The Way | Resilient — Carl Kuhl

Hey, I'm Pastor Forrest, and welcome to the Multiply Church Podcast.

Each week we open God's word together to help you meet God and multiply good in your everyday life.

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Now, let's dive into this week's sermon.

Multiply is um great to be here.

And uh Forrest and I were introduced through a mutual friend of ours and learned even this morning that we have more we have other mutual friends uh that we both learned from.

And I uh did not realize until recently that this church was has spent much of its history in a movie theater doing setup and teardown.

And because the church I planted in Maryland spent three plus years in a movie theater, I feel like a certain affection for those of you who did setup and teardown week in and week out.

So I need to see the hands raised of those who are the movie theater people.

How long have you been here since the movie?

You can't raise your hand.

It's too tired.

I know from setup and teardown.

I get it.

I want to just tell you a couple stories from my movie theater days just to say, hey, we're we're similar.

Um, our movie theater was a really big movie theater in like the big Baltimore area, and um, so there it was open while we were doing church.

Like we would have like two theaters for adults and kids, and then like every other theater was open, having people.

And the marquee above our theater would always show, like, here's what the name and time of the movie that's showing as soon as we're done with church.

I know I'd be crying too if I had to do setup and tear down in a theater.

I get it.

And one week we walked in and somebody said, Well, that movie name is unfortunate.

And they I said, What is it?

And I went and looked at it, and the name of the movie that was showing the sign above our church said, Drag me to hell.

And I'm like, I guess that's what some people think when they go to church.

So here we are.

And then another time, I love seeing the baptistry over here.

We saw it used at the end of last service because um there's something powerful about experiencing in-community baptism.

And when we were at a portable church in a movie theater, we were trying to figure out how do we baptize people?

Where do we do this?

And so we did it in people's pools.

We did a baptism service or two in the Chesapeake Bay, but like we couldn't get the whole church to be there for it.

And like we wanted to celebrate with the church family when somebody got baptized.

So we find uh this thing online, I don't know if it still exists, called PortableBaptistry.com.

For is baptistries for portable churches.

And it was this put-together Lego thing that looked like a hot tub.

I mean, it was like a circle thing, and it said, you can set it up in your portable church, fill it up in no time, and have baptisms.

And we're like, we're all in.

So we order this thing, we get it.

We have two baptisms for the first time we have this, and we get there early to fill up.

We run a hose from the janitor's closet to this thing.

We fill it up, we have two baptisms in the service, and it's a blast.

People are going nuts, like, oh man, baptism's part of church service.

That's the way it should be.

Like, this is awesome.

So good to see God moving in our service.

And then at the end, um, we drop this pump into it and like pipe the hose out the side, you know, door at the front of the movie theater.

And we realized the company had lied to us because it said this pump would empty it in 20 minutes.

And we're like, that ain't happening.

So we find a bunch of buckets in the janitor's closet.

We start this bucket brigade where we're emptying water out of the baptistry, running to the side.

By this point, young men are specifically filing in for the movie that's about to start, like guys in their 20s.

And one of them asks me, is this a prop for the movie?

And I was like, No, we have church here.

We dunk people in water, it's weird.

I know, don't worry about it.

And I said, Out of curiosity, what movie are you here to see?

And he goes, Complete serious hot tub time machine.

I'm like, nope, that's not what we're doing.

We're we're a church, like, we're not here for the movie.

So, those of you who are here in the movie theater days, I salute you, I honor you, I know it aged you 10 years in two years.

Great is your reward in heaven.

Um, I'm with you on all that.

Uh, I, you know, am from Louisville originally, and I do a lot of guest speaking.

And whenever I preach outside of Kentucky, I don't I don't know if this happens when you travel.

I feel the need to defend the fact that I'm from Kentucky because I can see when the you know person introduced me and says, we have a guest speaker from Kentucky, people kind of lean back like, oh, I guess this guy had to buy shoes in order to come here to our church in Florida and be able to preach to us today, you know, rode here on his horse or something.

I don't know what they're thinking, but I can see it on them.

So I saw so it's fun to preach in Kentucky, my people.

Um, but I saw a video that I love showing when I guest preach outside of Kentucky to defend people from Kentucky.

And since you're from Kentucky, I just thought you'd like it anyway.

So here's a sunscreen video.

Watch us.

That's my people.

That's us right there.

That's who we are, and I'm proud of it.

Um, so like was said, we moved to Baltimore in 2008.

We planted a church there.

Um, I brought a picture of my family because we're huge Ravens fans, and I got a wife and four kids.

This was after we dominated the Bengals in overtime a couple years ago.

We were really excited about that.

You can boo, but we won.

So um, and your quarterback's gonna break his leg at some point this year.

It just always happens.

You know it's true.

You know it's true.

Uh, but we uh I'm really excited to be here today, and um I really love getting to be at a church that's on the move.

I love being at a church whose stated goal is to not keep grace and truth to ourselves, but to multiply the power of Jesus in our lives and in our community.

And today, uh, I believe, well, any Sunday, you're at church for one of two reasons.

And the first reason is the last point we'll land on today.

The second reason is this that one of two reasons you come to church any week is because you want to make a difference.

You like you want to make a difference in your community and the lives of those around you.

You want God's power to work through you and the lives of those around you.

That's why we just clap for baptisms at K-State.

It's why we're excited to bring backpacks with snacks, because it's like if if God is good, it must make a difference in our world.

If God is good and true and kind, but there's no difference that we see, then we're missing something or it's not true.

So it must make a difference, and I want God to make that difference through me.

In fact, I was reminded of this, I think it was 15 months ago, I took my oldest son on a mission trip, part of a group, to Eastern Europe.

We were with this organization that works in former communist countries.

And towards the end of the trip, the leader there said to a group of us, hey, I want to give you a church history tour.

Now I'll be honest, when I hear the phrase church history tour, I don't do a backflip.

Like that didn't sound like the most exciting thing I could do with my time we're in his hands, so okay, let's go.

And he takes us to a small town, I mean like village.

And he said, I want to teach you the history of the Moravians.

And I had heard that word Moravians before in like Christian history.

I couldn't quite place it.

Later, when I told this story to a friend of mine here in Kentucky, he said, Oh, the Moravians are like the U.S.

Navy SEALs of Christian missions.

And I later found out why.

So he takes us on this little tour, he's telling this the history of this movement that began in the mid-1700s in Eastern Europe in a small village of dedicated Christians.

And he takes us to this house that had been turned into a crude museum of the Moravians.

And we see this display that shows everywhere this movement had sent missionaries around the world for the last 300 years.

And then we see this map of the United States that has a pin everywhere.

This village had planted a church from the 1750s all the way to the 2000s.

But my favorite thing we saw was a display dedicated to the missions in Greenland.

And it explained that in the 1700s they had two men who volunteered from their church to move to Greenland and live there the rest of their lives as missionaries to bring grace and truth of Jesus there.

And they wrote a letter back to headquarters after being there for not very long, and they said, Hey, this is great that we came here.

They're very open to us.

Um, the message of Jesus has never arrived here, and so everything they are hearing, they are hearing for the very first time.

And uh it's great.

Then they said, we have had to contextualize some of the story of the Bible because they said in the Old Testament, the first half of the Bible, it talks about sacrificing lambs.

Like that was the way they got right with God, as they sacrifice lambs.

And in the New Testament, Jesus is called the Lamb of God, like he's the ultimate one-time sacrifice for us of all time.

But they said in Greenland, there's no lambs.

So we tried to say Jesus was the lamb of God.

They didn't know what we were talking about.

So we contextualize it to them, and we call Jesus the seal of God here.

I'm not making this up.

I put this in AI, and this is what the picture showed, which I think is pretty cute.

It's a pretty good look for Jesus.

But they went on to say, you can take that down.

They went on to say that there's a big problem.

We're single.

And they said, in this country where we are, everybody's married.

Like literally everybody.

In fact, the only two reasons that people aren't married is if you are legally insane or if you're in prison.

So insane or criminal are the only reason people aren't married.

So they're looking at us as single men and they're interested in Jesus.

They're compelled by the Bible, but because we're single, they're not buying it and they're thinking maybe these people are criminals or insane.

Therefore, the letter said, We need you to pick two women and send them to us to marry us so that we can spread the name of Jesus.

Which, when you think about it, could be the biggest con job in the history of Christian dating.

Like, send us a woman or people will go to hell, right?

That's basically what they said.

So this letter makes its way back to this church in Eastern Europe.

They read it in front of the church.

And I imagine it was a group kind of like this size, and you know, gathering on a Sunday.

And the pastor reads it to the people and then says, This are there any single women who would be willing to say goodbye to this land and country forever and go to Greenland and marry men you don't know for the sake of Jesus.

So many hands were raised that they rolled dice.

And it landed on these two women who hugged their families goodbye.

Never to see them again this side of death, who traveled by horse and carriage over land, who got on a dangerous ship and braved the ocean and went to Greenland and married men whom they did not know and had not fallen in love with because they knew if they love Jesus, then at minimum they are dedicating to laying their life down and serving me every day for the rest of my life.

And if the only thing standing between death and life for someone here between hell and heaven is me marrying someone who will serve me with everything he has, then count me in for the sake of the gospel.

And churches were planted and people were saved.

Because they had a dedication to the mission that superseded their comfort, their circumstance, or even their desire.

So my question today is simply this Are there any single women who would raise your hand that we can send?

No, I'm kidding, we're not gonna do that.

My question is this Is it possible for us to be like them?

Is it possible that we can live such radical lives and make such a difference in our world that they're talking about us in museums one day?

Is it possible that we can make such a difference in our world that it ripples and affects people centuries from now?

Is it possible that what happens in multiply church in Frankfurt, Kentucky could be talked about on the other side of the globe 300 years from now because of our dedication to God's mission?

I believe it is.

And I believe that's why we're studying the book of Acts as a church, is because we want to say, can what happened then happen now?

Can what God did through them happen through people like us?

Can we see a move of God in and through us?

So we're gonna look at Acts 4 today, and the key word I've chosen for today is resilient.

I want everybody to say the word resilient.

One, two, three, go.

Resilient.

The reason we want a resilient faith is because the word resilient means to bend but not break.

Because you don't know what life will throw at you.

The hard things you've gone through, you could have never seen coming.

In fact, the word resilient, the picture I have in my mind when I think of that, uh, when I first studied resilience, I learned that steel is resilient.

Steel and skyscrapers is made to bend, believe it or not.

And so the Birch Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, you've seen maybe a picture of Tom Cruise just hanging out on the top of it.

In extreme winds, the top of the Birch Khalifa will sway seven feet in either direction, which is wild.

It seems like that would top of the building.

No, it's made to be resilient.

It can bend under any circumstance the world throws at it, and it will not break.

And that is the type of faith we need to have, and God wants us to have if we're gonna make an impact that will ripple through centuries.

So I want to read Acts chapter four, and then we're gonna go back and get four lessons from it on how to have resilient faith.

Acts four, verse one.

As they were speaking to the people, as Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests and captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed, because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Now, if you don't remember Acts 3, there's a crippled man who always begs at the temple gate.

Peter and John are going up, just do their normal prayer.

They see him and say, In the name of Jesus, be healed.

It causes this big commotion because everybody's seen this guy for a long time.

And Peter preaches an impromptu sermon to all the people who are freaking out on the power of Jesus.

That's what's going on.

Verse 3.

They arrested Peter and John and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of men came to about 5,000.

The church continues to increase as a result of this impromptu sermon.

Next day there's a big meeting to say, How'd you do this?

Verse 8.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people, elders, if we're being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well.

This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Now, this verse specifically, remember, he's talking to Jewish leaders.

This is referencing an Old Testament scripture that had been written hundreds of years before.

He's saying, Hey guys, you know that verse that you've read before in the Old Testament part of the Bible?

It's about Jesus.

That's in whose name we healed.

Next verse, and there is salvation in no one else.

For there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

And when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived they were uneducated common men, they were astonished.

And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

But seeing the man who is healed standing there beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

When they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another.

They had a big meeting saying, What shall we do with these men?

For that a notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Everybody knows this guy's healed.

We can't deny it.

But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name.

So they called Peter and John and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

But they answered whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you gotta judge.

Like you're gonna be held accountable to God on what you do with Jesus.

But we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

And when they had further threatened Peter and John, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because the people they're all praising God for what had happened.

So there is irrefutable proof in their midst of the power of God, but they threaten Peter and John, but it's really all they can do, and the gospel spread because of what they did and how they taught.

Look at verse 13 specifically.

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished, they recognize that they had been with Jesus.

What would it look like for us to live such resilient lives that people around us were astonished and recognized we'd been with Jesus?

Because of our actions, because of our attitudes, because of our kindness, because of our boldness, people said, Have you been with Jesus?

That's what's going on here.

So I believe what I want to do is I want to show you what I believe are four keys to resilience in the scripture we just read.

We're gonna go back and cover them.

I'm gonna give you four lessons, and I'd really like you to take notes today.

I think the easiest way to take notes in church is just take a picture of the screen because I believe you're gonna want to talk of the about what we learned today from the scripture in your small group with the people you wrote to from church at lunch after church.

Okay, let's look at four ingredients to resilience.

Go back to verse one.

As they were speaking to the people, the priests, Captain the Temple Guard, and Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus resurrection from the dead.

Go back one slide.

I want you to see specifically this group called the Sadducees.

The Sadducees were one of the religious sects in Jesus' day, and they were known specifically for not believing that people could rise from the grave.

They didn't believe in a resurrection.

In fact, in Matthew 22, it says the same day Sadducees came to Jesus who say there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, which is a trap question about the resurrection that they don't believe happens.

So in Acts 4, the Sadducees don't like that Peter and John are saying, Hey, this happened because Jesus rose from the grave.

They don't think that's possible for anyone, let alone Jesus.

Here's a first lesson on how we need to have a resilient faith.

Stand for truth on controversial issues.

Peter and John knew who they were talking to.

They knew they didn't believe in the resurrection.

They didn't shy away from it.

They said it's a resurrected guy that made this possible.

Jesus says in John 8.32, the truth will set you free.

And here's what this verse means: it means all truth is for all people at all times.

It's not some truth is good, some truth sets you free.

It means even hard truth sets you free.

It means even truth that's controversial sets you free.

And you know where this is most difficult in following Jesus is in relationships.

I'll illustrate this with something.

Um, just for context for me, how many of you would say you're a diehard UK fan?

Raise your hand.

Diehard UK fans?

Raise your hand.

Okay.

Handful.

How many of you would say you're diehard Louisville fans?

Like they're your team.

Okay.

We don't need a church fight.

Just raise, just that's cool.

I'm with you.

I'm with you.

Um we stunk yesterday.

But uh in our small group, we have about 12 people who are at our house every Wednesday.

Do a little Bible study every Wednesday.

And there's this couple, uh, Troy and Alexis, we're good friends with.

But one time, not too long ago, we've been friends with them for several years now.

And I said, Troy, I actually don't know who your team is.

Like you, a Louisville guy, a UK guy.

And he got this expression as if he was getting ready to try to explain the foundational mathematical principles that hold the universe together.

And took a deep breath as if I wasn't gonna believe him, and said, I used to be a diehard Louisville fan, now I'm a diehard UK fan.

And immediately alarm bells go off on my mind because I know, no, you weren't.

Like, that's not possible.

Like, have you ever met these people who say, like, if you ask them who their team is, they're like, I cheer for both teams.

No, you don't.

You're a loser.

What that means is you don't like sports.

Like, that's what that means.

You can't cheer for both teams.

I know you, I know you want all people in the world to get along.

That just doesn't happen.

It's not possible.

Okay.

So he says, I used to be a diehard Louisville fan, and now I'm a diehard UK fan.

And I'm like, nope, you're dumb.

Like, that's what's happening right now.

But he could see this on my face, and he begins to recount things from Louisville basketball like 10 or 15 years ago, like specific player names, like points they scored in games.

He's bringing up like specific comebacks and scores of games in the NCAA tournament.

I'm like, this guy followed the like he was in, like he was a diehard Louisville fan.

But then he jumps to do the exact same thing about modern day UK basketball.

And I'm trying to comprehend how this could happen.

I look over and see his wife stand next to him, and the longer he talks, the bigger his grin her grin gets.

And I realize they met at UK, and I'm realizing she.

He's always been a UK fan, and then it hits me he sold his soul for a girl.

And the biggest temptation for you to stop short of the whole truth will be because of relationships.

It is easy on Sunday morning to say God made the male and female Genesis 1 until your kid comes home from college and says, I started taking hormone blockers.

It is easy to believe God hates divorce, Malachi 2, until you see how miserable your friend is.

It's easy to say that repentance is paired with baptism, Acts 2, until the friend that you've been praying so earnestly would give their life to Christ says, Hey, I want to get baptized.

But as you talk to him, they say, Well, I don't want to give up my OnlyFans account.

And there comes this moment for the Christian.

And I believe Acts 4 was the one for Peter and John.

Where you have to decide, do I really believe the truth sets you free in all areas for all people at all times?

And when you believe that, you take a stand for truth on controversial issues, and your faith grows resilient.

Verse 14 shows us another ingredient.

They're trying to shut these guys up.

And I think this verse is just funny.

Like they want them to be quiet.

Verse 14, but seeing the man who is healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

Like they want to tell them, stop doing that.

But there's a healed man who can walk now.

Like they don't really got much to shut them up with.

And here's what I like about this.

Here's the application.

If we want to be resilient, we need to let our faith make a practical difference.

Jesus doesn't just save us for heaven one day, Jesus saves our life here and now.

And so I think there's two primary ways we can show this.

One way it makes a practical difference is in how we serve others.

My wife and I went with some Christians we know in Louisville to a homeless outreach several months ago.

It was in the winter.

And before we went, it was explained to us that this was a secular event with some different nonprofits, even a couple government groups that they did to help homeless people every month or every quarter or something like that.

And our church's group had said, Hey, can we come?

And the service we'll provide is will bring coats for the homeless people.

And there was actually much opposition among all the other groups saying, we don't want that church here.

They would bring their beliefs and we don't like that church.

But another secular group who'd served with these people at something else said, Well, I know we don't like their beliefs and we think they're completely wrong, but we serve with them over here, and all they've ever done is help our mission that we're trying to do.

So why don't we give them a shot?

And so we showed up, and our job for the day was just to help homeless people find a coat that fit.

But what was interesting is the service itself didn't just serve the homeless people.

It was gaining equity with non-believers who wanted to be skeptical of Jesus, but they couldn't deny people who are being the hands and feet of Jesus.

I mean, this is why we serve at K-State.

This is why we bring snacks for church, is to show people our faith makes a practical difference.

We will help you.

Another way our faith makes a practical difference is simply the wisdom with which we live.

I mean, just take the book of Proverbs as one example.

It's filled with wisdom on relationships and marriage and finance and business and leadership.

I mean, just to pick on one example, I read recently that 84% of credit cards in our country don't get paid off at the end of every month.

Everybody likes to say they're playing the credit card game.

Well, it's paid off at the end of every month.

No, 84% of people who tell you that are lying.

Like they just don't.

That's government data.

And so the world around us should look at Christians living by biblical wisdom and saying, hey, all of you are either debt-free or getting debt-free.

Money doesn't have a hold on you like it does me.

What do I need to do to get control of my money?

And you say, well, just open the Bible.

Same should be true in how we lead businesses.

The city of Frankfurt should look at the business leaders in this church and say, hey, your business makes a profit because it serves customers, you treat your employees well, people enjoy working for you, the community loves giving you their business.

How can we become like you?

And you say, Well, it's just biblical principles I run my business by.

It's the wisdom of God.

In fact, I would challenge those of you who aren't believers, you aren't sold out to Jesus.

I would challenge you with the wisdom of God.

I have a lot of people over the years who've said to me, Um, you know, I tried Jesus or I tried church and it didn't work.

And I will, when I have an opportunity, push back on them and say, Well, okay, tell me about that.

Did you uh did you get in a small group at that church?

No, because I wasn't a Christian.

Did you serve on a serving team?

No, I didn't know if I wanted that.

Did you tithe and give away minimum 10% of your income?

Of course not.

I didn't love Jesus.

Did you read your Bible every day?

No, I didn't believe it was true.

I would say, well, then it didn't work because you didn't work it.

Like the challenge I want to give a non-Christian that I do give non-Christians is try it for a year, even six months.

Just go all in and actually live how Christians live and how Jesus says to live, and then see if it works.

Because I bet at the end of a year of tithing, you'll say, God did more with my 90% than I could do with my 100%.

I bet at the end of the year of serving, you'd say there's something about living beyond myself that gives me purpose.

I bet at the end of a year of being in a small group with people, other people have dysfunctional lives and pain and hurt and questions and doubts and troubles with life, you'd say, hey, I'm actually normal and other people help me and I help them.

And I think you'd say, I think this Jesus thing works pretty well.

Because our faith makes a practical difference.

I'm gonna give you one more illustration for this.

I am not what you would call a handy person.

I don't fix things when they break.

I call the plumber.

But recently my wife said, Hey, the windshield wipers on my van need replaced.

And I'm like, okay, even I can do that.

So I ordered them online.

They show up.

I grabbed one of my boys and said, Hey, let's go change mom's windshield wipers.

We popped off the old ones, popped on the new ones.

And I like walked in with my chest out, thinking, like, I'm a good dad.

Like I am passing knowledge down to the next generation of men, is what happened that day.

About four days later, um, there I'm in my office.

I can see out the window there's this torrential rainstorm.

And my wife sends me a text to let me know how the windshield wipers are working.

There were no words on the text, it was just a video, and here's how they worked.

Okay, I got it.

I'm stupid.

Thank y'all.

I I know.

I can't fix things.

And you know why I follow Jesus?

One of the reasons is because his wisdom fixes things.

I've tried my wisdom and it didn't work.

But I follow his wisdom on money, on relationships, on leadership.

Things just work better.

So I call him.

Next ingredients from verse 18.

So they called Peter and John and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John answered them whether it's right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge.

We can't but speak what we've seen and heard.

So think about this.

They put them in prison, they take them to court, they threaten them, but Peter and John say, guys, this has been great.

We're gonna keep going.

They're not deterred, they're not intimidated, they're not hijacked.

If you want to change the world, if you want to be resilient, suffer well.

Now, I'll be honest, this lesson stinks.

I like the one where it's like Jesus helps you get out of debt.

I can go with that one.

I don't want this one to be true.

But when you look throughout history at the Christians who've made a lasting impact in the world, they have a common thread, and it's this they suffered well and let the world see it.

1 Peter 4 says, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you.

As though something strange were happening to you.

Rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Christians will suffer.

Life is suffering.

Two years ago, I had the honor of performing a wedding for a couple named Jerry and McKenzie.

And I had not met them, I was not friends with them prior to this, but we got to know each other.

And Jerry was in his final months of training to be a doctor, really intelligent, very logical, just kind of straightforward, thoughtful guy.

And McKinsey is like the opposite personality.

She's loud, she's fun, she loves animals.

She's the type of person I learned over the years, uh, where she um doesn't uh judge people.

Like she just wants to be friends with you.

She doesn't care if you have anything to give her, she doesn't care what your personality, what your age, how much money you have.

Like she just wants to love you and you to love her back.

Like that's just who she is.

And so everybody wants to be friends with McKenzie because McKenzie wants to be friends with everybody.

So we did their wedding, and there was laughter and there were serious moments, it was holy, it was beautiful.

Uh, they were just on cloud nine.

She grinned the entire time like a bride should.

It was just awesome.

I think it was nine months later.

I get a message that on a Sunday morning around 9 a.m., she had been driving in northern Ohio to meet up with some college girlfriends for a quick reunion.

And another driver ran a stop sign at full speed, T-boned her, and killed her instantly.

And so, just months after doing her wedding, I stood in the exact same chapel and did her funeral.

And Jerry sat on the front row right down here, and it was like he was too numb to even cry.

Like he was only half there.

And it was brutal.

A beautiful thing was there was just a line of friend after friend who shared at the funeral of how Mackenzie's faith had changed her their faith and how their lives had already were never gonna be the same because of encountering her and her joy and her faith.

Just a few weeks ago, I had lunch with Mackenzie's dad to catch up.

His name's Ron.

And we had a great time.

Um, there were definitely tears as he talked about missing his baby girl.

But he talked about choosing joy, and he talked with confidence about knowing he will see her again because of her explicit faith in Jesus.

Here's what's true.

The biggest impact Ron will make the rest of his life is other people seeing how he handles this.

You know what?

That stinks.

And now, whenever someone else loses a child, she gets a call and she said this line.

I don't want this to be my ministry.

And I don't want it for her either.

But I'm watching Christians over the years.

Here's what I know.

Your pain is your platform.

And I don't know why things happen the way they do, but I do know a reason you made it through that thing and God brought you through is because He wants you to use that to help other people who are going through that right now.

And I know you want to leave it in your past and forget about it and not think about it because it stinks and it hurts, and you just want it to be gone completely.

But God will continue to bring people into your life the rest of your life who need you to say me too.

First Peter goes on to say, Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.

Translation, suffer well.

One more ingredient, verse 12 said, There is salvation and no one else.

There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved, meaning all of this happens because of Jesus and only Jesus.

Here's the point: live from grace.

Live from grace.

Your life must be an overflow of grace.

Grace means I have peace, I have hope, I have joy.

Grace means I have reasons to be secure and not fake a self-confidence I drum up on my own.

Grace means I have friendships rooted in grace.

So if I mess up, grace is only a conversation away.

Grace means I have hope for marriage because it's a place where grace has teeth.

Grace means I know when I fail.

And if I'm not enough, it's okay because Jesus makes me enough.

Grace means endless chances.

Grace means it's all gonna be okay.

Grace means paid in full.

It's just grace, always grace, only grace.

One of my favorite stories of grace is the story of Eustace, as told by C.S.

Lewis years ago.

Eustace was a jerk of a boy.

He was selfish, he didn't like people, and people didn't like him because they knew Eustace didn't like people.

And he finds himself against his will on a ship that's an expedition.

It's a small boat with a few family members and a bunch of people he doesn't know.

And real quick, he just shows his anger and resentment at humanity, and they kind of leave him in a corner of the ship.

They don't want to be around him, he don't want to be around them.

But the ship finds itself landing on a deserted island en route to their ultimate destination.

And against everyone's better judgment, and they tell him so, Eustace wanders off by himself.

He goes into a cave, he finds, and there he sees this huge treasure, a dragon's treasure, gems and gold beyond measure.

He wants to take it with him.

He can't even control it all.

He's figuring out what to do, and he falls asleep on this treasure.

What he doesn't realize is that if you hoard in your heart a dragon's treasure and then fall asleep on a dragon's treasure, you become a dragon.

And he wakes up and when he coughs, fire comes out of his mouth, and he's really confused.

And he tries to move and he bumps the sides of the cave and he doesn't understand why.

Finally, he looks down at his hand and he sees a dragon's claw, and the horrible truth dawns upon him that Eustace on the inside has now reflected on Eustace on the outside, that what is true on the outside is what has always been true on the inside.

Eustace has become a dragon.

He is a boy no more.

He is freaked out.

He goes back to where the ship and his people are, but they're scared to death.

Here's a dragon.

They run from him.

Finally, they put two and two together through some awkward communication, and they realize that the dragon is Eustace, but they can't take him on the ship.

It's a small boat.

He'll crush it.

And they need to leave.

So they finally tell him in sadness, hey, we're gonna have to leave you tomorrow.

I guess you'll just have to stay here forever.

This is when Eustace reaches rock bottom.

He has remorse in his heart of all the things he's done of who he's become.

That night the lion Aslan appears to him and beckons him to follow.

He leads him up the mountain to a beautiful garden where there is a crystal clear pool that looks like the most beautiful, refreshing water Eustace has ever seen.

Aslan asks him, Do you want to get in the water?

Eustace nods.

He says, You must undress first.

Remembering that snakes can shed their skin.

Eustace pulls on his dragon skin.

He rips it off only to discover another layer underneath.

He does this three times each time a new layer of dragon skin appears.

He's despondent.

Aslan says, You must let me do it.

Eustace nods.

Aslan takes his lion's claws and plunges them deep into Eustace.

It burns and it's painful.

He rips and he does this again and again and again.

It's the most painful thing Eustace has ever gone through, and he rips off skin each time.

Finally, Aslan lifts up the boy Eustace and he plunges him in the pool and it stings at first, but then it's the most refreshing, beautiful feeling he's ever experienced in his life.

And he swims and he pl splashes and he plays.

Finally, he gets out, and Aslan dresses him in new clothes, and he goes back to his people as the boy he was created to be.

And if you're not a believer, what you have to understand is the story of Eustace is the story of the Christian.

I am Eustace.

I am selfish.

I am repulsive.

I am evil.

I became a dragon.

But God did not leave me that way.

And although I tried to undragon myself, I could not.

And so Jesus ripped off the scales of my sinful nature.

He plunged me in the waters of baptism.

He clothed me with his Holy Spirit of grace and truth.

And I came out a new creation as his child who I was created to be, to walk in grace and truth.

And if you do not have Jesus, we want you to be undragoned.

And I know you've tried to undragon yourself, and I know you can't.

And we would love nothing more than for you to note on that connection card that you'll turn in today something about talking to someone about giving your life to Christ, because it would be the great honor of us to call you this week and tell you what that means.

Three hundred years ago, a pastor stood in a room much like this and read a letter and said, Who's willing to make unfathomable sacrifice for the mission of Jesus so that more people can know grace and truth?

And I want to end my time the same way that church ended 300 years ago.

If you are someone who follows Jesus and you say, you know what?

I just need to let God know again that I'm all in.

That He has my money, He has my heart, He has my time, He has my pride, He has my hobbies, He has my future, He has it all, and I will do whatever it takes to multiply grace and truth in the lives of others because it has changed my life, and I can't but speak of it to others so that they too can fall in love with the greatest thing they could ever know.

If that is you, to say to Jesus today, once more, Jesus, I need to remind you and myself I am all in.

Would you raise your hand right now?

Keep them high as we pray.

Father in heaven, I pray that you see the dozens and dozens of us who have our hand raised today saying, Jesus, we're still all in.

You have our mind, our heart, our soul, our strength, you have our dreams, you have our social media, you have our friendships, you have our kids, you have our house, you have our pride.

God, we lay it all down before you.

We will do whatever.

We will go wherever.

And yes, we're scared to keep this hand raised.

God, we don't like the unknown.

We don't like giving up control, but having you in control is better.

Jesus, we're yours.

May that never change.

God may multiply, not just be a name on the side of a church building.

May multiply be what you're doing with grace and truth in us and through us.

We love you, Lord.

Thank you for loving us first.

It is in the great holy name of Jesus that we pray.

Amen.

We're so grateful you joined us for this week's message.

At Multiply, we believe life was never meant to be lived alone.

If today you made the decision to follow Jesus, we'd be honored to walk with you on this journey.

Visit multiplyky.com to let us know.

We love you and we'll see you again soon.