Latest / Sermons on the Side / 88 | Darkness and Light

Transcript

88 | Darkness and Light · Sermons on the Side

0:01
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Sermons on the Side.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm Brad.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: And I'm Richard.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: And life can move pretty fast.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: So we're here to slow down, dig deep, and find the story hidden in everyday moments.
0:14
SPEAKER_05: With years spent in ministry, friendship, and navigating real life together, we're all about blending humor, honesty, and faith into conversations that meet you right where you are.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: So whether you're brand new or you're back for more, we are so glad you are here.
0:30
SPEAKER_05: So relax, listen in, and let's discover meaning together.
0:34
SPEAKER_00: In the ordinary, the messy, and everything in between.
0:38
SPEAKER_05: Sermons on the side, finding meaning in the everyday.
0:44
SPEAKER_05: There's no light in the house.
0:46
SPEAKER_05: Oh my goodness.
0:46
SPEAKER_05: So I do what you do.
0:48
unknown: Right.
0:49
SPEAKER_05: Right.
0:50
SPEAKER_06: Well, let me try again.
0:51
SPEAKER_06: Because clearly, I didn't know I'm not operating this lamp properly.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: Clearly, I didn't realize this lamp's tied into the whole deck of block.
1:00
SPEAKER_00: Let me just go ahead and turn the lights back on for everybody.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: Put your hands up.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Put your hands up.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Service on the Side.
1:34
SPEAKER_00: You guys just got a little sneak peek into Casa Day Williams.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: I sing that all the time.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:39
SPEAKER_00: Or just one right after the show.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Coach, we do the dogs.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: We do mommy.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: We do mommy.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: I sing it for myself.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: All right.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is a four-minute song when I'm singing in my house.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: If your name is Becca, put your hands up.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: Hey, put your hands up.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: And then it's normally when we're driving in the car and then we need to get some positivity going.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: We need to get we get two more miles down the road without anybody.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: Throwing a fit.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Anyways, hey, welcome to Sermons on the Side.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: I didn't just I just launched into song.
2:10
SPEAKER_05: I think that might be a favorite intro.
2:13
SPEAKER_05: Because that's it's amazing.
2:14
SPEAKER_05: Richard, how are you, sir?
2:16
SPEAKER_05: Doing well, bro.
2:17
SPEAKER_05: Doing well.
2:17
SPEAKER_05: It's good to see you.
2:18
SPEAKER_05: I'm glad to be here.
2:19
SPEAKER_05: You know, I'm doing well, doing better than I was just a few days ago.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:24
SPEAKER_05: I mean, there was there was a time like last Thursday and into Friday where I was gonna text you and say, I need you to do the sermon on the side.
2:34
SPEAKER_05: I'll be in the room, but I probably won't be heard.
2:38
SPEAKER_05: Oh, wait, why?
2:39
SPEAKER_05: Because I lost my voice on Thursday of last week.
2:42
SPEAKER_05: Did you really lost it?
2:45
SPEAKER_05: I mean, like it was it was bad.
2:48
SPEAKER_05: I was lost like the Dodgers pitching staff lost their mojo last night.
2:53
SPEAKER_05: What?
2:53
SPEAKER_00: Whoa.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: What?
2:55
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: At the time of recording this, it is Tide 1-1.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: Hold on, we'll get that.
3:00
SPEAKER_00: We'll get that in a second.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
3:01
SPEAKER_00: You lost your voice legitimately?
3:03
SPEAKER_05: Listen, I was I was up in Atlanta doing a presentation uh for one of the companies we serve.
3:09
SPEAKER_05: I was uh I was doing a mental health uh emphasis speech.
3:14
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
3:14
SPEAKER_05: We were just encouraging everybody in this company, uh, this electrical bunch of electricians, they got them together and we were just encouraging them to, you know, give some attention to their, you know, to their mental health, you know, and uh man, it went great.
3:29
SPEAKER_05: It went great.
3:30
SPEAKER_05: We've presented with this company before.
3:32
SPEAKER_05: This is like a fifth time we've done it.
3:35
SPEAKER_05: Go up there, and uh we're in a warehouse, you know, big, big fans are blowing in the background, you know, a lot of a lot of noise in the room, and they didn't have a microphone.
3:46
SPEAKER_05: So, bro, your boy was yelling my 30-minute presentation.
3:51
SPEAKER_05: Oh, and I was putting it out there, my I mean, heart and soul, but it was all throat.
3:57
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, gratitude helps, you know.
4:01
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I was just I was just putting it out there and I had to present twice.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: Oh, right, you had a first service and a second service.
4:09
SPEAKER_05: That's what it was, and it went great, very well received, super encouraged.
4:15
SPEAKER_05: And uh, but boy, when I was done, no, I was like this.
4:19
SPEAKER_05: No, I was like, man, thank y'all.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: We could have a we could have an ASMR just welcome to Sermons of the Sunday.
4:29
SPEAKER_02: Just take a moment and think about the Lord finding the hidden meaning.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: I can't we couldn't do it because we'd be laughing and then you know life moves pretty fast.
4:44
unknown: Can't even do it.
4:46
SPEAKER_04: Slow down and find the meaning.
4:51
SPEAKER_04: Find the meaning.
4:55
SPEAKER_04: Well, you know, that's that's trying to see if you can whisper things that you normally say with a lot of enthusiasm.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: If your name is Oh my gosh, that is so good.
5:18
SPEAKER_01: Y'all don't mind us.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: We haven't seen each other in a week and we're just catching up.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: Oh Lord.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Well, dude, I am so glad that your voice is back.
5:28
SPEAKER_05: That you avoided You know, by actually by like Saturday, it was all it was all good.
5:33
SPEAKER_05: A lot of hot tea and uh prayer and and and all that.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: But yeah, just in time now to cheer for the Braves in game three and in game four, because at the time of recording this, it's a travel day.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: And so we were talking about this before we hit the record button.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: That one of three, you said one of three options could happen.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: And then I interrupted you and I said, no, no, no, let's wait until I'm curious.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: What are the three options?
5:58
SPEAKER_00: I know two options.
5:59
SPEAKER_05: At the time of release, when this episode is released, we will either, one of three things, either we will have lost both games Tuesday and Wednesday, and we're out of the playoffs.
6:11
SPEAKER_05: Okay, and we're just sad and depressed.
6:14
SPEAKER_05: And or we will have won both games, and we're moving on to the next round.
6:20
SPEAKER_05: Woo! Third option, we split the two games, uh, Wednesday Tuesday and Wednesday, and we are now waiting for Friday night, a decisive game five.
6:33
SPEAKER_05: Winner moves on, loser goes home.
6:35
SPEAKER_05: Wow.
6:36
SPEAKER_05: So one of those things is going to be happening as our wonderful listeners are tuning in to this episode.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: Well, man, I hope it is option two because I have tickets to game four.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: So I would love to see us clinch.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: Just go ahead and clinch it.
6:55
SPEAKER_05: Go ahead and clinch it at home.
6:56
SPEAKER_05: Do it one time.
6:58
SPEAKER_05: Well, we are looking for the Brad Mojo to help the Braves on Wednesday.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Just so I'm just so we're clear, Richard's not gonna be there.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: We've already established that last episode.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: Not allowed.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: Not allowed to be there.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh so I'll let you know if my mojo helps.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Oh man.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: Hope it does, brother.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: Well, dude, it's so good to see you.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to be here.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: It's another Thursday.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: I'm ready for the Sermon on the Side.
7:23
SPEAKER_05: Oh man, well, brother, I'm happy to and excited as well.
7:27
SPEAKER_05: It's gonna be fun.
7:29
SPEAKER_05: Weird thing happened this morning at Casa de Rico.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: At my house.
7:35
SPEAKER_00: Is that where the Sermon on the Side has come from?
7:37
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: Whoa, this morning.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: This is a current event, Sermon on the Side.
7:41
SPEAKER_05: Couldn't be no more fresh.
7:43
SPEAKER_05: So Rhonda and I are sitting having a little cup of coffee.
7:47
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
7:47
SPEAKER_05: See, I'm about to be out of town for a few days, going to our annual chaplain conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
7:54
SPEAKER_05: And so I'm uh having a morning cup of coffee because I'm not gonna see Rhonda for several days.
8:00
SPEAKER_05: So I get up off the couch because I've got to run into the bedroom and grab something real quick.
8:05
SPEAKER_05: I walk into the bedroom and on the from where I'm standing, like the other side of the bedroom, Rhonda's lamp is on.
8:14
SPEAKER_05: But I need to check out something on our dresser.
8:17
SPEAKER_05: So I reach up to turn on the little lamp on our dresser.
8:20
SPEAKER_05: You following?
8:21
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
8:22
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
8:23
SPEAKER_05: And the instant, the instant that I try to turn on that lamp, the power goes out in the house.
8:32
SPEAKER_05: So I'm sitting there going, what did I do?
8:36
SPEAKER_05: What did I do?
8:38
SPEAKER_05: I mean, I mean, what power does this lamp hold?
8:42
SPEAKER_05: I mean, literally, I reach to turn it on and the one over there goes off.
8:48
SPEAKER_05: And then I look behind me, the hallway lights off, and so there's no light in the house.
8:53
SPEAKER_05: Oh my goodness.
8:54
SPEAKER_05: So I do what you do.
8:55
unknown: Right.
8:56
SPEAKER_05: Right?
8:56
SPEAKER_06: I well, let me try again.
8:59
SPEAKER_06: Because clearly, I didn't know I'm not operating this lamp properly.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: Clearly, I didn't realize this lamp's tied into the whole daggum block.
9:08
SPEAKER_00: Let me just go ahead and turn the lights back on for everybody.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: That's so funny.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Why do we do that?
9:14
SPEAKER_06: It's crazy.
9:15
SPEAKER_06: I do the same thing.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: Like if I turn the light switch up and down and it's not working, I'm like, if I go faster, maybe I'll drink it.
9:23
SPEAKER_04: Yes, yes.
9:25
SPEAKER_05: But the crazy thing is, and I don't recall this happening before when the lights go out or when the power goes off.
9:33
SPEAKER_05: But I say, you know, in that in that thing in my mind, let me try again.
9:37
SPEAKER_05: And as soon as I try again, the power tries to come back on.
9:42
SPEAKER_05: It goes, this is the wildest thing.
9:45
SPEAKER_05: Actually, yeah.
9:46
SPEAKER_05: Oh my goodness.
9:47
SPEAKER_05: Now, this term on the side is just about the power going out, but this was weird.
9:51
SPEAKER_05: I'm just giving you all these details because I was like, so I tried turning it back on, and and then the lamp over cross it flickers on for a second and then goes back off.
10:02
SPEAKER_02: And I thought, did you go in for a third time?
10:04
SPEAKER_05: Am I am I Doctor Strange now?
10:06
SPEAKER_05: Am I is this a multiverse and things, you know, are just shooting out of my the fingertips or whatever.
10:12
SPEAKER_05: And finally I realized, okay, no, this is just the power's going out, nothing crazy.
10:18
SPEAKER_05: And so, you know, look, it ended up not being a big deal.
10:22
SPEAKER_05: But isn't that weird?
10:24
SPEAKER_00: That is weird.
10:24
SPEAKER_05: I mean, just the timing of it.
10:26
SPEAKER_05: It'd have been if we had been sitting, if I was still on the couch, it would have just been interesting.
10:31
SPEAKER_05: Oh, the power went out.
10:32
SPEAKER_05: Oh, it flickered back on.
10:33
SPEAKER_05: Now it's out again.
10:34
SPEAKER_05: And you know what?
10:36
SPEAKER_05: Uh Georgia Power, I guess.
10:39
SPEAKER_05: Is that who does Harris County?
10:41
SPEAKER_05: I guess that's who does everything, right?
10:43
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
10:43
SPEAKER_05: Georgia Power?
10:44
SPEAKER_05: Kudos.
10:46
SPEAKER_05: And it was back on within the hour.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, very cool.
10:49
SPEAKER_05: Wasn't bad at all.
10:50
SPEAKER_05: But it and as I said, it wasn't even that dark.
10:53
SPEAKER_05: I did have to go get on a quick phone call at like 8 15, and I was reading a Bible verse during this call, so I had to use a flashlight because it was a little dark on that side of the house.
11:07
SPEAKER_05: But clearly not that big of a not even the biggest inconvenience in the world.
11:11
SPEAKER_05: We're blessed.
11:12
SPEAKER_05: Whew! Very grateful.
11:14
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
11:14
SPEAKER_05: But here's a here's a question before we go into the actual sermon on the side, but it made me it did make me think of the different times where it was a more kind of intense experience when the power goes out.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
11:27
SPEAKER_05: You know, middle of the night, or or not even night, just after it's gotten dark outside, lights go out, and now we're fumbling, you know.
11:35
SPEAKER_05: Right.
11:37
SPEAKER_05: I mean, do you have any it like like has it ever happened with with the kids?
11:42
SPEAKER_05: Uh you know, when the house just goes dark and no, we we what happens.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: We've definitely had times where like throughout the middle of the night we'll lose power, like maybe the power blinks or something like that.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: Right.
11:52
SPEAKER_00: And so it turns off like all of the sound machines and all of the other things.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: And so we've done the whole like we're gonna sneak into the room and like turn the sound machine back on and you know, all the things.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm recalling a a really bad storm that we had when Becca was younger, where we lost power, and that one's always a little bit more jarring when you lose power because of a storm.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: Right.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: And so you have this this huge blink of lightning and this pounding of thunder, and then your power goes out, and it's like, oh my goodness, what's going on now?
12:31
SPEAKER_05: Um and how long will it last?
12:33
SPEAKER_05: Right, exactly.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: So, but now that we're now that we're in a bigger house, dude, like you we have to be prepared.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: We we are storm ready, we have preparedness in our different parts of the house.
12:45
SPEAKER_00: We've got flashlights, we've got all the different things, little candles, we've got the battery powered, we've got this true alkaline, we've got the rechargeable, we're storm ready in the Williams.
12:57
SPEAKER_05: I love it.
12:57
SPEAKER_05: It just got me thinking this whole experience of you know, just different times when I was in a situation, storm driven or not, where the house gets dark or wherever I'm at is dark, and we're just trying to feel our way through it.
13:14
SPEAKER_05: And um, and I, you know, I as a guy, even as a kid, I don't know that I was one of those really scared of the dark guys.
13:24
SPEAKER_03: Okay.
13:25
SPEAKER_05: Scared of the dark kids.
13:27
SPEAKER_05: Um, I you know, I didn't I didn't have to sleep with a light on in the corner of the room or anything like that.
13:34
SPEAKER_05: How about you?
13:35
SPEAKER_05: Were you a scared of the dark dude?
13:37
SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm hand up to the big guy kind of ability here.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh yes.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: Big red big red was big scared of big dark.
13:47
SPEAKER_00: And I slept with a big old night light.
13:50
SPEAKER_05: There you go.
13:51
SPEAKER_05: There you go.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: I ain't shying away from it.
13:53
SPEAKER_05: Man, I appreciate the transparency.
13:55
SPEAKER_05: You're gonna love it.
13:56
SPEAKER_05: You know, just just being honest out there.
13:58
SPEAKER_05: And and and so it, but it's funny that even in as I was getting older and even during my adult years, I can remember moments where maybe I'm walking through the house, turning everything off, time to go to bed.
14:13
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, and somehow, somehow, I didn't plan it well.
14:19
SPEAKER_05: So I hit a light switch and I've got to fumble through the dark.
14:23
SPEAKER_05: You know, now I I will tell you something about the great Rhonda, my wife.
14:30
SPEAKER_05: She is a uh she is a plug-in nightlight person.
14:33
SPEAKER_05: Oh yeah.
14:34
SPEAKER_05: I mean, and that is genius, by the way.
14:37
SPEAKER_05: Just I I I just all of us folks are scared of the dark.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: We like, man, where you been at, dog?
14:42
SPEAKER_01: This thing's been a thing.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the party, pal.
14:44
SPEAKER_05: But uh back in the day, man, I can just remember, hey, I gotta, I gotta hit the hallway and get in the bedroom, and it's gonna be pretty dark once I hit this last lamp.
14:54
SPEAKER_05: You know, in the seven steps, take a left.
14:57
SPEAKER_05: And brother, let me tell you, there was always, even in my adult years, just the moment where, okay, I don't want to trip, but also a little creeped out.
15:08
SPEAKER_05: You know what I'm saying?
15:10
SPEAKER_05: Just a little bit like a little pep in my step.
15:13
SPEAKER_05: Um I'm moving kind of quick there.
15:15
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, hey, because we don't want to, you know, the monsters.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: The guy that's chasing you.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: Brother, I'm undefeated going up the stairs of my new house.
15:23
SPEAKER_00: I turned them lights on.
15:26
SPEAKER_00: Daytime, casual.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: Step, step, step, nighttime, them lights go out.
15:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm two steps at a time.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: Bang, bang, bang.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm getting up there with haste, brother.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: You ain't grabbing my ankles.
15:36
SPEAKER_04: I love it.
15:37
SPEAKER_04: I love it.
15:38
SPEAKER_04: So, you know, I these things are just kind of rolling through my mind, and as as Rhonda and I are just managing this brief moment of mild inconvenience uh as the power went out this morning.
15:51
SPEAKER_05: And it just got me to thinking as I was chuckling and reminiscing about some of those kind of moments, it got me to thinking about this part of life, an actual part of my faith journey that I really appreciate.
16:05
SPEAKER_05: And it is that all those times where it's very descriptive, the idea of darkness versus light.
16:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
16:15
SPEAKER_05: You know, where where and not just when I turn a flip a switch off or the power goes out or anything like that, but the the concept, the life concept that there are things going on in my life that feel or bring darkness.
16:33
SPEAKER_05: They feel dark.
16:35
SPEAKER_05: And then moments when I've had some kind of breakthrough or some kind of momentum, and it feels like brightness.
16:43
SPEAKER_05: And that contrast is all throughout scripture.
16:48
SPEAKER_05: I mean, not just in the New Testament Jesus part, Jesus and and the apostles part of the Bible, but all through the Old Testament.
16:58
SPEAKER_05: God has used that language of light and darkness to communicate how he works with us.
17:05
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's been a thing forever.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:09
SPEAKER_05: And I'm there for it.
17:11
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
17:11
SPEAKER_05: I just love that about the Lord.
17:14
SPEAKER_05: I love that about my life.
17:16
SPEAKER_05: I love that about the scriptures.
17:18
SPEAKER_05: And I wanted to just talk about that a little bit on this episode, about the that that contrast between light and darkness.
17:29
SPEAKER_05: So I was thinking, can you just off the top of your head think of a couple of light and darkness spots in scripture?
17:40
SPEAKER_05: I'll go first.
17:40
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
17:41
SPEAKER_00: Well, you well, I think one off the top of my dome is the uh, you know, in in the Gospel of John, it's a bunch of the I am statements.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: And I am the light of the world.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: Light of the world.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: You know, that's a that's a huge one.
17:52
SPEAKER_05: It is such a good thing.
17:53
SPEAKER_05: And they did there was this there was this prophecy about the fact, an old prophecy from hundreds centuries before Jesus came that spoke to that concept, and the prophecy was saying that when the Messiah comes, it will be like all the people who were living sitting in darkness, and they have now seen a great light.
18:16
SPEAKER_05: Yeah.
18:17
SPEAKER_05: Isn't that cool?
18:17
SPEAKER_05: That's awesome.
18:18
SPEAKER_05: I love that.
18:19
SPEAKER_05: There's the uh the classic your word is a lamp to my feet, light unto my path.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
18:28
SPEAKER_05: And and that's actually a shout out to uh Lisa Williams' original song called Misty Path, which I'm so glad you said, by the way.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Yes, I have it in my car.
18:37
SPEAKER_05: I have it because you told me you were gonna get that from me because I've never heard it.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: I know, and I told Lisa about it.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's been sitting in my car for like a month.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: I'm so sorry.
18:45
SPEAKER_00: Hey, it's it's the timing is gone.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: I have it, it is in my car.
18:48
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna get it.
18:49
SPEAKER_00: But yes, Misty Pathway.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: That's a shout out to Lisa.
18:52
SPEAKER_05: That's a great light and darkness thing.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:55
SPEAKER_05: Um, there's a there's a verse in the book of John when he's when he's starting to tell the story of Jesus, and he said, and he talks about the light coming in, and it says, the light came in and the darkness could not overcome it.
19:13
SPEAKER_05: Jesus, Jesus shows up, yeah, the darkness has no choice but to dissipate.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that you're gonna talk about this at some point, but the one of the one of the coolest aspects that I always love to bring up when we're talking about this dynamic of light and darkness is that darkness in and of itself is not a thing.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: It's simply the absence of light.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: And you know, sometimes when you think, you know, oh, good versus evil, it's you know, bad guys versus good guys, it's Georgia versus Bama.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh, sorry, what happened?
19:51
SPEAKER_00: What?
19:51
SPEAKER_00: Whoa, wait, wait.
19:53
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me, let's get back on track here.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: But seriously, I do think that sometimes we think it's one thing versus another.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Yes, and sometimes maybe even in this scenario, we're thinking it is light versus dark.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: And man, that's just not the case.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: And I think one of the most powerful passages as it relates to this, certainly one that has ministered to my life in the last six or seven years, is in Psalms 139, where David is crying out and in a really difficult season of his life.
20:24
SPEAKER_00: He says, Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me.
20:32
SPEAKER_00: But even the darkness will not be dark to you.
20:37
SPEAKER_00: The night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: Oh god, dude, that is a powerful Ellie Holcomb has a song uh about that.
20:51
SPEAKER_05: What the name of that song in verse two.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's called Where Can I Go?
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh Psalm 139.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: Lisa, another shout out to Lisa Williams.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: She does this unbelievably, uh, this song.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: But verse two says, uh, if I say surely darkness will hide me, and the light becomes night all around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the night it'll shine like the daytime, for the darkness is as light to you.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: For you created my most innermost being knit together in my mother's womb.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: And then the ver I'm doing this so bad.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: But then it but then the chorus goes, Where can I go from your spirit?
21:37
SPEAKER_00: Where can I flee from your presence?
21:40
SPEAKER_00: If I go up to the heavens, you are there.
21:44
SPEAKER_00: If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
21:47
SPEAKER_00: If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: Even there, your hand will guide me.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: Your right.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Hand will hold me fast.
22:02
SPEAKER_00: Your right hand will hold me fast.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: And so whenever we're talking about this darkness and light, man, I just it's so powerful that you brought this up today because this has really been on my heart.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: God holds on to us so tightly with his right hand that even the darkness around us is as light to him.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
22:23
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not gonna overtake us as long as we're in his right hand.
22:28
SPEAKER_05: You know what I'm saying?
22:29
SPEAKER_05: Oh, brother.
22:31
SPEAKER_05: Gosh, that's good.
22:32
SPEAKER_05: Thank you for bringing that.
22:34
SPEAKER_05: And listen for singing that.
22:36
SPEAKER_05: I and mate, one day when we're recording, we'll have the blessing of Lisa being with us, and you guys can do that one together for us or whatever.
22:45
SPEAKER_05: But that is that that language of even the darkness is light to you.
22:53
SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's and night is as bright as day, basically, is what that that verse and and that beautiful song is saying.
23:02
SPEAKER_05: And here's honestly, here's why this light and darkness contrast thing that that as we said, we find it throughout scripture, but we can feel it.
23:14
SPEAKER_05: You know, if we really think about it, we go, ooh, it always resonates.
23:18
SPEAKER_05: Anybody could say, oh yeah, I feel that whole dynamic or that example.
23:26
SPEAKER_05: But for me personally, the re I think the reason I care so much about these kind of things in the Bible and when I recognize them in my life, the light, the dark ideal.
23:40
SPEAKER_05: I think the reason I care so much about it is because of the dark things, and because of the dark times when I did feel like I was caught in a struggle, and will light ever shine on this?
23:56
SPEAKER_05: And and and can light prevail over this?
24:00
SPEAKER_05: And we know that light does dispel darkness.
24:04
SPEAKER_05: Anne Frank, you know, the diary of Anne Frank, the girl that was killed in a concentration camp.
24:10
SPEAKER_05: And she has a quote where she says, A single candle can both defy and define darkness.
24:22
SPEAKER_05: So which is powerful when you say we know that light dispels darkness and light shows us what's in the room.
24:31
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
24:32
SPEAKER_05: Uh kind of to Ann Frank Frank's point.
24:36
SPEAKER_05: But I just remember times when it for me it didn't feel that clear.
24:42
SPEAKER_05: And I didn't have that confidence that Ellie Holcomb sings about from Psalm 139.
24:49
SPEAKER_05: And so the reason these things resonate so much with me is because of the dark nights that I've been through in my life.
24:59
SPEAKER_05: And so there's this one verse is my very favorite.
25:04
SPEAKER_05: Okay, come on.
25:05
SPEAKER_05: My very favorite light, dark verse in the whole Bible.
25:07
SPEAKER_05: It's in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 6.
25:11
SPEAKER_05: And it says, For God, who said, Let there be light in the darkness, has made his light shine in our hearts, so we can know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus.
25:24
SPEAKER_05: Oh, I mean, it's Paul the Apostle jumping way back to the very beginning when God said, Let there be light.
25:33
SPEAKER_03: Right.
25:33
SPEAKER_05: And when he's and what Paul is saying is the same God that says, Let there be light in the very beginning of creation, that same God is still saying, Let light shine in the darkness.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, come on.
25:49
SPEAKER_05: In Rico's life, yeah, in whoever's listening to this, he's saying that about you.
25:55
SPEAKER_05: God is saying, Let light shine in the darkness that my daughter, my son, is walking through or sitting in.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:03
SPEAKER_00: And the second part of that verse is so that you can see the glory of the face of Jesus Christ.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: Oh, dude, what a beautiful description of that.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: Because you know what I love?
26:15
SPEAKER_00: And I had a conversation about this the other day.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Somebody that I don't know super well, they were asking me, Are you are you a religious person?
26:24
SPEAKER_00: And I told them no.
26:26
unknown: Good answer.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: You know what I'm saying?
26:27
SPEAKER_00: It's like, because I don't want, I don't, I don't have a religion, I have a relationship with the Father.
26:34
SPEAKER_00: And that's what it's about, man.
26:36
SPEAKER_00: In this picture of, yes, that light is being is being commanded by God, the same God that created light and dark, he's commanding it to happen right now in us so that we can see Jesus' face, the glory of his face.
26:50
SPEAKER_05: Oh Lord, thank you, Lord.
26:52
SPEAKER_05: And I think when I read that, when I read that, God said, Let there be light in the very beginning, and now he's still saying, Let light shine in the darkness of that old boy's heart down there in in Georgia.
27:04
SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
27:04
SPEAKER_05: And and when I hear that, here's how I'm I'm I imagine it.
27:08
SPEAKER_05: Now, this is the weirdness of Rico's mind, but you know, God's up there, it's creation is happening.
27:15
SPEAKER_05: Angels are around, Jesus, Holy Spirit, they're just doing their thing, right?
27:20
SPEAKER_05: And God says, Let there be light.
27:22
SPEAKER_05: And then he looks back and he goes, By the way, everybody, this is totally gonna be my thing.
27:28
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna do this all the time.
27:32
SPEAKER_05: Let there be light.
27:33
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna be all about bringing light.
27:35
SPEAKER_05: Uh you know, I just picture God saying, This is totally my thing now, this is my thing.
27:40
SPEAKER_05: No, and not to be irreverent, but that's what he does.
27:44
SPEAKER_05: And when and I think that you and I and our listeners can can remember the times where everything seemed dark, and we can we could tell the stories of when God said, Let light shine there.
28:03
SPEAKER_00: That's what this is all about.
28:04
SPEAKER_00: That's what this podcast is all about.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: It's finding those hidden meanings.
28:06
SPEAKER_00: It's high, it's it's finding those hidden light moments.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: Even if there is darkness around us.
28:13
SPEAKER_00: So, man, thank you so much.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: And hey, let's all just commit to being light seekers and light turn honors.
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Turn on this.
28:22
SPEAKER_01: Flip them, flip them flipping.
28:23
SPEAKER_01: Flip it a couple of times.
28:25
SPEAKER_05: But I will say this that is, I you just crushed the punchline, which is we want to be grateful for the moments where God has shone his light and rescued us.
28:38
SPEAKER_05: And we want to be courageous enough to ask God, Lord, show, show me.
28:45
SPEAKER_05: Maybe there's some corners that there's just some darkness in my life that has snuck back in, or I'm just not noticing it.
28:54
SPEAKER_05: But God is faithful if we ask him.
28:56
SPEAKER_05: At the end of Psalm 139, yeah.
28:59
SPEAKER_05: David says, Hey, search me, Lord.
29:01
SPEAKER_05: Yes, just tell me if there's any wonky way in me.
29:06
SPEAKER_05: It's basically what it says.
29:07
SPEAKER_05: And then the last thing, what you just said, how about us being bringers of light?
29:14
SPEAKER_05: How about if we would take that calling from the Lord that we need to go and bring light?
29:21
SPEAKER_00: Hide it under a bushel.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: No, no, I'm gonna let it shine.
29:26
SPEAKER_05: Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
29:30
SPEAKER_05: What voice was that?
29:32
SPEAKER_05: But I really liked the hide it under a bushel.
29:35
SPEAKER_00: No, we've lost the plot.
29:38
SPEAKER_00: You guys are awesome.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, no, seriously, that was a great sermon on the side.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: I loved it, man.
29:44
SPEAKER_05: Thank you for going there with me.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but it wouldn't be a complete episode unless we had a segment.
29:49
SPEAKER_05: Well, we do have a segment.
29:51
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
29:51
SPEAKER_05: Okay, and it's and it's Rico asking big red questions, basically, which I have not told you about heretofore.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: No.
30:00
SPEAKER_05: Is that even am I saying that right?
30:01
SPEAKER_00: Heretofore.
30:02
SPEAKER_05: I have heretofore not asked told him what these questions are.
30:06
SPEAKER_05: Seriously.
30:07
SPEAKER_05: So a question, you know, I I told you earlier, even though my voice was gone, uh, at the end of Thursday of last week, Rhonda and I had a little uh dinner planned with some friends.
30:19
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
30:19
SPEAKER_05: And we went ahead and did it, even though I could only I could only whisper.
30:25
SPEAKER_05: I'll take the marsh, the chicken marsala.
30:29
SPEAKER_05: But they had they had tea with honey and lemon.
30:32
SPEAKER_05: I sipped it.
30:33
SPEAKER_05: I was talking halfway normal by the end of the night.
30:36
SPEAKER_05: But anyway, we're out there eating, and and we end up getting in some conversations.
30:41
SPEAKER_05: They told me, these are listeners, the the friends of ours, Charles, Samantha, Reed, you know who you are.
30:47
SPEAKER_05: Shout out to y'all.
30:48
SPEAKER_05: We're around the table, they hear my voice, I tell them the story, I whisper the story, and they say, No, what really happened is you were you were yelling, getting the ball game blue for three straight hours.
31:02
SPEAKER_05: I'm like, golly.
31:04
SPEAKER_02: That's exactly right.
31:05
SPEAKER_05: That's a pretty cool.
31:06
SPEAKER_05: I had to give that reference.
31:08
SPEAKER_05: But anyway, going out to eat like that with friends got me to thinking.
31:12
SPEAKER_05: Okay.
31:12
SPEAKER_05: And here's my question.
31:14
SPEAKER_05: Are do you and your wife, the great Lisa Williams, struggle picking a place to go out to eat?
31:23
SPEAKER_05: Whenever it's time, you know, when you're gonna do a date night, do you ever have that moment where you say, Lisa, where do you want to eat?
31:31
SPEAKER_05: And you may has and like, what's the difference between asking her where she wants to eat and banging her head against that wall?
31:39
SPEAKER_05: Is there any difference at all?
31:41
SPEAKER_01: Yes, of course there's a difference.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: You at least get a definitive answer with the wall.
31:49
SPEAKER_01: We're in so much trouble.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm totally kidding.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: No, if in fact, if anything, I'm the one that's a little bit indecisive, but answer the question by saying no, we do not have that problem.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: Why would that be, Brad?
32:03
SPEAKER_00: It is because number one, a dinner with just Lisa and I, what is it?
32:12
SPEAKER_00: Where can I find it?
32:13
SPEAKER_00: Excuse me?
32:14
SPEAKER_00: What are those things?
32:16
SPEAKER_00: No, they happen uh not often not as often as we want.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: But when it does happen, we have a little bank of gift cards that we honestly we don't even get to, we don't not said we don't get to, we don't even ask each other that question.
32:31
SPEAKER_00: We just kind of play Russian roulette with the gift cards.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I like it.
32:34
SPEAKER_00: Which one do you want to go to?
32:35
SPEAKER_00: You want to go to Outbag, you want to go to Bonefish, you want to go to Longhorn, you want to go to Mobella's, you want to go to, you know, we coach, we got we got Waffle House gift cards.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: I mean, how how what how what date night you want to go on tonight?
32:46
SPEAKER_00: And so we're lit, we literally will use the gift cards as our decision.
32:50
SPEAKER_05: What a great system.
32:51
SPEAKER_05: I've heard it said that uh I heard a guy say once that he hopes somebody in his town will open a restaurant and the name of the restaurant will be I don't know, yeah.
33:01
SPEAKER_05: So that exactly that's they would go there because that's all it needs to be.
33:04
SPEAKER_05: Where do you want to eat?
33:05
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
33:05
SPEAKER_05: All right, last question about the thing.
33:07
SPEAKER_05: You know, when you when you do go out, are you a uh are you the guy that's helping everybody finish their meal?
33:16
SPEAKER_05: Like uh are you are you do you ever utter the words, you gonna finish that?
33:21
SPEAKER_05: Um or uh you done with that?
33:23
SPEAKER_00: If it's my kids, yes.
33:24
SPEAKER_05: Okay, if it's your food, dog, no, because that's you know your wife, for Lisa, will you finish if she if she doesn't or whatever?
33:32
SPEAKER_00: I mean You know what?
33:33
SPEAKER_00: It's less about I'm gobbling it up like I'm some you know starving, you know, malnutritioned, you know, coach.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: I'm my choleric intake needs to probably chill out as it is.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: But honestly, it's my verb my go-to is not necessarily hey, you're gonna finish that and then me to stuff my face.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's hey, are you gonna finish that because I'm gonna box it up, I'm gonna take it home so I can feed a kid tomorrow.
33:58
SPEAKER_05: There you go.
33:59
SPEAKER_05: I'm a big uh doggy bag to go.
34:02
SPEAKER_05: What did you say?
34:03
SPEAKER_05: It used to be called doggy bags.
34:05
SPEAKER_05: That was the bag?
34:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because you're making that up.
34:09
SPEAKER_01: You have a smirk on your face right now.
34:12
SPEAKER_05: I'm laughing because I now I know I've I've said something stupid that nobody ever says, but I need my 40 and over people, my 50 and over people.
34:22
SPEAKER_05: I'm close to 40.
34:23
SPEAKER_05: We're rounding up, I forgot.
34:25
SPEAKER_05: So, but uh I need my four way it was called a doggy bag.
34:31
SPEAKER_05: Is it was it or was it not called a doggy bag when you were taking food home?
34:36
SPEAKER_05: Because it was wink wink.
34:38
SPEAKER_05: I'm taking this home for the dog.
34:40
SPEAKER_05: I'm gonna feed this to the dog.
34:42
SPEAKER_05: And wink wink, no, I'm gonna eat it tonight, you know, in the fourth quarter of the game that I'm watching.
34:47
SPEAKER_05: Why would people be embarrassed about that?
34:50
SPEAKER_05: I don't know.
34:50
SPEAKER_05: There was a hey, it was a different time.
34:52
SPEAKER_00: There was a different time.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: I want you to go to Outback and the next time you're there and be like, yeah, I'm not gonna finish that.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: You guys got any doggy bags?
35:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's what I want.
35:05
SPEAKER_05: I need a to-go plate.
35:06
SPEAKER_05: Anyway, I'm that guy.
35:07
SPEAKER_05: I'm a leftover guy.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: Big leftover guy.
35:09
SPEAKER_05: Vonda could love the meals she had, but if she uh took it home, she's not, she just doesn't like eating leftovers.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, leftovers not a thing.
35:18
SPEAKER_05: Yeah not not for her.
35:19
SPEAKER_05: I mean, you know, stuff she's cooked, yes, but as far as from a restaurant, uh, but I'll take anything.
35:26
SPEAKER_05: I've got my my to-go plate, and I'm taking off of her plate, and I'm just like this mortgage board is just when you get the dog days, we're going to town.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: You just start going.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yes, that's on me.
35:44
SPEAKER_00: You know what?
35:45
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of growing on me now, and I might just kind of like turn, I might take this and run with it.
35:49
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you have any doggy bags?
35:51
SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: It's a cool way to say together.
35:52
SPEAKER_05: All right, our listeners, y'all help me out.
35:54
SPEAKER_00: You guys have a great week.
35:56
SPEAKER_00: If you go out to a restaurant, please use the term doggy bag.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: And as as just an exercise in laughter, I want you to practice ASMR conversations with your spouse, with your kids, with your friends, with your significant other.
36:14
SPEAKER_00: You laugh the whole time.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: Oh you guys have an awesome week.
36:25
SPEAKER_01: Go brand names.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: We will see you again next week for another episode Sermons of Up.
36:38
SPEAKER_04: I can't breathe.
36:56
SPEAKER_05: Oh man.
36:57
SPEAKER_05: Oh goodness, we put our lessons through in front of you, I'm telling you.
37:03
SPEAKER_06: That's a journey.
37:04
SPEAKER_06: That's a journey.
37:06
SPEAKER_05: Oh man, that is hilarious.
37:09
SPEAKER_05: That was great.
37:10
SPEAKER_05: Oh goodness.
37:11
SPEAKER_05: You know, when I when I did lose my voice, and I and if I had any volume, it that's when it came out.
37:20
SPEAKER_05: When I tried to have any volume, it's great.
37:23
SPEAKER_05: And like all the highs, treble gone, right?
37:27
SPEAKER_05: But if I I I could actually I could I could talk like this.
37:32
SPEAKER_05: Oh, interesting.
37:33
SPEAKER_05: Someone could hear me.
37:34
SPEAKER_05: And I thought, baby, I'm gonna, you know, I'm gonna record some, you know, saying, hey girl, you you're beautiful.
37:42
SPEAKER_05: You know, I'm whoa.
37:45
SPEAKER_05: You know, because I got this voice ain't got no Barry White romanticism in it, but for a moment, for one brief shiny moment, I'd say, hey baby, you look good tonight.
37:57
SPEAKER_05: And then I get halfway through that last word and go, that's my ultimate.
38:01
SPEAKER_05: It it ruined the mood.
38:03
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, that's just we just sermons on the side, and we're like never mind.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: Get in trouble.