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Andy Stanley - Everyday Courage Courage in the Mirror Part 4 · Andy Stanley Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So about 20, I can't remember, it's over 20 years,
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: 20 plus years ago, I ruptured a disc in my
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: lower back.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: But I didn't know that's what I did. So I self-diagnosed.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Only men do this, I think. Women, you're so much smarter.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: You actually go see the doctor. We're like, I've got
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: this figured out. I was an English major, so I'm
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: pretty sure I know what's going on with my physical body, right?
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Just men. Okay, just men. How many of you have ever... missed,
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: like not missed, but self-diagnosed. It's like, I got this.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Is it just me? Yeah.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: We got this. We don't need anybody to tell us
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: what to do.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: So I self-diagnosed and shocker, I misdiagnosed. I labeled my
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: ruptured disc something entirely different.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: So I treated it as if it was something entirely different.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: And you will be surprised to know it didn't get better.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: In fact, it got worse. It got so worse. So worse.
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: It got so worse. It got so much worse. I
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: passed out twice.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: And if you've ever had ruptured disc, you know, when
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: it hits, it's like you're just out.
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: The pain, it just knocks you out.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: I had to cancel a family vacation. Sandra's here today
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: just as a witness. We had our suitcases for our
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: whole family sitting at the garage door to leave the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: next morning.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: And that next morning, I couldn't get out of bed.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: And it had been getting progressively worse.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: But, you know, I got this. I got this. You know,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: and I didn't got this.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: And then at one point, I'm laying on my back
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: in our bedroom with a pillow under my knees, and
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: I finally found a place where I wasn't like in
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: agonizing pain. I'm laying there looking up at the ceiling,
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: and I start having this conversation with myself.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I'm not making this up.
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: And the conversation went, what kind of career can I
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: have from this position? Because this is the only spot
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and the only position where I'm not in excruciating pain.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: And I just, I mean, I just started thinking. And
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: now if you're not a Christian or not from a
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: church world or church background, or maybe you're a different
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: faith or different faith tradition, by the way, we're so
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: glad you're here or watching.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: This is going to sound weird to you. So I'm
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: just admitting it. I thought, well, I could be an intercessor.
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: So you don't know what that is. Okay.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: So an intercessor is somebody that just prays for other
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: people all the time. So I thought I could just
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: lay here and Sandra could like bring me little cards
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: and I could be like, I want to pray for
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Susie and her thing at the deal. And I could just,
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: I could just, but that's all I could do because
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: it was, it was so, it was so bad. And
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: finally it dawned on me because I'm smart.
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: I do not think this is what I thought this is.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: And that's bad grammar, but it's kind of my my
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: best Princess Bride thing.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: Anyway, if you know the movie.
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: Anyway, so one MRI later and an outpatient surgery later,
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: an outpatient surgery, I sit up on the table and
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: the pain is completely gone. And just because I know
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: what happens when I say things like this, my surgeon
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: retired years ago. So please don't email me. It's like,
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Andy's surgeon, okay, he retired. But my goodness, it was miraculous. Now,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: the point being, when you misdiagnose things, They don't get better.
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: And to the point of this.
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: Series and what we've been talking about for the past
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: few weeks, if you misdiagnose fear, it's actually fear, but
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: you decided something else because nobody's afraid.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm not afraid of anything.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Misdiagnose fear, label it something other than what it is,
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and you're stuck. You're stuck with the consequences of your
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: fear and you can't move forward. And the thing is,
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: you don't want to be stuck. I don't even know you,
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: but I don't want you to be stuck. But most importantly,
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: your heavenly father doesn't want you to be stuck and
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: controlled by fear. So getting a bead on it and
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: recognizing it for what it is and responding to fear
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: as if it's fear is the way forward.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: So that's what we've been talking about.
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: Today, we're wrapping up this four-part series entitled Everyday Courage.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: And the big idea.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Behind this series, if you haven't been here, I'm going
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: to catch you up real quick before we move on,
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  Speaker 1: is this, that a single act of courage, and you've
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: seen this, read about it, maybe you've experienced it, a
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  Speaker 1: single act of courage is often the catalyst, often the
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  Speaker 1: catalyst for something extraordinary, often the catalyst for extraordinary. And
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: we can all point to or know about or read
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  Speaker 1: about or celebrate periods of history or events in history
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  Speaker 1: where somebody stepped up, you know, and did something, you know,
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  Speaker 1: that one act of courage by that one person that
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: set things in motion and things got better, a revolution,
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  Speaker 1: a good revolution began, a new movement began because somebody decided, hey,
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I'm just, you know, I'm not gonna, I can't take
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  Speaker 1: this anymore.
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  Speaker 2: This has to change.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: But the same dynamic doesn't just play out in history.
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  Speaker 1: It plays out or has the potential to play out
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  Speaker 1: in our everyday lives.
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  Speaker 2: That's why we've called this everyday life. Courage.
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  Speaker 1: But regarding the examples that come from history that, you know,
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: make movies and shows out of and historical fiction and history,
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: if you love to read history, the names that come
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  Speaker 1: to mind when we think about those epic, you know,
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  Speaker 1: expressions of courage, the names that come to mind, they
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  Speaker 1: come to mind because of this. Those people did not
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: wait for their fear to disappear. Because fear doesn't disappear.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: You pick up your fear and you move into the gap.
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  Speaker 2: You move forward.
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  Speaker 1: Anyway, they acted not because their fear disappeared. They acted
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: because something needed to be done and they acted in
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: spite of their fear. And when you read those stories,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: hear those stories, see those stories played out in movies
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: or a series, you think to yourself, I think we
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: all think to ourselves to some extent, I hope that
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  Speaker 1: if I were them in those circumstances or if I
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  Speaker 1: ever faced something that epic, that I would have the
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: courage to step into the gap and to do the thing,
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  Speaker 1: say the thing, respond to the thing, confront the thing,
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  Speaker 1: change the thing like they did. But most of us
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: aren't going to face any kind of challenges that require
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  Speaker 1: courage that, you know, changes the direction of a nation
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  Speaker 1: or starts a movement that changes the world.
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  Speaker 2: For us, it's the everyday thing.
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: As we said throughout the series, while we don't face
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: literal Goliaths, we all, from season to season, different times
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: in life, we all have our own giants. Things that
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: need to be addressed. Sins that need to be confessed.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: Habits that we need to admit to. Relationships that we
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: need to take the first step in repairing. But, as
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: we've said throughout the series, we hesitate. We're reluctant. And
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: what happens is we manufacture reasons for why we hesitate.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: We manufacture reasons for our reluctance. But the truth is
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: we're afraid.
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  Speaker 1: After, oh, we can imagine what's going to happen, and
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: we project into the future, and it just doesn't seem
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: like it's worth it, and we're afraid. And the reason
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: that it's so important for us to acknowledge this is
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: if you don't correctly diagnose fear, you will respond as
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: if it's something else and.
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  Speaker 2: You will be stuck. And here's how we know it's fear.
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  Speaker 1: And again, we've said this in every part of the series.
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  Speaker 2: The way we know it's fear is this.
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  Speaker 1: When you know what needs to be done, when you
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  Speaker 1: know what you need to do, when we know what
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  Speaker 1: needs to be said, when we're confident that this needs
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  Speaker 1: to be confronted, but we hesitate because of a potential threat.
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  Speaker 2: Outcome, that's fear. That's what fear is.
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  Speaker 1: It's projecting into the future and deciding, I just can't
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  Speaker 1: do it. So in part one, real quick, in part one,
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  Speaker 1: I made the point, and we spent the whole time
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  Speaker 1: talking about this, that Jesus followers, that Jesus followers are
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  Speaker 1: not to think in terms of outcomes and are not
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: to be so focused on outcomes that.
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  Speaker 2: We're afraid to do the thing we need to do.
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: Now, if you're a person of another faith tradition, or
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: you're not a Christian, or maybe you used to be,
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: and Somebody dragged you to church or is making you
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  Speaker 1: watch this.
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  Speaker 2: I don't have any right to tell you what to
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  Speaker 2: do with your life at all. This is all optional
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  Speaker 2: for you. In the first part of this series, we
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  Speaker 2: said for those of us who.
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  Speaker 1: Claim to be Jesus followers, not just believers, Jesus followers,
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  Speaker 1: our responsibility isn't to manage or predict outcomes.
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  Speaker 2: Our responsibility is.
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  Speaker 1: To say yes to our king, that the win is
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  Speaker 1: not what happens. The win is the fact that we
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  Speaker 1: said yes in spite of what might happen, and we say, God,
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  Speaker 1: outcomes are You are controlling outcomes.
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  Speaker 2: You're responsible for outcomes.
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  Speaker 1: I can go to bed tonight with a clear conscience
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  Speaker 1: because I did what I knew you wanted me to do.
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  Speaker 1: In part two, we talked about a specific expression of courage.
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  Speaker 2: And this was kind of a surprise to connect these
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: two things.
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  Speaker 1: But we talked about the courage to forgive and that
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  Speaker 1: forgiveness is courageous because you're giving something up. You're making
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  Speaker 1: a sacrifice and you don't know what the outcome is
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  Speaker 1: going to be. And we said that forgiveness is a
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  Speaker 1: way independent of the person who hurt you to ensure
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: your independence from the person who hurt you. hurt you,
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  Speaker 1: but it takes an act of courage to forgive. Then
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  Speaker 1: in part three, last time we were together, we discussed
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  Speaker 1: the courage to admit and to own our share of
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: the blame.
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  Speaker 2: Then when it's mostly.
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  Speaker 1: Their fault, when it's easy to build a case against
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  Speaker 1: the company, against your ex, against your fiance, against your friend,
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  Speaker 1: against whoever it might be, a parent, it's easy to
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  Speaker 1: build a case.
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  Speaker 2: But courage says, you know what? I might own a
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  Speaker 2: slice of that.
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  Speaker 1: Blame pie and I have the courage to admit to
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  Speaker 1: my part admit to my role, even if my part
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: is small by comparison. So here's my hope for the
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: whole series. Here's the big takeaway. I hope that you
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  Speaker 1: will begin correctly diagnosing what's going on in the background
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: of your life and that if it's fear, you'll admit
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: it and then you'll address it for what It is
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: that you'll, this is your opportunity, my opportunity to literally
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: step up and be the hero in our own story.
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: Because the hero is the person that is willing to
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  Speaker 1: pack up their fear and move forward.
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  Speaker 2: Anyway, and they don't wait for fear to disappear.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: And if you do, you'll look back on this season.
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  Speaker 1: You'll look back on whatever's happening now that you're struggling with.
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  Speaker 2: You'll look back.
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  Speaker 1: On the decision to acknowledge your fear and to address it.
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  Speaker 2: And you'll be so glad you did.
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  Speaker 1: Because this episode that's happening right now with you is
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: not your life story.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: It's just a chapter in your life story. And to
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: respond to fear and to acknowledge fear is a good
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: story to tell.
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: And whatever's going on right now in your life or
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: my life, at some point, it's just gonna be.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: A story that we tell.
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  Speaker 1: And what story do you wanna tell? And what story
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  Speaker 1: do you want told about you? What story do you
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: wanna tell your kids?
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: What story do you.
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  Speaker 1: Want your kids to tell their kids about how you handled, managed,
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: stepped into the gap did the thing, said the thing,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: confronted the thing, did the hard thing. That's the story
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  Speaker 1: you want to tell. So that's a good story.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: So why not live a good story? A story, again,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: that you are proud to tell.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: So as we wrap up, I want to talk about
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: one more specific fear. And this specific fear, actually, this
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: is one we all have a tendency to mislabel and misdiagnose.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: But this particular fear has three Faces so today I
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: want to talk about I want to talk about the
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: fear of admitting we need help and the fear of
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: asking for help and The fear of submitting to the
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: help that we need.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: The fear to admit to ourselves.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: I Need help the fear then to go public somewhere
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  Speaker 1: and ask for help and then the process the fear.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Of of submitting to the help that we need.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: Now, if there's any consolation, if maybe this will make
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: you feel a little bit better, for those of you
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: who are at any of our churches, any of our
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: campuses today, this one included, you are, I would guess,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: no more than 30 feet away. You're probably more like
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: 20 feet away, but you are no more than 30
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: feet away from someone who, if they had the opportunity,
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: would look you in the eye and say, been there.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: I've been there. And you know what else they would
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: tell you? They would tell you.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: That their courage, that their courage to admit that they
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: needed help and their courage to go public somewhere and
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: ask for help and their courage to submit to the
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: help that they needed was literally, literally the catalyst for
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: extraordinary in their life. That it brought about extraordinary change.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: That it brought about extraordinary change in themselves and in
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: the lives of their family members. It brought about extraordinary
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: change in their relationships. It set them up to have
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: it create a better future for themselves. That it was
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: the catalyst for extraordinary in their future family.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: And they would assure you.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: That the real problem is, because it took them a
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: minute to get there as well, is that you're afraid.
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: And that your fear will not disappear until you admit
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: that you're afraid, until you're willing to ask for help,
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: and until you're willing to submit to the help that
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: you need. And then they would tell you this, that
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: once you do, you will wish you had not waited
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: so long. And they'll tell you something else as well,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: if they had the opportunity. They would let you in
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: on a secret. And here's the secret they would let
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: you in on. The fact that you need help.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: Is not a secret. The people closest to you already know.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: It's a secret that you are keeping. It's a secret
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: that you keep from yourself. It's a secret you keep
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: from yourself that the people closest to you will hope
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: you'll find the courage to let yourself in on. But
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: it's not a secret to them. They may not know
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: exactly what's going on with you, but they know something's
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: going on. And they've tried to get you to talk
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: about it. And they've tried to address it. And you
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: just keep waving them off and waving them off.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: And I'm fine. I'm fine.
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: I'm fine.
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: There's nothing going on. I don't want to talk about it.
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: Everything's good.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: And the reason you do that is because, and the
• 14:31
  Speaker 1: people who are 20 to 30 feet from you would say, hey,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: been there.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: I understand. I get it.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: You've convinced yourself that you got this. But the truth is,
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: it's got you. And whatever it is, it's not the
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: only thing that's got you.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: The other thing that's got you is fear's got you.
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: Fear has become your master. And we've never met. You
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: do not want fear to be your master.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: In fact, if it was ever an option out there,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: what's going to be your master?
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: Nobody chooses fear.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: But because of what you've allowed to happen in your
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: life and what you've allowed to evolve in your life
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: and what you haven't confronted and what you.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: Haven't made public, fear... Has become your master.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: And fear is a merciless master. Fear is a ruthless master.
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Fear is a liar that will eventually turn you into
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: a liar.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: And perhaps it already has. Because fear is the one whispering,
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: you got this. You got this. You don't need any help.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: Your situation is unique.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: You don't need to ask anybody. For help.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: You don't even need help. And besides that, this is
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: fear whispers. You're not like everybody else. Besides fear whispers.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: What are people going to think?
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: What are the people at work going to think when
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: they find out? What are the people at home? What
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: are your kids going to think? What are your friends
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: going to think when he gets out in the community?
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: I mean, what are people going to think?
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Now, look up here.
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: I can answer this one for you personally. And here's
• 16:06
  Speaker 1: what I mean by that. I can tell you what
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: I would think if you go public. Because having done
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: this a long time, I think that the men and
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: women and the teenagers and the college students and the parents,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: I think that people who recognize their fear for what
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: it is and the people who are willing to pull
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: back the curtain on their lives and ask for help,
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: I think those are some of the most courageous people
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: I've ever met in my life.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: And I'll tell you why. Because I'm not sure I
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: would have the courage to do that.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: And the people who love you, that's exactly what they're
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: going to think about you. You see it as weakness.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: They will see it as strength. You see it as weakness.
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: They will see it as courage. You see it as weakness.
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: And they see it as somebody who has finally come
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: to grips with something that needs to be addressed.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: So, it's time. It's time for you to admit that
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: you need help. And it's time for you to ask
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: for help.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: And it's time for you to submit to the help
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: that you need. And until you do, and you know this,
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: you know this better than I do. Until you do,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: you're gonna continue managing and navigating outcomes. You're gonna try
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: to manage outcomes that are hard to manage. You're gonna
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: continue just navigating the outcomes of.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Your behavior, which is exhausting, right? It can be expensive.
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: It's so distracting and ultimately it's destructive to you and
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: to the people you love and to the relationships that
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: matter most to you. And as I said, ultimately, navigating this,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: refusing to acknowledge what's happening and refusing to acknowledge your
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: lack of courage, it will ultimately make you a liar.
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: And you don't like liars, which is why some of you,
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: if I can be really personal, which is why some
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: of you don't like yourself anymore. You don't like liars
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: and pretenders. And you've become a liar and you've become pretender,
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: and you don't want to live that way. Now, go
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: a level deeper.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: If you're a person of faith, and I don't mean
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: just a Christian faith.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: Of any faith, again, I would bet my truck that
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: you've already prayed, right?
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: You've prayed like crazy. You've asked God.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: In fact, you're not even specific. It's like, I got
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: a star of David, and I got a cross, and
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: I got a rabbit's foot. If anybody's out there listening,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: I don't want to make anybody mad. I need somebody
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: to do something for me. You have prayed, and here's
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: the good news.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: Today may be an answer to your prayer.
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Now, it may not be the answer you've prayed for,
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: because I know how you've prayed.
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: We all do this. You've prayed. If you've prayed... You've
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: prayed that.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: Tomorrow morning you would wake up free, free from that dependence,
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: free from that addiction, free from the temptation.
• 19:27
  Speaker 2: I don't even desire that anymore. I don't even desire
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: any of that anymore.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: You've prayed that he or she would magically disappear from
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: your life so you wouldn't have to do the courageous,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: complicated thing. But that's not how life works. In fact,
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: that's not how your creator created the world to work
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: and didn't. create your life to work or mine. Here's
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: how God the creator created life to work. You sow
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: and then you reap. You sow and then you reap.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: And when you reap, you reap later and you reap greater.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: You sow And then you reap. You have sowed your
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: way into whatever it is that you're facing and dealing
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: with and having to navigate.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: And here's the thing.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Your heavenly father who loves you is inviting you to
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: begin sowing your way out. And as we're going to
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: see in a minute. And if you will begin, he
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: will honor your sowing. And he will lift you up.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: And he will lift you out. But that process....
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: Requires courage.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: It requires the courage to admit to yourself that you
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: need help. And it requires the courage to ask for
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: help because you don't got this. And it requires the
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: courage to submit to the help that you need.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: Now, here's the amazing thing. This is why I'm always
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: telling you, read the Bible and for sure, at least
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: read the New Testament.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Peter who knew Jesus personally and camped out with him
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: and spent three and a half years and heard everything
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Jesus taught and then did the most ridiculous, embarrassing thing
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: at the end and just kind of ruined his whole story.
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, Peter, he weighs in on this tension. The
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: other person that weighs in on this tension is James. James,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: the brother of Jesus who grew up with Jesus.
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: Imagine Jesus as your oldest brother. Older brother.
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: Having an older brother is hard. Having Jesus as your
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: older brother, are you kidding me? In fact, that's what
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: he said his whole life growing up.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: Are you kidding me?
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Okay, so James, who becomes a.
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: Jesus follower, believes his brother, his older brother was his Lord.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: He weighs in on this in a document he wrote
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: in the first century that's in your New Testament.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: The apostle Paul, who.
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: Was transformed by Jesus, weighs in on this as well.
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: In fact, Paul says the most amazing thing. He says,
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: when I'm weak, then I'm strong. When I'm weak, then
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: I'm strong. In other words, he says, the weaker I acknowledge,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: the more strength I have. And here's what's important about
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: him saying that.
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: He didn't whisper that.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: He didn't say that to God. He documented it. He
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: wrote it and passed it out to say to everybody,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: I just want you to know, I'm not a superhero.
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: I'm not super spiritual. I mean, he wrote half the
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: New Testament, but he was quick to say, no, no.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: No, no. I'm not strong.
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: I am weak, weak, weak And anything good that comes
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: from me or through me, it is from my Father
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: in heaven.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: When I'm weak, then I'm strong.
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: All three of these gentlemen, to summarize what they're going
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: to say or would say about what we're talking about
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: is this.
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: That admission is an invitation. Admission is an invitation.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: The courage to admit you need help, the courage to
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: admit weakness, the courage to admit our need is an
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: invitation for God to intervene and to enter our lives
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: because God is attracted to humility. And I'll just be,
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: you know, frank with you. Part of your problem, I
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: know we've never met. Part of your problem is your pride.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: Pride.
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: And all three of them address that as well. So
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: here's what James says. James, the brother of Jesus. He's
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: so graphic.
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: These are the kinds of things that if you read
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: the New Testament, you read right by him because it's like,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: what is he even talking about? He's talking about this.
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: Listen to this.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: He says to his audience, nobody in particular, this is general.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: He could have written this to us. In fact, we
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: believe he did. Come near to God and he will
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: come near to you.
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: And to which you're like, okay, I already tried that.
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: I already tried to come near to God and I
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: prayed and I've asked God. James is like, no, no, no,
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: not like that. Come near to God and he will
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. We
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: have an English idiom or an English phrase that captures
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: what James is saying.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Ours is this. Come clean. Come clean. You've said that
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: to people. You need to come clean. You said that
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: to your kids. You need to come clean.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: I know you're lying to me. I know you're not
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: telling me the whole truth. You need to come clean.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: James says, this is what you do. If you want
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: to draw near to God, this isn't a private thing.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: He says, no, you need to wash your hands. You
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: need to come clean, you sinners.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: Admit it and be done with it and then get
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: the help you need to make sure you don't quit quitting.
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: He says, and Not only are you gonna wash, not
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: only are you gonna do the public part and purify
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: your hearts. Look at this phrase, you double-minded.
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: What's he talking about? He's talking about people who are pretenders.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: He's talking about people who have a public life and
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: a private life. People who have a public life and
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: a dual life. People who have a life that the
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: people who know them the most don't even know about.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: They're living a dual life. They are double-minded, a secret
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: life that's characterized and protected by lying, And pretending and hiding.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: He says, come on. Come out of that. Walk out
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: of that. Wash your hands of it. Come clean. Then
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: he says this. This is why we know he's talking
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: about going public. Listen to these words. He says, grieve.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: I mean, you have. I've done.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: People who do what I do, you show up at
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: somebody's home you've never met before and they've lost a son.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: They've lost a husband instantly, tragically. And you walk in,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: and they're grieving. And they're not embarrassed to.
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: Be seen grieving. They can't help it. It's coming from
• 25:36
  Speaker 2: the inside, and it's coming out.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: And they're just grieving, and they're crying. And sometimes they're
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: on the floor. Some of you have been there.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: Grieve and mourn. You've heard people mourn?
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: And then he's like, okay, if I haven't been clear,
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: and wail. In other words, bring it all out and decide.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: I'm less concerned about who knows than I am spending
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: another season of my life a slave to this and
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: a slave to fear. And he says, we say, James,
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: why is that so important?
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: Listen to what he says. He connects these ideas. These
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: aren't different ideas.
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: He says, because when you go public, when you come clean,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: when you wail and mourn and acknowledge, I'm a fraud,
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: I've been living a double life, I'm addicted, I'm, you know,
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: whatever it is.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: He says, in that moment.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: You have done the thing that attracts God into the
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: details of your life.
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: You have humbled yourself. Look what he says. He says,
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: humble yourself.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: He equates these eyes, grieve, mourn, wail. He said, this
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: is how you humble yourself. Humble yourself before the Lord.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: And as you sow, as you take those steps, he
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: will lift you up.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: Look at the picture. He says, this is you.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: This is the Lord. I want you to humble yourself
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: under the Lord. which feels like being pressed down and
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: being humbled.
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: He said, but in due time, he's going to lift
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: you up and he's going to lift you out.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: And the people sitting around you who have been through this,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: been there, done that, they would say, that's exactly what happened.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: It was not overnight, but it was over time. And
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: it was worth the process. Now, Peter, again, Apostle Peter,
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: here's how he says it. Similar. He says, all of you,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: general audience, clothe yourselves with humility. In other words, you
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: should be characterized not by pride and arrogance and hiding
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: and pretending.
• 27:38
  Speaker 2: You should be, if you're a Jesus.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: Follower, you should be characterized by your humility toward, not
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: toward God, toward one another.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: That is, you don't have to hide from people. You
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: don't have to pretend with people.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: You're characterized by humility toward one another because God, and
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: this is harsh, but.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: You've already experienced this. God opposes the proud people.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: And the thing in you, the thing has been in
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: me and the thing would be in me again that
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: would resist letting people know. Coming out in public.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: With whatever it is I'm hiding, whatever it is you're hiding.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: It's my pride. I'm embarrassed.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: I don't want people to think of me that way,
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: which is really like saying, I don't want people to
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: know the truth about me. And God says, okay, I
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: love you, but I can't enter into that. I'm not
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: going to facilitate your pride and I'm not gonna facilitate your.
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: Fear, but when you come clean, when you step out,
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: I am all in. God is attracted to humility.
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: This is why the apostle Paul, again, the church planner
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: of church planner, again, wrote half the New Testament, says,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: I don't want anybody to be confused.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: When I'm weak, that's when.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: I'm strong because when I'm weak, I am dependent on
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: my father in heaven.
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: He finishes up.
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: God opposes the proud, but shows favor not to those
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: who pray hard, but to the humble.
• 29:12
  Speaker 2: Then he says this. So humble yourselves. It's proactive. It's
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: something you can do. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: There it is again, under God's mighty hand that he
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: might lift you up as you sow your way.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Out in due time.
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: And then he says this famous verse, but I I
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: put a Greek word in here not to show off,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: but because the English term just doesn't capture it. Even
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: if you took all the English translations and put them together, maybe.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: But here's what he says. Peter says this. Here's what
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: I want you to do. This is Peter who spent
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: time with Jesus.
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: Peter who spent his life casting nets on the Sea
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: of Galilee.
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: He uses a fishing term. I want you to.
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: Cast, like throw it as far out there as you can,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: as big and as wide a net as you can.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: I want you to cast all of your merimna.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Merimna is the word, which means all of your fear
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: and your concerns about the outcomes associated with what you're
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: afraid to do. Some English translations say anxiety, not the
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: anxiety that's diagnosed, that's a medical term, but the anxiety
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: because anxiety is in essence anxiety. It's responding to what
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: hasn't happened yet.
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: It's fear of the future.
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: He says, I want you to bring all of your
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: fear of what might happen, what she might do, what
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: he might say, where they might go, what happened. I
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: want you to bring all of that, your anxiety, your
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: fear of what might happen. And as you cast yourself
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: on the Lord, I want you to cast all of
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: that on him because he's the one who controls the future.
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: And as you consider what you might lose and as
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: you consider who you might lose, Go ahead and bring
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: it out and cast your cares on him because, look
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: at this, he cares for you. In other words, expose
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: your self-destructive behavior to the light and allow the transformation
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: to slowly begin. That single act of courage, that single
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: act of courage may in fact be the catalyst for
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: something extraordinary.
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Let me ask you this.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: This is kind of a silly question, but then we're
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: going to wrap up.
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: I'm going to show you something cool. Are you ready
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: for extraordinary? Let me ask you this way.
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: Have your secrets, has your pretending, has your double life
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: led to extraordinary? Have your secrets and your double life,
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: has it made your life less complicated? No.
• 31:37
  Speaker 3: More.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: This is why God who loves you says, come on out.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: Admit to yourself, you don't got this.
• 31:46
  Speaker 2: Ask for help. Submit to the help you need.
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: Some months ago, a couple months ago maybe, or so
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: weeks ago, I was in Brazil.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: I told you about this.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: We launched a partner network, a church network in Brazil
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: in Portuguese. And while I was there, I spoke at
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: the conference, then I stayed for the Sunday morning service,
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: and I preached in English with a translator. And I
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: was out in the lobby just surrounded by these amazing people.
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: This is a big church, red church. That's our partner
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: there that you've helped build, by the way. And I
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: was just out there surrounded by people saying things. I
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: couldn't understand any of it, but it was just amazing. Thousands,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: I mean, several thousand people attend this church. And a
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: woman walked up to me, her name's Bruna. And she
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: walked up and she had a letter with my name
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: on it. And she said, Andy, this letter is my
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: story and I wanted to give it to somebody.
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: To give to you. And I didn't know I'd actually
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: be able to talk to you.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: And basically she lives in Alpharetta and she attends North
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Point Community Church, but she's from Brazil.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: She was there visiting her family and she.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Heard about the conference and heard I was going to
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: be there and thought, well, maybe, you know, it's hard
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: to get to him. So, but anyways, there we were.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: And I said, well, I took the envelope, but I said, well,
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: tell me your story. And she'd already written it out.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: And then she told me her story. And then she
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: gave us permission to share her story with you.
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: So I'm going to let you watch this. Two things
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: real quick. In her story, she references Renew.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Renew is an environment or ministry we have here that
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: helps people.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: Who are stuck.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: And are trying to get unstuck. Regardless of what. These
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: are people who say.
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: Hey here's my thing. I want to move past it.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: And I'm ready to invite somebody into the process.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: So she references Renew. She also references Connections.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: So for those of you who are watching. Or at
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: a different church. Connections is a room that we have
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: here in our lobby. For people who are looking for
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: next steps. People walk in and just say. I just
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: need prayer. I just need to.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Talk to somebody. So these are the two things she references.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: But I want you to listen carefully.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: And be inspired by Bruna's story of courage.
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: Take a look.
• 33:49
  Speaker 4: People sometimes ask me what it was like to leave
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: Brazil and move to United States with my husband and
• 33:57
  Speaker 4: our three children. I usually tell them, the practical things,
• 34:01
  Speaker 4: getting documents, finding a house, getting kids into school, all
• 34:06
  Speaker 4: while you're learning how to communicate in another language. I
• 34:11
  Speaker 4: miss my old life. I miss feeling useful and confident.
• 34:15
  Speaker 4: I felt like I had lost my identity. I started
• 34:20
  Speaker 4: coming to North Point almost right away. I was seeking
• 34:24
  Speaker 4: Jesus and wanted to find a home church. So I
• 34:28
  Speaker 4: came week after week by myself. Every Sunday, at the
• 34:33
  Speaker 4: end of his message, Anne would invite anyone who needed
• 34:37
  Speaker 4: help or was struggling with something to stop by Connections. Normally,
• 34:43
  Speaker 4: I would walk straight ahead to the parking lot. But
• 34:47
  Speaker 4: one Sunday, it was different. I remember sitting there. I
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: knew I need help. but I kept thinking about my English.
• 35:01
  Speaker 4: It was already hard to explain in my own language
• 35:05
  Speaker 4: what I was feeling that moment. I knew I would cry,
• 35:09
  Speaker 4: and then everything is going to be even harder. But
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: something inside me said, go. So I got up and
• 35:22
  Speaker 4: walked to Connections. A woman named Jessica welcomed me and
• 35:27
  Speaker 4: asked me how she could help. I don't remember everything
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: I told her. I only remember how relieved I felt
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: that someone was listening to me. A few days later,
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: I received a call from Amy Todd, and she invited
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: me to join Renew program, and it changed my life.
• 35:55
  Speaker 4: Renew gave me a place where I could be honest
• 35:58
  Speaker 4: about what was happening inside me. God used that time
• 36:03
  Speaker 4: to heal things in my heart that I didn't even
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: know I was carrying. And for the first time since
• 36:10
  Speaker 4: moving to the United States, I felt like I could
• 36:14
  Speaker 4: breathe again. And after that, God started making room in
• 36:19
  Speaker 4: my heart to serve and help other women. And I
• 36:22
  Speaker 4: became a Renew Mentor. When I started mentoring for the
• 36:27
  Speaker 4: first time, I couldn't stop thinking about translating the material
• 36:31
  Speaker 4: into Portuguese. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I
• 36:35
  Speaker 4: should do it. I finished the translation at the same
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: time that I finished mentoring my first care receiver. I
• 36:43
  Speaker 4: didn't know what God would ever do with it. Fast
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: forward to April of this year, I visit transit thinking
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: about being a small group leader. During the service, I
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: suddenly heard someone near me speaking Portuguese.
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: I turned around.
• 37:01
  Speaker 4: It was a group of church leaders from Brazil, from
• 37:04
  Speaker 4: a church called Red Church. They were visiting North Point.
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: I shared my story with them. They wanted to know
• 37:12
  Speaker 4: more about Renew. And right there, I realized why I
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: have translated it. The very thing God used to heal
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: me now in my own language, could be used to
• 37:24
  Speaker 4: help my people in Brazil.
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: I actually have an update about your translation from Red
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: Church that I'd love for you to read out loud.
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: And now, I have learned that Portuguese Renew is not
• 37:41
  Speaker 4: only planned to be used at Red Church, but is
• 37:44
  Speaker 4: planned to be used in dozens of churches across Brazil.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: That's true.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Really?
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, my God, I'm so glad about it. Really.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: I could never imagine any of this. One Sunday, I
• 38:08
  Speaker 4: was afraid, and through God, I took the courage to
• 38:13
  Speaker 4: ask for help anyway. I don't know the word to
• 38:18
  Speaker 4: express this.
• 38:20
  Speaker 3: In English. It's amazing. It's extraordinary, really. I'm so, so,
• 38:29
  Speaker 3: so grateful.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: Just so you know, because I would be curious, that
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: was real.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: They literally surprised her with that information in the middle
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: of her interview conversation.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: I don't know if that was kind, but it was interesting.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: And she let us show her response that her translation
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: never knew.
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: Anyway, here's the thing.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: Bruna didn't wait for fear to disappear or her insecurity
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: to disappear. Or what if I don't say it right
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: to disappear? She just walked into connection and said, I
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: got to talk to somebody. She dragged her fear into
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: the light. And she literally has become a catalyst for
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: something extraordinary. As we think about renew being a part
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: of hundreds, literally, potentially, of churches in Brazil.
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: So here's the thing.
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: You might be correct about the immediate outcome of your decision.
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: To come clean.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: You might be exactly right about the initial response to people.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Here's the thing. You don't know the ultimate outcome.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: So live for ultimate, not for immediate, and get the
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: help you need.
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: Let's pray together. will take off. Father, thank you so
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: much for this story. Thank you for the reminder.
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: Wherever this lands with us, wherever this needs to land
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: with someone we know, wherever this needs to land with
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: someone perhaps we're related to, would you use what we
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: experienced together today and do something extraordinary and begin the
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: process in the lives of dozens and dozens and maybe
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: of hundreds of people.
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: We pray that in Jesus' name.