00:00:01.960 Today we gather not only as a church,
00:00:05.520 but as a grateful people.
00:00:08.680 On this Memorial Day,
00:00:10.760 we pause to honor the men and women who
00:00:12.840 gave their lives in service to this
00:00:14.560 country.
00:00:16.960 They stood in the gap
00:00:19.120 defending our daily freedoms.
00:00:22.160 Because of the brave,
00:00:24.200 we are free.
00:00:26.360 Free to speak,
00:00:28.280 free to live,
00:00:30.200 free to worship the one who gives
00:00:32.000 eternal freedom.
00:00:36.320 Jesus Christ, who laid down his life so
00:00:38.840 that we might live not only in freedom
00:00:40.840 today,
00:00:42.120 but in freedom forever.
00:00:44.880 The Apostle John reminds us,
00:00:46.960 "Greater love has no one than this, that
00:00:49.880 someone lay down his life for his
00:00:52.480 friends."
00:00:54.320 Today we remember that love.
00:00:56.560 We remember the courage, the sacrifice,
00:00:58.840 the selflessness of every soldier who
00:01:00.960 laid down their life not only for their
00:01:03.160 country,
00:01:04.680 but for each one of us.
00:01:07.120 We will always honor your sacrifice.
00:01:14.720 >> Well, good morning. Good morning.
00:01:18.480 Good morning. Ah, there we go. Good
00:01:20.120 morning. Hey guys, how are you guys
00:01:22.160 doing out there? You good? You look
00:01:24.000 great. You look great. Hey, I am excited
00:01:26.200 to be here today.
00:01:27.920 Uh Pastor Eric, Rachel, thank you so
00:01:29.520 much for allowing me to share this
00:01:30.920 platform with you all. Um it's because
00:01:33.080 of men and women like you that I I get
00:01:34.760 to stand here today in a better place
00:01:37.160 and also through the works of you guys
00:01:38.840 being conduits and vessels of the Lord.
00:01:40.720 So, thank you so much for that. Um I
00:01:43.160 stand here today very excited. Um
00:01:45.600 there's a couple here. I won't I won't
00:01:47.240 specifically point them out, but they're
00:01:48.760 actually getting married today, okay?
00:01:50.520 And it's really exciting. And so, the
00:01:52.160 reason you can clap it up for them.
00:01:54.640 If you end up finding them, you know,
00:01:55.920 you can say say congratulations and also
00:01:57.920 maybe you'll look around after service.
00:01:59.680 But I bring that up because I I DJ and I
00:02:02.760 had a wedding yesterday and I love I
00:02:05.200 love
00:02:06.080 hearing Pastor Eric speak. It's always a
00:02:08.399 joy. I could hear him talk all day every
00:02:10.560 day, especially about the Lord. He has
00:02:11.880 such fervor and vigor about it. And
00:02:14.400 anyway, yesterday I'm at this wedding
00:02:16.080 and we're at this ceremony and there's
00:02:17.800 this bride and groom and the groom is is
00:02:21.080 giving his vows and he's like so sincere
00:02:23.840 and he's emotional and he's talking
00:02:25.640 about how he saved $2 when they first
00:02:27.440 met and it was just like all everyone's
00:02:29.280 like crying and he's crying and there's
00:02:30.840 like snot coming out of his nose. And
00:02:32.760 then the bride gets the microphone and
00:02:35.040 she just says, "Same." And then she
00:02:37.120 gives it back. And I'm like, "Oh, that
00:02:39.080 was sick." And then she's like, "I'm
00:02:40.000 joking. I'm joking. I'm joking. I have
00:02:41.560 more to say." But there's something like
00:02:44.200 like when Pastor Eric is speaking, man,
00:02:45.920 I'm like, "Like what what more do you
00:02:47.400 want me to say? Same, right? Agree." But
00:02:50.240 I'm going to try.
00:02:51.480 Uh on another note, uh I have four boys
00:02:53.720 as Pastor Eric mentioned and I love them
00:02:55.440 immensely. Uh they're my my day one
00:02:57.440 disciples, my added joys. And I have a
00:02:59.959 5-year-old. Actually, he's up front.
00:03:01.160 Phoenix, raise your hand. And lift your
00:03:02.519 hand up. Hello to Phoenix.
00:03:05.320 He's a great kid, man. He has just a way
00:03:07.400 with words and so yesterday, you know,
00:03:09.239 he he's the type of kid that he can he
00:03:11.920 can like really elevate you and and move
00:03:13.800 you in a way and then also be like,
00:03:15.600 "Actually, I don't know." And so
00:03:17.120 yesterday we're we're hanging out at the
00:03:18.880 house before I leave for the wedding and
00:03:20.680 he says to me, he says, "Dad,
00:03:22.840 good luck tomorrow while you're
00:03:23.680 preaching." I said, "What do you think?
00:03:25.320 I appreciate that." And then he says,
00:03:26.800 "Wait a minute. Do you know how to
00:03:28.160 preach?" I said,
00:03:30.120 "I I think so. We'll we'll see soon soon
00:03:33.400 enough." But we're here today and I'm
00:03:35.600 I'm so I'm so excited and I actually
00:03:37.920 want to talk to you guys about maybe
00:03:39.000 your favorite subject or theme and it's
00:03:41.000 on hurt and pain, right? But before we
00:03:43.680 get there, we're actually going to be in
00:03:44.519 John 9 verses 1 through 7. So if you do
00:03:47.280 have your Bible, please you can open
00:03:48.760 those things up to you.
00:03:50.519 Uh
00:03:51.200 I have a couple questions for you
00:03:52.200 before. I'm all about participation. As
00:03:54.280 I said, being a DJ, being an MC, there's
00:03:57.280 nothing worse than having like a a dead
00:03:59.760 dance floor. And so, in the same way in
00:04:01.400 a crowd, like no one's talking, I get a
00:04:03.360 little worried. So, if you could just
00:04:05.120 raise your hand, I'll ask these
00:04:05.920 questions, we will we'll go from there.
00:04:08.440 Uh raise your hand if someone taught you
00:04:10.920 how to play a sport.
00:04:12.959 Okay, beautiful.
00:04:14.240 Raise your hand if someone taught you
00:04:16.358 how to play an instrument.
00:04:18.238 Great.
00:04:19.320 Raise your hand if someone taught you
00:04:21.079 how to cook.
00:04:22.720 Okay. Now, this next question.
00:04:24.840 Raise your hand if someone's taught you
00:04:27.240 or directly showed you how to love, how
00:04:30.040 to be in right relationships.
00:04:32.480 Very few, very few hands, right? Um it's
00:04:36.120 our greatest connector, yet many people
00:04:38.760 don't directly talk about it. And in the
00:04:40.840 same way, if there's there's love, then
00:04:43.600 there's there's there's anger, right?
00:04:45.840 And uh Mr. Rogers actually has a
00:04:47.360 wonderful song called What do you do
00:04:49.200 with the mad that you feel, right? Who's
00:04:51.360 like sat you down and say, "Hey, how do
00:04:53.280 you how do you work anger in a way that
00:04:55.680 could be positive, right? Or maybe not
00:04:58.000 go to a point of being uh over overly
00:05:00.640 heated, if you will."
00:05:02.240 And so,
00:05:03.560 anger is actually a secondary emotion.
00:05:07.200 When we you sit with anger a little bit
00:05:08.720 longer, you start realizing that you you
00:05:10.440 actually feel embarrassed. You felt
00:05:12.400 neglected.
00:05:14.000 Um you felt with uh
00:05:15.840 um hurt.
00:05:17.280 And hurt is actually a secondary
00:05:19.080 response to pain.
00:05:21.480 So, today I felt prompted to talk to you
00:05:23.160 guys about hurt and pain. And we're
00:05:24.440 going to break that down into two
00:05:25.360 things. First things first, pain is the
00:05:27.560 original injury. So, physical,
00:05:30.600 think emotional, spiritual, right?
00:05:32.960 Something has occurred. And then,
00:05:34.520 there's the hurt of that, which is
00:05:36.240 internal effect, which is like a
00:05:38.000 wounded, some type of disappointment,
00:05:39.680 some type of sorrow. Pain says something
00:05:42.240 has happened to me.
00:05:43.760 Hurt says, "Now, I'm carrying what has
00:05:46.520 happened."
00:05:47.800 So, we're going to go into hurt first.
00:05:49.840 Now,
00:05:51.160 in the world, I I'm not surprised
00:05:54.520 uh that you would be on the receiving
00:05:56.440 end of someone hurting you.
00:05:59.160 So, I'm not here to talk about that
00:06:00.200 specifically today. What I'm here to
00:06:01.800 talk to you guys about is the hurt that
00:06:04.440 someone might have received while in
00:06:06.240 church.
00:06:07.760 Now, over the years, this has become
00:06:09.680 somewhat of a buzzword, church hurt. Um
00:06:12.560 it's a actually allowed many outsiders
00:06:15.720 to view Christians as uh narrow-minded,
00:06:18.840 as judgmental, hypocrites that go to to
00:06:21.120 church. Actually, uh we recently just
00:06:23.040 moved to Monroeville. We've been there
00:06:24.520 for about 6 months. Love it. And uh
00:06:26.919 we're becoming that the house where all
00:06:28.400 the kids just kind of hang out at. You
00:06:30.120 know, but I'm also that old man that's
00:06:31.400 like, "Don't stay playing on my grass
00:06:32.760 too long cuz I'm trying to keep that way
00:06:34.560 on maintenance." But, they run around.
00:06:36.200 And it's fun. Like, the kids are over
00:06:37.440 there, but earlier on when we were
00:06:38.919 there, we had a a neighbor that came
00:06:40.720 over
00:06:41.919 and uh we were just kind of in normal
00:06:43.880 conversation and we brought up we
00:06:45.480 brought up church and they were like,
00:06:46.760 "Oh, like, do you go to church?" And
00:06:48.120 we're like, "Yeah." Like, we were very
00:06:49.520 bold about it and very proud. And she
00:06:51.160 was like, "Oh, like, I I go too." And
00:06:53.320 you can kind of tell that she was a
00:06:54.320 little, you know, she didn't want to
00:06:55.600 step on our toes if she if we weren't
00:06:57.400 going to church. And the school that I I
00:06:59.560 I get to serve at I get to serve at East
00:07:01.040 Allegheny High School as a college
00:07:02.600 career director and I love it there. And
00:07:04.880 um one day one of the students asked me
00:07:06.640 what did I do over the weekend and I
00:07:07.960 told them, "Oh, you know, I was like
00:07:09.560 doing this with the family. We're
00:07:10.680 hanging out over here. You know, I went
00:07:12.160 to church. I got to serve over here."
00:07:13.760 And they said, "You're a Christian?" And
00:07:15.520 I was like, "Yeah. I I think so." And I
00:07:18.440 said, "Well, what makes you say that?"
00:07:20.440 And they're like, "I don't know. I just
00:07:21.760 never I never thought you were." And I
00:07:23.360 was like, "Okay. Like, I am." So, later
00:07:25.480 on that day we're we're going on and
00:07:27.200 they actually came back to my room and
00:07:29.080 they were like,
00:07:30.800 "Oh my gosh. Like, everything that you
00:07:32.960 do, like, the way you talk to people or
00:07:34.280 the the way you engage with them. Like,
00:07:35.480 I never I just thought you were just
00:07:36.400 this nice guy." And I'm like, "Well,
00:07:37.840 maybe I am nice, but I mean, I really
00:07:39.280 mark it up to God doing a work in me."
00:07:41.280 And you could tell that that was
00:07:42.720 something that she wasn't expecting or
00:07:44.920 used to to seeing.
00:07:47.440 So, overall, you get this these
00:07:49.760 narrow-minded judgmental perceptions of
00:07:52.160 what church is all about. You know,
00:07:53.680 you're saying one thing, but you live
00:07:55.160 another way. The optics of it look
00:07:57.160 different, and they can actually be
00:07:58.400 really confusing. It would be like that
00:08:00.200 friend who
00:08:01.520 uh post scripture or verses on social
00:08:04.360 media on a daily, uh but then on the
00:08:06.720 weekends they party really hard. Or they
00:08:08.560 tell you some type of story that is
00:08:10.200 counter to what they are posting online.
00:08:13.360 Um or it's like that boss that maybe you
00:08:15.560 had an interview and you thought the
00:08:16.520 interview was great, and they talked
00:08:17.680 about Christ through and over all the
00:08:20.440 entire interview, and even talked about
00:08:22.400 how that would be in the business, and
00:08:23.760 then you start working there, and then
00:08:25.120 in the meeting they disrespect you or
00:08:26.760 treat you wrong.
00:08:28.720 Or maybe it's like that person that you
00:08:30.840 really looked up to in church. You know,
00:08:32.799 there was something about them that you
00:08:34.120 just really respected their walk in
00:08:35.520 life, and then for whatever reason they
00:08:37.200 did the opposite. You saw something that
00:08:39.159 was the opposite.
00:08:40.640 And that can be really confusing. It was
00:08:42.799 a It would be like I saw this I saw this
00:08:45.640 was a there was an article. It would be
00:08:47.320 like there's this gym, and I won't say
00:08:49.400 the name, unless you go to Planet
00:08:51.000 Fitness. Watch out.
00:08:52.520 Um
00:08:53.800 It it said that the gym has free pizza
00:08:56.920 Fridays. So, you're going to the gym,
00:08:59.360 and you're going and you're like, Monday
00:09:00.400 through Thursday, I'm getting it. You
00:09:01.600 know, I'm disciplined. I'm I got my I
00:09:03.760 got my routine. I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm
00:09:06.120 showing up. And then Friday you get all
00:09:07.839 the pizza you want. You're like, what is
00:09:09.280 going on? Like, it's counter.
00:09:11.680 Or it could be like a more serious note,
00:09:13.839 like an AA meeting, but then they have
00:09:15.839 margarita Mondays, right? Or tequila
00:09:17.960 Tuesdays, or whiskey Wednesdays. You
00:09:19.480 know, the list can go on, right? Now,
00:09:21.000 that that would be very confusing.
00:09:24.280 There's a there's a song that I I
00:09:26.560 actually reference a lot, and it it says
00:09:28.400 uh church is where I found God, but it's
00:09:30.400 also where I learned to judge. And so,
00:09:32.240 I'm very grateful for my upbringing in
00:09:34.640 the church. Um I actually didn't grow I
00:09:36.880 didn't go grow up in a family that went
00:09:38.800 to church. And so I went into my middle
00:09:41.040 school years is when I started going to
00:09:42.240 church. And it really was just emotions
00:09:44.280 for me. I just kind of showed up. Um, I
00:09:46.560 played the part. I played the role. And
00:09:48.520 I saw a lot of people around me that
00:09:49.680 were doing that. They they dressed nice.
00:09:51.200 They knew how to talk. But outside of
00:09:53.440 that they were living a completely
00:09:54.480 different way. And I did that for such a
00:09:56.680 long time. And actually going into youth
00:09:99.280 ministry,
00:10:00.360 uh, I was a youth leader and then I
00:10:01.400 started working for a Christian
00:10:02.680 non-profit.
00:10:04.120 And the founder and I were really cool.
00:10:05.960 And actually he called me out on
00:10:07.200 something that I shouldn't have been
00:10:08.080 doing. And I actually was very grateful
00:10:09.760 for that. I was like I repented and I
00:10:11.600 appreciated that. But instead of maybe
00:10:14.400 staying or not even saying staying there
00:10:15.880 but growing from that, they decided to
00:10:18.880 or suggested that I should stand in
00:10:20.520 front of the church and proclaim my
00:10:21.920 sins, profess my sins. And I mean I
00:10:24.440 didn't know that much about scripture at
00:10:25.560 the time. I thought that maybe that
00:10:27.000 might be the right way. But also I had
00:10:28.880 this really internal feeling of this
00:10:30.920 just doesn't seem right. And it it
00:10:32.960 somewhat hurt me. Um, but but overall
00:10:35.520 all of the years that going going by
00:10:37.080 like forgiving we have reconciled. And I
00:10:39.520 actually think that it was a life lesson
00:10:41.200 for both of us. Like how do you engage
00:10:43.360 with one another? How how do you right
00:10:44.960 someone's wrong? And it's not because of
00:10:46.440 you but it's because of what Christ has
00:10:48.160 done.
00:10:49.960 And even in that moment a lot of people
00:10:52.480 that have been in the church that have
00:10:54.320 been hurt, right? A lot of times they
00:10:56.280 will say that, um, a person a person
00:10:58.839 hurt me. But the church didn't betray
00:11:00.760 you, the person did.
00:11:02.640 God didn't let you down. Someone's poor
00:11:05.160 preferences did.
00:11:07.400 Logic would say that, uh, a church hurt
00:11:10.040 me so I'm done with the church.
00:11:12.440 And I mean that you know you do go to
00:11:14.240 one church and then they hurt you or you
00:11:16.160 there's some type of inconvenience so
00:11:17.280 then you decide, well, I'm done. Uh, has
00:11:19.680 anyone ever been in a restaurant and ate
00:11:21.160 something that was like not to par? You
00:11:23.880 know, you had to like send it back and
00:11:25.000 then after that I see a couple hands in
00:11:26.400 there. Some of you might you know, you
00:11:27.400 might be a little embarrassed to say
00:11:28.600 that. But guess what? Uh, even when you
00:11:30.560 had that bad experience, you still went
00:11:32.360 to another restaurant. But for whatever
00:11:34.160 reason, we don't do that with church. We
00:11:35.880 We get hurt one time and then we say,
00:11:37.400 "We're done."
00:11:38.720 Uh you go to a restaurant because you
00:11:40.000 want good food. You come to church
00:11:41.880 because you need good spiritual food.
00:11:43.840 So, the church is needed. We We need it.
00:11:45.960 It's a must.
00:11:47.600 But for those who have been
00:11:50.280 hurt in the church, uh I'm not here to
00:11:53.280 to justify or dissuade you or to deflect
00:11:56.320 from the the the feelings the the the
00:11:58.640 hurt that you're having. Um some people
00:12:00.760 might just say, "Well, at least you're
00:12:01.720 in another church, you know?" Or you
00:12:03.800 Hey, maybe you need to buck up, you
00:12:05.080 know, you need to just You need to pull
00:12:06.360 yourself up by the bootstraps and get it
00:12:07.760 together. I'm here to tell you that I'm
00:12:10.640 sorry.
00:12:11.920 I'm so sorry that that happened to you.
00:12:13.600 That wasn't That shouldn't have been the
00:12:15.600 intent of your hurt, and I really do
00:12:17.680 apologize for that. Um but also standing
00:12:20.080 here today as a man, as a father, as I
00:12:22.080 look at my wife, as I look at my son,
00:12:23.760 there's moments that I've inconvenienced
00:12:25.400 them. I'm I know that I have not given
00:12:27.240 the best of me. I've not loved them like
00:12:28.800 Christ has loved the church, and I will
00:12:30.360 probably do that to you at some point.
00:12:32.520 And I'm sorry, and I hope that moves me
00:12:34.480 quickly to repenting. But what I I can
00:12:37.160 guarantee you and what I know for sure
00:12:39.160 without a shadow of a doubt is that God
00:12:41.080 will never betray you. He'll never leave
00:12:43.480 you, forsake you. He's so good. He's so
00:12:46.440 good. He will not fail you.
00:12:49.160 And if you have
00:12:51.160 received that hurt, been on the other
00:12:53.320 side of it,
00:12:54.720 hear these words.
00:12:56.640 If you have lost faith in Jesus Christ
00:12:59.280 because of people,
00:13:08.680 maybe your faith
00:13:10.680 isn't people when it should be in Jesus.
00:13:16.000 Mhm.
00:13:19.080 Sadly, when we think of church today,
00:13:21.839 we think of scandals, we think of abuse,
00:13:23.680 we think of corruption, manipulation,
00:13:25.320 judgment, and hate. But let me tell you
00:13:27.600 what the church actually is.
00:13:29.600 1 Corinthians 12:12, it says, "Just as a
00:13:32.160 body, though one has many parts, but all
00:13:35.920 its many parts form one body, so is with
00:13:39.480 Christ."
00:13:40.560 Has anyone ever like stubbed their toe
00:13:41.960 or maybe playing basketball or anything
00:13:43.320 like that and hit their hand? Does not
00:13:44.800 the body
00:13:46.360 jostle, right? Does it not adjust to it?
00:13:48.760 Like, I mean, you could
00:13:50.960 Phoenix is here. He's here right now, so
00:13:52.520 it's hilarious, but like just a couple
00:13:54.360 days ago, I think he stubbed his toe.
00:13:55.600 And this guy's like laying on the ground
00:13:57.120 like, "Ah, my gosh, like I can't even
00:13:59.120 move." But, I can remember like you when
00:14:01.440 you stub your toe, you literally like
00:14:02.720 your whole body adjust to it. That's
00:14:05.080 what the church is for, and this is why
00:14:07.280 you were here as well. Whether ministry
00:14:09.600 or you're just you're showing up and
00:14:11.080 you're still trying to figure out, when
00:14:12.480 you're not here, you are missed. You are
00:14:14.760 a part of the body, and when you're not
00:14:17.520 operating or not showing up, we feel it.
00:14:20.480 We really do. Christ is the head, we are
00:14:22.080 just appendages. I don't know if you're
00:14:23.480 the knuckle, if you're a joint, if
00:14:24.720 you're knee, your leg, but you are you
00:14:26.960 matter and you are of value. Of Acts 2,
00:14:29.560 when the church is actually beginning,
00:14:31.280 you see um you see them sharing
00:14:33.360 possessions, breaking of the breaking of
00:14:35.760 the bread, and they all had things in
00:14:37.760 common.
00:14:39.320 So, I urge you on today, I charge you on
00:14:41.240 today, that you would not leave a group
00:14:43.000 of redemption where you're being molded,
00:14:45.520 where you're being formed,
00:14:47.680 and because someone inconvenienced you,
00:14:50.480 you left, and you left for a group of
00:14:52.680 retaliation.
00:14:54.640 But, love people love people. Hurt
00:14:57.280 people hurt people. So, although you're
00:15:00.000 you're in this group of retaliation, uh
00:15:02.360 in in in in the moment, it might feel
00:15:04.880 really good to to say negative things or
00:15:07.160 to to shove to to to spew negative words
00:15:10.400 on others, it doesn't really do anything
00:15:12.160 internally, right? It is actually just
00:15:14.160 caps it for more.
00:15:16.760 Part two,
00:15:18.360 pain,
00:15:19.600 right? It's another connector. If you if
00:15:21.640 you want to have love, you got to talk
00:15:23.440 about that the pain as well. And pain
00:15:25.440 interrupts our normal flow. Think about
00:15:27.520 when you are going to take your kids to
00:15:30.400 school or you go to the grocery store,
00:15:32.120 you have to go to work. Um pain will
00:15:34.600 allow you to just in ways that you
00:15:36.640 weren't expecting to, but you have to.
00:15:38.680 There's an article in PubMed that said
00:15:40.520 that the annual cost of chronic pain
00:15:43.360 I would let you guess, but I'll just
00:15:44.320 tell you. It's $720
00:15:46.840 billion.
00:15:48.480 That's a That's a good number. I mean,
00:15:50.160 Pastor Rick might have that in his
00:15:51.120 pocket, but that's a big number for me.
00:15:53.480 And that is actually more than heart
00:15:54.840 disease, cancer, diabetes, and it could
00:15:57.000 change your outlook. I mean, even for
00:15:58.080 Christians themselves, dealing with pain
00:16:00.800 can really cause you to have a different
00:16:02.960 outlook on life. Like, why is this
00:16:05.160 happening to me?
00:16:06.960 Um there's a There's a quote. If you put
00:16:08.720 that quote up by Philip Yancey
00:16:11.320 that says, "If you pin them against the
00:16:13.360 wall in their dark, secret moment, many
00:16:16.120 Christians would probably admit that the
00:16:17.880 pain was God's one mistake."
00:16:21.080 A lot of people uh
00:16:22.960 battle or wrestle with that question
00:16:24.600 often. Why would a a loving God Why Why
00:16:27.360 would a God allow the volume of pain to
00:16:30.160 occur in a world?
00:16:32.200 It's one of the tallest and widest
00:16:34.360 Christians wall that you'll ever face
00:16:36.200 when engaging with skeptics and and
00:16:38.280 those that are atheists. How would a
00:16:39.720 loving God allow pain and suffering to
00:16:43.000 exist?
00:16:44.560 But I'm I I I I know without a shadow of
00:16:46.480 doubt I'm I'm very confident that God
00:16:48.560 does not shy away from pain and actually
00:16:51.120 leans into it. It's actually a common
00:16:53.200 theme in scripture. Um as you look at
00:16:55.920 Job, this was a man who faced great
00:16:57.920 pain, devastation, loss while trying to
00:17:00.680 figure out why
00:17:02.800 because he was deemed or known as a good
00:17:04.880 person. You look at Psalms, and in some
00:17:07.480 of the Psalms, some of them are written
00:17:08.920 at the lowest points of life that scream
00:17:11.199 why there is hardship. You look at
00:17:13.880 Lamentations, which is literally a book
00:17:16.560 of crying and wailing.
00:17:18.959 And then we arrive to today's scripture,
00:17:22.439 John 9:1-7.
00:17:24.520 And I'm going to pray. I'm going to
00:17:25.640 pray. God, we come to you now.
00:17:27.640 And we thank you. We just acknowledge
00:17:29.240 you. Um you are the reason you are the
00:17:31.400 primary reason that we are here today.
00:17:33.200 So God, I pray that these words would be
00:17:35.360 way more than words, but they just would
00:17:37.240 they would really point back to you. And
00:17:39.360 I thank you so much for using me. Thank
00:17:41.760 you for this church. Um thank you for
00:17:43.560 those that are even viewing online
00:17:45.360 today, God. Do a work in them in a way
00:17:47.880 that we can't. In your name I pray all
00:17:50.080 these things. Amen.
00:17:51.840 Okay, so we're going to go through John
00:17:53.320 9:1-7. You guys ready? All right, let's
00:17:56.000 let's do it. As he went along, he saw a
00:17:58.280 man blind from birth. His disciples
00:18:00.560 asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man
00:18:02.880 or his parents, that he was born blind?"
00:18:05.640 "Neither this man nor his parents
00:18:07.480 sinned," said Jesus.
00:18:09.360 "But this happens so that the works of
00:18:11.520 God might be displayed in him. As long
00:18:14.000 as it is day, we must do the works of
00:18:16.920 him who sent me. Night is coming when no
00:18:19.240 one can work. While I am in the world, I
00:18:21.720 am the light of the world." After saying
00:18:23.640 this, he spit on the ground,
00:18:25.520 made some made some mud with saliva, and
00:18:28.320 put it on the man's eyes. "Go," he told
00:18:31.160 him, "wash in the pool of Siloam." This
00:18:33.960 word means sent. So the man went and
00:18:37.280 washed, and he came home seeing.
00:18:40.520 So let's set the tone or the scene for
00:18:42.760 this. So you have Christ and his
00:18:45.120 disciples, and they are actually walking
00:18:47.320 into a temple compound to go worship,
00:18:49.640 where thousands of people would have
00:18:50.760 been. This would have been very common.
00:18:52.640 Um and as they were walking in, they see
00:18:54.720 this blind man. Uh and this was a kind
00:18:57.720 of a a life lesson point or a teaching
00:18:59.560 point for the for the disciples. So they
00:19:01.600 they posed this question. Now, what I I
00:19:03.960 think is really interesting. One, Christ
00:19:06.120 I love that he just sees you. He sees
00:19:07.880 you exactly where you're at. Now, it
00:19:09.840 doesn't matter where you're at. Whether
00:19:10.840 you're in your high, whether you're low,
00:19:12.400 he sees you.
00:19:13.920 But the disciples, they actually ask a
00:19:15.560 question that most people would just
00:19:17.200 think. And it says, "Rabbi, who sinned,
00:19:19.160 this man or his parents
00:19:21.400 that he was born blind?" So,
00:19:23.920 I want you to look at and let's see that
00:19:25.560 he was born blind.
00:19:27.560 So, at that point in time, first century
00:19:29.320 Christianity,
00:19:30.880 blindness or that condition, they didn't
00:19:33.080 have many resources. So, one of the
00:19:35.080 reasons that he could have been blind
00:19:36.760 from from birth is something simple as
00:19:38.680 like in the Middle East, it's blazing
00:19:40.880 hot where there the sun is always out.
00:19:42.760 On top of that, you have sand sweeping
00:19:45.200 in and so ointments and resources that
00:19:47.840 we might have today wouldn't have been
00:19:49.400 available at that point in time.
00:19:51.920 And then also by being blind, you would
00:19:55.320 have been
00:19:57.080 you wouldn't really have a
00:19:59.440 a myriad of of of options as you as you
00:20:03.000 got older.
00:20:04.200 So, you were kind of resource to to
00:20:06.120 begging. And so, if you're going to beg,
00:20:09.400 you're going to get some discernment
00:20:10.400 really quickly on like, "Where am I
00:20:11.800 getting my most Where am I going to get
00:20:13.200 my the most earnings for today?" And so,
00:20:16.600 you're going to go somewhere where
00:20:17.280 people are kind,
00:20:18.760 generous,
00:20:20.640 thankful,
00:20:22.800 and maybe have a willingness to to give,
00:20:25.800 right? And so, you're going to a church
00:20:27.760 or you're going to a temple. And so, you
00:20:29.200 will see people of less resource sitting
00:20:32.120 sitting outside the the temple. And so,
00:20:33.600 while they're there, the disciples
00:20:35.760 regard this man as just an unsolved
00:20:37.840 riddle.
00:20:39.080 They show no interest in helping this
00:20:40.480 man, but discussing the cause of his
00:20:42.560 condition.
00:20:44.000 And so, there was that question, "Rabbi,
00:20:46.120 who sinned, this man or his parents that
00:20:48.640 he was born blind?" Now, before we get
00:20:51.440 to the question,
00:20:52.960 there's a question in that.
00:20:54.640 And the question is, "Why?" It's a
00:20:56.440 tricky little question if you ask me.
00:20:59.160 Why does pain and suffering occur? Well,
00:21:03.720 especially
00:21:05.760 why does pain and suffering occur?
00:21:08.320 Especially, why would a loving God
00:21:10.720 cause pain and suffering?
00:21:15.880 First and foremost, we have we do have
00:21:17.520 sin, right? We do have sin, and that has
00:21:20.000 kind of ripped us away from the shalom,
00:21:22.520 that that ultimate peace that we had.
00:21:24.520 So, we we have that. I think most people
00:21:26.680 can understand with that, but I think
00:21:28.680 what people really wrestle with is why
00:21:30.440 does it happen to innocent people?
00:21:32.960 Why does it happen to children?
00:21:38.080 If it was an antagonist or villain,
00:21:41.080 I I
00:21:42.040 I'm being honest, I think most people
00:21:43.720 would justify and be like, "Okay, they
00:21:45.840 had it coming." Right? They had it
00:21:48.160 coming. But, when this happens to
00:21:49.800 innocent people uh that we know of, that
00:21:52.920 are loving, or children, we just we we
00:21:55.360 have we have an issue with that.
00:21:58.440 But, on the other side of things, if if
00:22:01.000 you say something is bad,
00:22:03.000 that mean that ultimately means that you
00:22:04.280 know what the supreme goodness is,
00:22:06.520 right? And so, if there's pain,
00:22:09.440 if you say you're in pain, then you also
00:22:11.080 know what the ultimate and supreme love
00:22:13.560 is.
00:22:14.760 C.S. Lewis says, "And if if the universe
00:22:17.720 is so bad, how did human beings ever
00:22:20.400 come to attribute it to the activity of
00:22:23.280 a wise and good creator?"
00:22:25.800 Okay, so there's one thing to to grow up
00:22:28.160 a certain way. Like I said, I grew up in
00:22:29.680 a family that didn't go to church, and I
00:22:31.240 kind of had to kind of navigate in
00:22:33.040 infinite directions to arrive at to
00:22:34.440 where I was at. And then, that kind of
00:22:36.560 created our upbringing.
00:22:38.360 But, to go anywhere in the world,
00:22:40.000 wherever the gospel has been proclaimed,
00:22:42.720 to yet people can point different
00:22:45.040 languages, different upbringings,
00:22:47.040 different cultural truths, can still
00:22:49.200 attest and say, without a shadow of
00:22:51.440 doubt, that God exists. That's something
00:22:53.320 else.
00:22:54.600 It'd be like taking a test.
00:22:56.960 You know, you I wasn't a good test
00:22:58.440 taker, you know.
00:22:59.720 Um there's actually it's pretty funny. I
00:23:01.600 don't know if you ever guys heard of
00:23:02.640 like the four agreements, but it's like
00:23:04.040 the power of words. And so I would have
00:23:06.480 like friends that were in like a period
00:23:07.960 before me or they were a year before me
00:23:09.960 and they're like, "Oh man, you don't
00:23:11.000 want that teacher." And I was already
00:23:12.560 going in there like, "Oh my gosh, I'm
00:23:13.920 going to bomb this test. Like I know
00:23:15.760 it." Even though I studied really hard,
00:23:17.880 I knew in my back of my mind like I'm
00:23:19.240 going to bomb this test. But it's like
00:23:20.840 taking the test. Now, I might get like a
00:23:22.920 70, 75. I'm going to be honest with you.
00:23:25.040 I'm sub I'm very average. But Jerry, you
00:23:27.400 know, Jerry might get He might get like
00:23:28.640 a 90, 95. He might. But the standard is
00:23:31.480 100%. You know going into it that you
00:23:34.360 can start at 100. I mean, my teachers
00:23:36.160 used to say that all the time every
00:23:37.120 year. Hey, when you come in here, you
00:23:38.440 start with an A. Whatever you end with
00:23:40.520 is what you get. It's whatever you put
00:23:42.080 into it. And I'm like, I don't know if
00:23:43.600 that's fair cuz I want an A, but I'm
00:23:45.200 just not getting an A. But it's the
00:23:47.080 standard. It's the moral standard. Verse
00:23:49.640 three, it says, "Neither this man or his
00:23:51.720 parents sinned," said Jesus. "But this
00:23:54.160 happened so that the works of God might
00:23:56.440 be displayed in him."
00:23:58.080 Can you imagine? Can you think about the
00:24:00.280 times this blind man was a little boy
00:24:03.320 and ask the question, "Why Why am I
00:24:05.080 blind? Why do I have to live this life?"
00:24:07.440 Right? To your mom or to your dad.
00:24:10.240 And I mean, I I couldn't imagine if they
00:24:12.000 had a good answer.
00:24:13.480 But Jesus does not say
00:24:15.880 once again, if if if we look at people
00:24:17.840 being blind and the conditions,
00:24:19.800 uh we also know that that sin has
00:24:22.240 riddled what we what we know as to be
00:24:24.760 full peace. And so Jesus does not say
00:24:26.960 that this man is perfect or sinless or
00:24:29.840 that his parents sinned, but he's saying
00:24:31.640 that is not the issue. It's not a direct
00:24:33.680 cause and effect.
00:24:35.320 Jesus says,
00:24:36.960 "Well, personal conditions aren't always
00:24:39.120 connected to personal sins." Jesus
00:24:41.640 explained that it is because what he
00:24:43.720 wants to to work through this man.
00:24:47.280 Jesus pointed out to the question
00:24:48.800 pointed the question away and elevated
00:24:51.120 to a bigger question of how can God work
00:24:54.200 in this and through this this man.
00:24:57.280 We might not not always know the cause
00:25:01.360 know the intended result for those who
00:25:04.840 love God. It was to It was for God to be
00:25:07.160 glorified. It was to use this man in a
00:25:09.360 way that no one else know no no
00:25:12.680 treatment could cure this man. That God
00:25:15.320 would be glorified that he would be the
00:25:16.720 cure.
00:25:18.000 And have you ever considered this
00:25:20.560 in your life?
00:25:21.920 Um if you're dealing with hurt, if you
00:25:23.600 if you experienced it, if you're in pain
00:25:25.680 right now, have you considered that God
00:25:27.680 might allow suffering in your life to
00:25:30.840 accomplish a greater purpose?
00:25:33.640 Um can you attest can you can you look
00:25:35.760 back can you reflect on moments in your
00:25:37.920 life where
00:25:39.440 maybe you thought you were going to a
00:25:40.760 certain job, right? Um or maybe you
00:25:43.000 thought you were going to be in a
00:25:43.600 certain group of friends uh in in school
00:25:47.040 or even at in your job. Um and it didn't
00:25:49.080 go that way.
00:25:50.320 Maybe you've been in a relationship.
00:25:51.880 I've been on a couple relationships
00:25:53.360 where uh it didn't go my way. Uh
00:25:55.600 I can remember when I was a teenager and
00:25:57.920 uh I was dating this girl and I thought
00:25:59.800 she was the love of my life cuz you know
00:26:00.840 it was puppy love, but we were in the
00:26:02.200 gazebo and she hit me with the it's not
00:26:05.760 you, it's me and I was like, "Oh."
00:26:08.840 Broke my heart. Broke my heart. But then
00:26:11.320 I moved on and then years later, you
00:26:13.240 know, as I really started to walk with
00:26:14.560 the Lord and I I was shedding from all
00:26:16.720 these things that weren't of of me that
00:26:19.400 weren't of the of of God um and I was I
00:26:22.040 was in a couple Christian relationships
00:26:24.200 and they were a little boring, you know,
00:26:25.560 they just we weren't we weren't aligned,
00:26:27.400 you know? And I'm like, "Man, if this is
00:26:29.040 how it's going to be, it's going to be
00:26:30.560 it's going to be a rough ride." And then
00:26:31.800 I meet this my best friend, my smoking
00:26:34.320 hot beautiful wife Amy Williams that
00:26:36.880 sits here today and I'm I'm I'm forever
00:26:39.280 thankful. So maybe in the moment what we
00:26:41.920 see in part God sees in full, it's to
00:26:43.840 trust maybe that maybe whatever is going
00:26:46.240 on, although I don't know it, I don't
00:26:47.840 want to miss what's going on in my life.
00:26:51.080 You know, Romans 8:28 says, "And we know
00:26:53.680 that in all things God works for the
00:26:56.080 good of those who love him,
00:26:59.360 who have been called according to his
00:27:01.280 purpose." If you remember Joseph back in
00:27:03.480 Genesis 50,
00:27:05.200 you know, he says, "What you meant for
00:27:06.680 evil, God meant for good."
00:27:09.520 What what reminds me
00:27:11.880 or I guess it's well and it makes makes
00:27:13.480 a little more sense to me. Um like I
00:27:14.920 said, I'm not I'm not a nerd, you know,
00:27:16.240 I'm not I'm actually not really that
00:27:17.680 well with science, but I do think it's
00:27:19.360 pretty cool. But the periodic table, um
00:27:21.680 and so you have elements that alone
00:27:23.880 could severely harm you. So, you have
00:27:25.440 sodium
00:27:26.760 on one side and you have chlorine. Now,
00:27:29.640 individually in their purest form,
00:27:32.040 they could kill you. But for whatever
00:27:33.800 reason, the right combination of sodium
00:27:35.760 and chloride makes table salt, right?
00:27:38.080 So, it's quite Some people don't use it.
00:27:40.080 I'm going to be honest, but you know,
00:27:41.080 we're not going to talk about that.
00:27:41.800 That's another That's another sermon.
00:27:43.960 Uh but for those who do use salt, it can
00:27:45.640 be quite tasty, you know? And so,
00:27:48.400 harmful by themselves, right combo can
00:27:50.600 be really helpful.
00:27:52.200 Pain corrects us and equips us. In verse
00:27:54.840 4, it says, "As long as it is day, we
00:27:56.680 must do the works of him who has sent
00:27:58.200 me. Night is coming when no one can
00:28:00.600 work. While I am in the world, I am the
00:28:02.920 light of the world."
00:28:05.240 So, I have a question for you. Like,
00:28:06.240 what is your day?
00:28:07.600 Uh what does your day consist of? Uh
00:28:09.600 while you're on uh this side of Earth,
00:28:11.960 right? You know, if people usually ask
00:28:13.040 say, "Oh, how you doing?" I say, "I'm on
00:28:14.040 the right side I'm on the right side of
00:28:15.200 dirt, you know? I'm going to make the
00:28:16.480 best of whatever I got going on today."
00:28:18.360 And so, while you're here, what are you
00:28:20.560 doing with your day? What does your day
00:28:21.880 consume? What does it consisted of? And
00:28:24.520 so, cuz in heaven, there won't be um
00:28:26.920 invite cards that you can you can get to
00:28:28.920 somebody. Um whatever pain, whatever
00:28:31.280 suffering that you might be going
00:28:32.360 through that that as you you tell
00:28:34.280 someone as you're being transparent, um
00:28:36.720 that could that can compel them to like
00:28:38.280 want to come know more about who Christ
00:28:40.200 is. There won't be those opportunities.
00:28:46.600 And then also darkness.
00:28:49.240 So that's the two end because you have
00:28:50.880 Christ who bore the cross and actually
00:28:53.520 faced darkness, a spiritual darkness, so
00:28:56.000 that we could be walking right in
00:28:58.600 spiritual light.
00:29:00.680 And then after this, he says this in in
00:29:02.240 verse 6, he says, "After saying this, he
00:29:04.280 spit on the ground, made some mud with
00:29:06.280 saliva, and put it on the man's eyes."
00:29:09.800 Now guys,
00:29:11.320 I I would say I'm I'm quite in love with
00:29:13.160 everyone. I love you guys, you know.
00:29:15.080 Pastor Eric, even Rachel, you know, I
00:29:16.800 got nothing but love for you. Hey,
00:29:17.920 Darlene, I got love for you, man. But if
00:29:19.920 any of y'all hawk a loogie, okay, and
00:29:22.320 then spit in the mud,
00:29:24.040 I'm running. I'm Usain Bolt-ing out of
00:29:26.480 there, okay?
00:29:27.880 But there's something about Christ that
00:29:30.080 he can take these like mundane things,
00:29:32.080 these average things, and use it to heal
00:29:34.280 this man.
00:29:35.400 In Genesis 2:7, it says the substance
00:29:37.320 from which man was made, he picked that
00:29:39.800 up, he spit in it, he picked it up and
00:29:41.760 put it on the the man's eyes, and from
00:29:43.640 that he was forever changed.
00:29:45.560 Only Christ can do that.
00:29:48.200 Verse 7, he says, "Go,"
00:29:50.200 he told him, "wash in the Pool of
00:29:51.800 Siloam."
00:29:53.440 This word means sent. So the man went
00:29:56.000 and washed and came home seeing.
00:29:59.720 Um this this was a this was an immediate
00:30:03.240 step of faith on the man's behalf.
00:30:05.720 You know, imagine. So you got on one
00:30:07.520 side where he is he's blind, he's a man,
00:30:10.880 so he's at least he's 14 years old in in
00:30:13.800 Jewish tradition or culture. Um we'll
00:30:16.320 say for instance, he's in his 20s. So
00:30:18.680 that's 20 years of living a certain way.
00:30:21.000 And then you're told that you're changed
00:30:23.400 or to go and you're free from whatever
00:30:25.600 you whatever point of view that you
00:30:27.000 might have had, and it sounds great. It
00:30:29.680 sounds good, but I can actually sense
00:30:32.120 the
00:30:33.240 the wrestling with that. Um you look at
00:30:36.120 uh General uh Gordon Mustard who goes in
00:30:39.040 to kind of
00:30:40.800 uh announce the Emancipation
00:30:41.960 Proclamation, right? He he goes in to
00:30:43.480 tell the slaves that, "Hey, you're
00:30:44.400 free."
00:30:45.400 That sounds great. But, if you are in
00:30:47.960 you're bound and told that you are
00:30:51.320 just property, and then you're told that
00:30:52.920 you're free,
00:30:54.080 what do you do with that?
00:30:56.240 Law-wise, policy,
00:30:58.600 skills, like where do you go from there?
00:31:01.600 So, this man
00:31:03.360 is prompted. And so, he can retreat back
00:31:05.840 to what he knows, right? If a lie's
00:31:07.400 going to get me through, I'd rather not
00:31:08.560 know the truth. If the truth's going to
00:31:10.120 make me cry, I'd rather just live a lie.
00:31:11.640 He could stay there, but instead, he
00:31:13.600 makes his immediate jump. He He goes,
00:31:16.120 and he runs to the Pool of Siloam, which
00:31:18.080 thousands of people would have been
00:31:19.160 there, and they would have been like,
00:31:20.920 "Wait a minute, this guy looks a little
00:31:22.040 different." It would be very similar to
00:31:23.960 someone if you're at Giant Eagle that
00:31:25.760 you frequent, and you see the same
00:31:27.560 person at the corner, right at the light
00:31:29.240 when you're at the red light, and uh
00:31:30.800 they have their sign up. And then, out
00:31:32.040 of nowhere, the next time you go,
00:31:33.600 they're polished, they're clean, they're
00:31:35.920 well-dressed. And you're thinking,
00:31:37.680 "Wait, are you the person that's wearing
00:31:38.680 the sign?
00:31:40.000 What happened? What's going on?"
00:31:44.480 You know, um
00:31:46.200 you have uh in Genesis, you have God in
00:31:48.920 the beginning that says, "Let there be
00:31:50.920 light." And then, here you have Christ
00:31:53.280 telling this man, "Let there be sight."
00:31:55.200 And it's a beautiful thing.
00:31:57.320 And it's all about Christ. It's all
00:31:59.000 about pushing others to Christ. Um
00:32:02.320 I remember, like I said, being in
00:32:05.000 youth ministry for such a long time.
00:32:06.480 I've had that I've been afforded and
00:32:08.560 privileged the the opportunity to speak
00:32:10.360 in front of hundreds of students, and
00:32:12.080 it's been a great thing. And uh we were
00:32:13.920 doing a call and response at at one of
00:32:16.440 them. It was actually my friend JB that
00:32:17.800 was doing the call and response. And
00:32:20.040 he's like, you know, "To the redeemed of
00:32:21.400 the Lord, say so." And so, these kids
00:32:23.200 give their lives to Christ. And so, they
00:32:24.600 come up to him at the end, and uh
00:32:28.040 they come up to him at the end, and they
00:32:29.240 say, "JB, man, like your your your
00:32:31.800 message is really powerful. Like, and
00:32:34.320 I've chose to follow you." He's like,
00:32:35.840 "No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't follow
00:32:37.480 me. Follow Christ. It's all about him.
00:32:40.520 It's always been about him. It will be
00:32:42.280 about nobody else. I promise you if
00:32:44.520 anyone's ever led you astray, who's ever
00:32:46.560 hurt you or told you false words that
00:32:48.360 had nothing to do with Christ, I
00:32:49.840 guarantee you it will fail at some
00:32:51.640 point. If they're not pointing you to
00:32:53.080 Christ, I guarantee it is Christ forever
00:32:56.360 and always." In our conclusion, fleeing
00:32:59.200 from the source of pain and suffering
00:33:01.040 rather than addressing and overcoming it
00:33:03.440 leaves us wounded and bitter. And
00:33:05.760 there's nothing to enhance our lives or
00:33:07.680 those of the people responsible for the
00:33:09.800 suffering.
00:33:11.520 I would hope and I charge you guys as we
00:33:13.200 prepare to transition out of here that
00:33:15.480 if you are in pain, if you have some
00:33:18.200 type of hurt, I hope that you would you
00:33:20.280 would go allowing pain to change you.
00:33:22.520 That would be a changing agent. That you
00:33:24.000 would look at this season and situation
00:33:25.920 that you're in. Um and I'm not saying
00:33:27.720 that maybe some of those things are um
00:33:29.600 covertly or overtly happening or
00:33:31.720 directly or indirectly happening to you,
00:33:33.680 but that you would take a moment as
00:33:35.600 Pastor Eric said earlier that you take a
00:33:37.040 step back and you really contemplate on
00:33:39.480 why why is this happening? And don't
00:33:42.120 don't lose or miss what the Lord is
00:33:44.560 trying to say to you in that.
00:33:47.400 And also as you go that you help
00:33:49.640 alleviate pain when you see it in
00:33:51.680 others. Um there's nothing like
00:33:54.800 being able to just carve out a little
00:33:55.880 time. Christ was so great at
00:33:58.080 interruptions, right? The woman who bled
00:34:00.360 for 12 years, the woman that was at the
00:34:02.520 well. That wasn't necessarily on his
00:34:04.280 agenda. It wasn't on his agenda. I mean,
00:34:06.760 he knows all things. I'm not saying
00:34:08.159 that. But if if he was to write it out,
00:34:10.520 that wasn't Okay, I'm going to I'm going
00:34:11.800 to Okay, I'm going to heal this woman
00:34:13.239 who bled. But no, he was so attuned and
00:34:15.800 attentive to what was going on around
00:34:17.440 him that he was able to heal.
00:34:21.159 If you're hurting,
00:34:23.560 I'm sorry. I really am.
00:34:26.040 But I pray that
00:34:28.080 forgiveness of Christ allows you to
00:34:29.918 forgive others and heal your past and
00:34:32.560 your present. Unforgiveness is keeping
00:34:34.360 your past. Forgiveness will remove you
00:34:36.480 from your past and allow you to see your
00:34:38.560 future.
00:34:41.199 And if you're in pain, may hope in
00:34:43.040 Christ allow you not to remain
00:34:44.879 afflicted, but move you to see how he
00:34:48.199 will use you, how God will use you.
00:34:50.040 While you have breath in your lungs,
00:34:52.399 the Lord can use you. Hey, I'm going to
00:34:54.080 pray, and then my my brother Jared's
00:34:56.000 going to come up
00:34:57.320 and transition us out. And also, I
00:34:59.200 really want to say too, I'm looking
00:35:00.360 forward to hearing you preach next week,
00:35:01.920 brother. Seriously. Hey God, we come to
00:35:03.960 you now, and we are so so thankful.
00:35:06.720 We're so grateful for your word first
00:35:09.200 and foremost. Lord, um in many ways,
00:35:11.880 whether we uh grew up in a family that
00:35:14.160 did go to church,
00:35:16.040 and we were going to receive an end of
00:35:17.240 of of some hurt that that pushed us
00:35:19.360 away, that allowed us to drift. Um as
00:35:21.640 D.A. Carson says, that no one drifts
00:35:23.360 into goodness. Um we might have been
00:35:25.560 pushed away, but Lord, if we're here
00:35:26.600 today, if you're if these words have
00:35:28.440 penetrated the ears, Lord, that that
00:35:30.160 your word, that they would be reminded
00:35:31.880 that your word is used to to to correct,
00:35:35.000 to direct, to guide, um and to heal
00:35:38.200 ultimately, God. So, I pray that you do
00:35:40.400 a work in all of us. Um to those who
00:35:44.360 grew up not knowing you, uh somehow
00:35:47.920 blindly felt their way around and and
00:35:50.560 realized that your nearness was has
00:35:52.040 always been there, but they were able to
00:35:53.720 acknowledge you. God, I pray that you
00:35:55.320 continue to do a work in them. God,
00:35:56.760 thank you for the ways that you can even
00:35:59.000 use again, what people have meant for
00:36:01.520 evil, you can mean for good. You can
00:36:03.320 mean for a bigger purpose. And I thank
00:36:05.360 you. I exalt you for that. Thank you for
00:36:07.360 loving me exactly where I was at and not
00:36:09.440 leaving me there. We give all these
00:36:10.600 things up to you. In your name I pray.
00:36:12.440 Amen.
00:36:19.880 >> Amen. Give us like a great big hand. So
00:36:21.560 grateful for you, brother. And uh
00:36:23.480 I got to Yeah, we can give him a hand.
00:36:24.920 That That wonderful.
00:36:27.000 You know, um I'll be honest in a world
00:36:29.240 uh
00:36:30.120 in a world with a lot of a lot of
00:36:31.080 different men out there, I really
00:36:32.160 appreciate and honor and respect that
00:36:33.800 you lead and speak with such
00:36:35.400 vulnerability and humility. And so, um I
00:36:38.720 would be remiss if I didn't keep that
00:36:40.120 same posture, that same attitude um as
00:36:42.560 we transition into an opportunity uh to
00:36:45.320 give. And as as Sly was speaking on on
00:36:48.080 John chapter 9 here this morning,
00:36:51.240 you know, there's such an amazing
00:36:52.440 profound uh passage and some truths that
00:36:55.080 we can glean from this
00:36:56.680 really from simple acts of faith and
00:36:58.360 obedience. So, I just want to go back
00:37:00.280 over John chapter 9 where it says,
00:37:03.120 "Having said these things, he, being
00:37:05.040 Jesus, spit on the ground and made mud
00:37:08.000 with saliva.
00:37:09.360 Then he anointed the man's eyes with mud
00:37:11.800 and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool
00:37:14.600 of Siloam, which was which means sent.'"
00:37:17.360 So, he went and washed and came back
00:37:21.600 seeing.
00:37:23.880 In the spirit of humility and
00:37:24.840 vulnerability, I'll be honest with you
00:37:26.240 guys, when it comes to finances, when it
00:37:27.840 comes to money, you know, I grew up in
00:37:30.800 really from time to time quite anxious
00:37:33.360 about finances, about am I going to be
00:37:35.440 provided for?
00:37:36.880 Is is is is are we going to be able to
00:37:38.480 have food on the table? These different
00:37:40.920 things consume my mind as a young man
00:37:42.640 and even as a as a young adult as well.
00:37:45.160 I've had angst around this area of
00:37:46.800 finances from time to time.
00:37:48.920 And I'll be honest, at times it feels
00:37:51.080 like much like the blind man, like God,
00:37:52.680 where are you? I can't see you. What is
00:37:54.080 going on?
00:37:55.280 This doesn't make any sense.
00:37:57.960 But one thing that
00:37:59.840 I am sure of and has happened time and
00:38:01.320 time again is that God never stops being
00:38:04.200 a faithful
00:38:05.760 provisional father.
00:38:08.880 It was a it was a a time not so long
00:38:11.000 ago, I was in same same kind of boat,
00:38:13.400 wrestling with different stresses and
00:38:14.800 tensions of whether it be finances and
00:38:16.840 and work and all these things.
00:38:18.560 And and in prayer, I really believe the
00:38:20.800 Holy Spirit spoke to my heart and said,
00:38:22.600 "You know, son, I could feed you with
00:38:25.040 with birds. I could have birds deliver
00:38:26.680 food to your doorstep like he did
00:38:28.120 Elijah.
00:38:29.280 How much more will I take care of you?"
00:38:32.200 And in that in that that tension, really
00:38:35.720 been like, "Wow, God. Like, okay, I'm
00:38:37.040 going to continue to be faithful. I want
00:38:38.400 to continue to give to your mission."
00:38:41.280 You know, just like the blind man,
00:38:42.640 sometimes whenever we're we're in these
00:38:44.560 tense moments and all it takes is
00:38:46.440 vulnerability and desperation just to be
00:38:48.080 like, "Lord, help me. Save me. I'm going
00:38:50.480 to continue to follow you." And the Lord
00:38:52.880 gives him a command, just a simple step
00:38:54.560 of faith and obedience. So, here this
00:38:56.680 morning, I don't know what that might
00:38:57.880 look like for you. I don't know where
00:38:59.040 you're at financially or where you are
00:39:01.000 in your relationship with the Lord as
00:39:02.520 provider.
00:39:04.360 But may I suggest to you, just like the
00:39:06.480 Lord has been so kind and gracious to me
00:39:09.360 to show himself to be a providing
00:39:11.120 father, that really just the simplest of
00:39:13.560 steps of faith and obedience, even baby
00:39:15.520 steps, to trust him with our finances
00:39:18.400 and to give to his mission can make what
00:39:21.040 blind man see. And I I would encourage
00:39:23.520 you this morning that the Lord wants to
00:39:24.840 do the exact same thing in your life, no
00:39:27.880 matter where you're at. The simple steps
00:39:29.760 of obedience, no matter how big, how
00:39:31.120 small, can make you see God rightly and
00:39:34.120 open up a whole new paradigm of life for
00:39:35.960 you. There are several ways to give this
00:39:38.000 morning, cash or check. There is a
00:39:39.840 giving station at the back of the room
00:39:41.440 there, as well as if you have your cell
00:39:43.440 phone, you could take it out, scan the
00:39:44.880 tap card on the seat back in front of
00:39:46.520 you, or the QR code on the screen behind
00:39:49.520 me here. But more importantly than
00:39:51.360 different ways to give, let us be
00:39:53.640 faithful to take steps of obedience and
00:39:56.360 watch the Lord remove areas of our life
00:39:58.640 that may be formerly blind, where we
00:39:99.920 don't see him, it lifts just by simply
00:40:02.920 trusting him and doing what he says.
00:40:05.360 Father, I thank you so much
00:40:07.240 for an opportunity, Lord God, that we
00:40:08.520 have to give this morning. I thank you,
00:40:10.280 Jesus, and Hebrews it says that you are
00:40:12.200 the same yesterday, today, and forever.
00:40:14.640 And in Matthew 6, you say that how much
00:40:17.480 more does the heavenly father care about
00:40:19.720 his children? If he feeds the birds and
00:40:22.160 the sparrows, how much more will he meet
00:40:23.960 your every need? And so Lord this
00:40:25.840 morning, we come to you in vulnerability
00:40:28.440 and humility like the the man who was
00:40:30.400 blind from birth saying you're our only
00:40:31.920 hope. You're the only one who can make
00:40:33.800 ends meet. And so Jesus, I pray peace
00:40:36.640 and blessing over everybody's finances
00:40:38.160 here this morning. I pray you would stir
00:40:40.000 our heart encouragement and faith to
00:40:42.040 give. Lord God, to see your kingdom
00:40:44.200 expansion, to see your family grow. Lord
00:40:46.560 God, that we would be a a church where
00:40:48.680 people from all walks of life would feel
00:40:50.600 seen, welcomed, secure, but empowered to
00:40:53.600 know you and to walk with you. That they
00:40:55.960 would also have their eyes open to
00:40:58.400 seeing how great you are.
00:41:00.120 It's in Jesus' name we pray.
00:41:02.040 Amen. Amen. If you're new here with us
00:41:04.720 this morning, maybe your very first
00:41:06.560 Sunday, we just want to say welcome and
00:41:07.960 thank you so very much for choosing to
00:41:10.160 spend part of your Sunday with us. I
00:41:11.400 hope you enjoyed the treat of of brother
00:41:13.520 Sly preaching here this morning. We
00:41:15.520 would love to hear more about your
00:41:16.880 story. You know, as Sly mentioned,
00:41:18.680 people come from different backgrounds.
00:41:20.200 We would love to get to know you and and
00:41:22.480 really to see how God brought you here.
00:41:24.680 And uh really a a great way to do that,
00:41:26.320 just take out your cell phone and leave
00:41:28.160 some basic information with us. We just
00:41:30.200 want to be able to keep in touch with
00:41:31.240 you and follow up with you. If you want
00:41:33.000 to scan the top card or the QR code.
00:41:35.120 Additionally, on your way out the door
00:41:36.440 today by the exit there in the station
00:41:38.480 in the back of the room, we want to put
00:41:39.800 a gift in your hands as well. Just as
00:41:42.240 our way of saying thank you. We're so
00:41:43.280 glad that you decided to worship God
00:41:45.400 with us here uh this morning. We'd love
00:41:47.360 to hear more about who you are and what
00:41:49.320 the amazing things that God will be
00:41:50.400 doing in your life.
00:41:51.960 If you guys could please uh stand to
00:41:53.200 your feet. I'm going to pray. Whenever
00:41:54.440 I'm finished, you are dismissed.
00:41:59.120 Father, we thank you so much, Jesus. We
00:42:00.720 thank you, Lord, that that as Sly said
00:42:02.840 of God that you're not unaware of where
00:42:05.280 we're at. You see us where we're at.
00:42:06.840 Lord God, that whether we feel we're in
00:42:08.840 a place of desperation or feeling hey,
00:42:10.760 I'm on a mountain top. Things are going
00:42:12.000 pretty well." We thank you Lord that you
00:42:13.680 see us and you love us just the same.
00:42:15.720 And so Father, I ask today Lord that we
00:42:17.400 would no matter what we're going through
00:42:19.200 any obstacles, any hurts or pains, Lord
00:42:22.800 that we would surrender to you, that we
00:42:24.120 would open ourselves up for your healing
00:42:26.440 touch Lord God, that you would remove
00:42:28.160 areas of blindness and dullness in our
00:42:30.040 life Lord, allowing us to see. We trust
00:42:32.720 you. We thank you that you paid for it
00:42:34.040 on the cross and Lord, we ask this like
00:42:35.960 said that we would be people who are
00:42:37.600 healed people who heal people. Not be
00:42:40.400 people who are hurt who hurt people, but
00:42:42.680 instead bringing healing and love and
00:42:45.280 forgiveness and acceptance that more and
00:42:47.400 more people would join your kingdom and
00:42:48.880 your great family here at Freedom
00:42:50.600 Church. We love you and we honor you.
00:42:52.000 It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. You're
00:42:54.280 dismissed. Have a great and awesome week
00:42:55.560 everyone.