

And as we were sitting there, he was watching as his team was picking different players and some skills positions which he played.

So I was like, bro, like did you know this was coming?

He's like, No, like I'm I'm watching this just like you.

He said, So that means that we're really focusing on this position this year.

And I was really just blown away at it because I'm thinking, like, hey, you're on a team, everybody knows what's going on.

But what he said to me, he's like, no, no, no.

He's let me explain to you the way that the NFL works.

He said, let's be realistic.

There's not a single, there's very few teams that think that they're going to go undefeated.

So watch this.

They go into the season knowing we're not gonna win every game.

They go into the season knowing their weaknesses, they go into the seasons knowing where I need to draft better, the areas we need to develop better, but they also recognize that either we win or we learn, but we don't lose as long as we get better with the setback.

So they go into the new season saying, Yeah, we're not gonna win a Super Bowl, but hey, if we can just be better than we were last year, they go into every game with a game plan to win, but they also understand that, hey, we may not win this game, and as long as we get better, we're gonna continue to grow as a result of it.

That is such a simple concept, but it's so practical if we really began to look at our lives that way.

That if we understood that that I may not be perfect, but I just want to be better than I was last year, and I may have some setbacks, I may take some losses in yards, but I'm gonna grow from it, I'm gonna get better from it, I'm gonna keep showing up and continue to move forward as a result of it.

And then eventually I'll get to a place where maybe I'll win the Super Bowl, but guess what?

There's another season, and then I gotta get better again, and I gotta get better again, and I'll deal with some new challenges, we may deal with some injuries, but we have to continuously get better.

If we in the kingdom could simply look at how they do it in the athletic world, I think that we wouldn't condemn ourselves as much as we do.

Because what we do is every moment we look at it as a win and loss.

And if we are not victorious, then we can actually look at ourselves as losers.

The enemy then uses that and exploits it as a foothold that makes us feel like we're not good enough.

Why do we even bother trying?

We give up and we end up going completely in the wrong direction.

What Peter shows us is a person who is able to make mistakes but get up and trust God.

A person who can struggle, but I get up and trust God.

I have some days that I'm knocking it out the park and I get up and trust God.

I have some days where I strike out, but I want to continue to get up and trust God.

And I don't lose as long as I'm focused on learning.

We all have a story to tell.

And I believe it's a matter of having perspective and putting them into the hands of God.

Each one of us, when we came in today, we were given this paper.

If you if you didn't get it, you can slip a hand up and and someone from our team will bring you one.

But I want to create an intentional space for just a few moments where we can begin to reflect on the stories to tell.

What this moment is really meant to be for us is one recognizing that all of us has a story.

And and watch this.

All of our stories may not be mountaintop moments.

It could just be the small moments, the moments where we just decided to get up and say, I'm trusting God today.

Maybe your story is, Keith, I wanted to stay home today.

It's fall, it's beautiful, it's pumpkin spice season, but I'm here.

That's a part of your story.

You you're winning right now.

I say that in jest, but I say that at the core of my spirit.

I truly believe that sometimes we think that our stories are only these great big resurrection moments, but it's no, it's the small moments as well.

Maybe we have some tragedies in our story, maybe we have some setbacks, maybe we have some triumphs, but nonetheless, these are all seeds that if we put them into the hands of God, is able to produce incredible fruit.

This paper, if you notice it, this is not just a design choice from Lindsay and the team, but this is actually seeded paper that you are able to plant and watch God produce fruit as a result of the story that you're going to share.

What we want to do is just for the next few moments create some space for you to reflect and to write your story.

What's that moment where God began to change the narrative?

Or what's that moment that you know that you want God to change the narrative?

I believe this is a sacred moment that we can invite God into, that He can begin to do a work in us, and then collectively we can see that it's my life, God's way, and our story.

At the end of our time together, we're gonna collect these stories, and God's gonna do something powerful and transformational with it.

You're gonna keep the top part for yourself.

You can use it to plant something with, and I believe that as we pray over these stories, we're gonna see fruit that's gonna bear as a result of it.

But what I'm asking for every one of us, let's be sober-minded, let's lean into this moment, let's reflect on our story, the things that God has changed, the things we want God to change, and let's see what God does when a faith-filled room creates space and has that Peter moment of Lord, help me.

Lord, I'm inviting you in, or Lord, I celebrate what you've already done.

Let's take a few moments, let's reflect, let's write, and then we'll celebrate.

Thanks again for listening.

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