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Things Jesus Never Said: "God Won't Give You More Than You Can Handle" · Main Thing Podcast

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Main Thing Podcast with Pastor Steve, equipping you to respond and thrive in the world we live in today.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Keep the main thing the main thing has been a saying that Pastor Steve has told for decades.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: It means no matter what is happening around us, Jesus is what we need to have front and center in our lives.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: There couldn't be a more powerful reminder for us to recall in today's divisive and dark culture.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: From foundational truths and scripture to the hot topics of today's culture, allow this podcast to inspire and motivate you on your faith journey.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, well, welcome back to the main thing podcast.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are so glad you guys uh have joined us today.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and we are in our second part of a series we're doing called Things Jesus Never Said.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you this: I know one thing Jesus never said was, guys, we got to record this podcast on the Sermon on the Mount uh this coming Thursday.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So this is something new that we didn't have back in the day, huh, Jet?
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I mean, according to the chosen series, it was recorded.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I mean that's right.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: They had good, they had good cameras back then, huh?
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, today, the thing Jesus never said was, God won't give you more than you can handle.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so uh let's just start with some scripture, okay?
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this idea of God won't give us more than we can handle uh seems to come from uh 1 Corinthians 10 13.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: It says, No temptation has come upon you except what is common to humanity.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: But God is faithful, he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able, but with the temptation he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to bear it.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_00: So before we start talking about, you know, this idea that God won't give us more than we can handle, uh, let's just talk about this verse.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: What does this verse actually promise?
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: It actually promises that number one, we will have temptation, but it also promises that God is going to be there and give us a way out when it happens.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh-huh.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's funny as I was thinking through this verse and we're we're talking about uh, you know, more than we can handle.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: I do think sometimes we have things more than we can handle because of our dumb decisions.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, natural consequences.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's funny, we we often talk about God, uh, you know, or people say, God, you know, God's not fair to punish us, right?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: But I think we do a fine job of punishing ourselves.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I I can think of many things in my life where I did it to myself, you know, there was no need for any extra punishment to happen.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: And God so graciously lets us go through the consequences of that so we can learn a lesson.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we're a little more stubborn than we ought to be, huh?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's right.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: So now let's let's go to 2 Corinthians 1, 8, and 9, because this is this is where uh kind of refutes the idea that God won't give us more than we can handle.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is Paul talking.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: But he says, We don't want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: We were completely overwhelmed beyond our strength, so that we even despaired of life itself.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises us from the dead.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what's your thoughts on that verse?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Just to you know, to kick it off.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Paul struggled.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: And he struggled with the tension of this life and the tension of his calling.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't always breezy.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm looking at some phrases there.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: We were completely overwhelmed.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: We felt we'd received the sentence of death.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we were beyond our strength.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: We despaired of life itself.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a that is a depressing verse right there.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um Man, so where do we even start when that feels?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because I I'm assuming everybody listening to this has felt that way at some point in their life.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I know I have.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: I know there's times uh it it feels like, man, I don't know what to do from this point.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I love this because it's in these moments I think that we grow and it's in the moments where we feel like we're alone in the darkness, where we truly seek God and we're desperate and we're broken.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: I've I've always said this, you know, brokenness is a blessing, and it truly is because the moments where we got it all together and we don't need anything or anybody or God, it's much easier to start relying on ourselves, you know.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're when you're in that spot, I mean, Paul's saying he he basically felt like he was dying because of the troubles he was going through.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: I think that that enabled Paul to be more effective in the ministry.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I remember when I was younger, I used to, and I I taught this in covenant class.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um I remember teaching it to the youth, but it was something to the effect of, you know what, when you find what God has called you to do, you're gonna love every minute of it.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be so great.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then I started fostering.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Kelly and I started fostering, and we realize sometimes you don't love every minute of it, you know?
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I how do why do we um you know, why do we say things like that, I guess, you know, because I look back now and I say, man, uh, what was I thinking back then?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I I didn't know, I'd never been through it, you know?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think I I think it has a lot to do with that's the way I think we want it to be, you know, and there's this there's this idea where it's hey, as long as you're fulfilling the calling that God has given you, you're gonna, you're gonna have this like this sense of overwhelming peace all the time and it's gonna be wonderful.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: But really, I mean, just like Paul, Paul's the one of the greatest missionaries ever to live.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: And he felt so depressed and and in tension with his calling in the world that he wanted to die.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we're why would we not go through the same things fulfilling God's call and our life, you know?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that reminds me, if I could, I guess, uh give a plug for another podcast.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, if you've listened to the the Elisa Children's podcast, um one of the things they do from time to time is they'll watch some some TikTok or YouTube videos of people who could who have deconstructed their faith.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I was listening uh just the other day, and uh one of the deconstruction uh videos they talked about, um, there was a young lady who said, you know, I I met people who were atheists and they were good people and they live very morally and they were very happy.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so I've I thought God must not be real if these people cannot serve God and still be happy, right?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh they made the point on the podcast because what they were doing, they'd listen to it and they kind of uh in, I would say gently, uh helped us see truth in spite of that uh TikTok video.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but she said, you know, we have to remember it is not about our happiness, it's not about uh, you know, if life is good, we must not need God.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh Christianity is confession of Jesus as Lord in your life and everything that entails.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I think a lot of times we we expect everything to go well, right?
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you know, that brings up a point to uh just recently I can't think of the YouTuber's name.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody died recently, and everybody's like, oh my goodness, I can't believe it.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: They were always so happy.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a lot of the times I've found the most depressed people outwardly are the most the happiest because they're covering, you know, for what's going on on the inside.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I think social media and this new age that we're in today gives especially the younger generation a false impression of what it means even to follow Christ, you know.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think we we do people a disservice when we preach the gospel and we preach the whole counsel of God and we tell them that, hey, everything is going to be great when you follow God.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: The contrary is true, right?
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna be great.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_01: But like you said, Jesus is Lord and He's master and He has a plan.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and and we've we we fall into something called moral therapeutic deism.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And while the vast majority of people, we wouldn't know that phrase, but it's how we live.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it's basically, if I can boil it down, says, I'm doing what I think God wants me to do.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm acting right, I'm being a good Christian, God owes me a good life.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and so in other words, I have earned a good life, and I've earned an easy life.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And you look all through scripture, the ones really following God did not have an easy life.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you go you go through Paul's whole litany of I was in the I was uh you know, beaten however many times, I was in the ocean for three days, uh and he just goes on and on.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, been by snakes.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And um man, I I wonder, I wonder if Paul sometimes just looked up at God and said, Anytime you want to take me, it's good.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Ready to go, man.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is hard.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, well, I mean, oh goodness, I don't know if the camera can catch it, but the Fox's Book of Martyrs is up there somewhere.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I mean, oh goodness, that is an eye-opening book.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I I I've been criticized through the years of being like this doom and gloom type of preacher.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't mean to be, but I think I think our world and especially new believers need to hear that we're not chasing our feelings and chasing happiness.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now, happiness comes like you have moments of happiness, you have moments of elation, you have these good things that happen in your life, and we celebrate those things, right?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_01: We we need to do that.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: But there's also a reality of life where there's the mundane, there's just the task that you do every day, there's the things you do that you don't want to do, you know, and and that should also be celebrated because that's all part of us walking out our calling, you know.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: And with these martyrs, I mean, they their blood paved the way for us to have freedom in our faith.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we like to talk about the military and the fighting, and that's great.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I'm grateful for our military.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm grateful that there was bloodshed for our freedom in America.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: But when you look at the martyrs that have died, far more of them have died in the past for the the cause of the freedom of the gospel.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think that's overlooked.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, I I think my favorite definition of joy is happiness outside of circumstances because so many of us, our happiness is based on what happens around us.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and Christianity says what?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: It says your happiness is not based on your outside circumstances, it's based on what Christ has done in your heart.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And so all those things around you, um, they do not affect your peace.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and look, I would be the first one to say that is not nearly as easy as it sounds.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're in good company.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: So easy for your outside circumstances to affect your happiness, you know.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: And and find security in other things.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, whether that be relationships or money or jobs or whatever, you get you get this this feeling of of security and happiness in those things.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: And then when those things are either taken away or changed, it's like, ooh, I felt that.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: Why do we feel that to your point?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: So so I think the question comes up, you know, why does God allow us to become overwhelmed?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Why why doesn't he swoop in and say, okay, that's enough?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, Brent Brent's about to lose it.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Let me change things more.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: I I think in some ways, in some ways he does when it's the right time.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I I know in I can speak from my personal experience, he tethers me out to the point where I literally am, I'm just I'm done.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: I have nothing left.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like it's in that moment where I truly cry out to him and truly, really, I think he's just getting me to surrender.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: He just brings me to that place where, hey, Chet, whenever you're ready to surrender, bud, I'm I'll I'll be there, but you gotta be willing to let go.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my wife says it so well.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Anything that drives you to your knees is a good thing.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yeah.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: When you uh because I I'm guessing most of us can think of that time when we cried out to God because there was desperation there.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And you look back and say, why why can't I not cry out to God before the desperation comes?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, that's right.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what's the difference here?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about self-reliance and dependence on God.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: Why is God giving us more than we can handle?
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Why is that so hard on our self-reliance?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think because we are innately so self-absorbed that it's hard for us naturally to think outside of our own personal desires.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and there's this aspect of we have our personal desire, whether that be fleshly desire or just human desire, and then we have the desire of the spirit.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, uh scripture says it clearly that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think there's just that tension that we grapple with as we try to determine okay, how much of this is God actually doing this in my life and allowing it, and how much am I doing it to myself?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: Well in Psalms, and I am forgetting the reference right now, but where it says, wait on the Lord.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, be still my soul and wait on the Lord.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I believe that's also in Habakkuk.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it so hard for us to wait on the Lord?
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or what does that even mean to wait on the Lord?
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I love that.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: You probably remember this.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the Hebrew definition for wait, it's not a sitting down, it's a pressing into.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I've grappled with that through the years.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: Like, what exactly does that look like?
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and the the thing that I've to state in illustration, the way I look at it is my children, um, when I tell them to be patient, well, how how are they patient?
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Dad, are you ready yet?
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: Dad, are you ready?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's their way of being patient.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: They keep asking and they keep seeking.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's our response to God too.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: When when we're to be still and to be patient, I think it's still part of our duty as a son and daughter of the king to keep seeking him and seeing where he's at and trying to press in and and see exactly what the next step is.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: To do what you know to do until God makes it clear.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, yep.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: I you said something earlier about, you know, the mundane of life.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and I think we forget sometimes that that mom who gets up at two in the morning to take care of her kids, man, that's I I believe that is pleasing to the Lord.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh a dad who gets up every morning, goes to work, steadily provides for his family.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's pleasing to the Lord.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and those things don't seem very spiritual.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: They don't seem like it's something great for God, but it is it is obedience to to do those things you know to do and and wait uh wait for God to work in your life.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and and sometimes I know uh we all go through those times where we just have to do what we know to do.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Self-reliance, I think, says I have to create what I think should happen instead of I'm going to live my life uh pleasing the Lord and wait for him to make something happen.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't that hard for men though?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because we're natural cultivators.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: We create and cultivate, we want to start new things, we we want to see production happen, we want to see moving forward, we want to fix things.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: That's very it goes against our nature.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament is a is a weird one.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's it says, now Moses was more meek than any man on the face of the earth.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I always find that so amusing because Moses wrote those books.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I guess he said that about himself.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: But the biblical definition of meekness is that it's not what we think of as meek.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: When we think of somebody being meek, we think of somebody sitting by the wall, you know, scared to talk to anybody.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, please don't notice me.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not the biblical definition.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when Jesus says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, he's talking about this waiting on the Lord.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we don't feel the need to step out and try to create what we think we should have.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we are trusting that God will place us where He wants us.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that that's so true.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: I'm um I'm listening to a 48-hour book right now on George Washington Washington, and uh I d I I learned a little bit about him in school, but this really paints a clearer picture of him.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry to interrupt you, but you used to make fun of me for listening to talk radio, and now you're listening you're listening to a 48-hour book on George Washington.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: I reviewed you anyway.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: You got me.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: You got me.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um he was he was a very meek man.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: And as a matter of fact, what helped him win the Continental Army's heart and against the British was his meekness because he was quiet, but he was strong.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: And um the British Army actually thought we were much more stopped in ammunition and guns than we were because he didn't talk to anybody about it.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: He held back what he needed to held hold back and talk when he needed to.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: And uh just in reference to that, I think for for us as believers, sometimes I think maybe we might speak a little bit more than we need to, you know, and it kind of takes that meek aspect away and that the power that we have in being silent and just not only waiting on the Lord, but ministering to other people, not necessarily just talking at them all the time.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Quiet strength.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and well, and and the way James puts it, be quick to listen.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we could we could keep ourselves out of a lot of trouble if we'd yeah, if we'd stay quiet.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, of course we're doing a podcast right now, so I'll keep talking about somebody's listening out there.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so how how would you encourage somebody who's going through something that they genuinely cannot handle?
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: First, there needs to be fellowship.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're not designed to go through it alone.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I have I can count on one hand the people that I have in my life that I truly trust.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And really, that has a lot to do with just the the nature of ministry.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a lot of times you're you're giving yourself to everybody you know.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: So there's very few people that you trust to really open up to.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I know you know that it's like living on an island in ministry sometimes.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I think for for anybody, me included, we not only need to find our um strength and solace in God, but we need to find it in other people too.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh don't neglect drawing together because the day's coming near, uh, or coming together because the day's drawing near.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: And in Hebrews chapter 10, I think Paul, as far as we know, wrote that book.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: But um we we need each other in community, and I think that's one thing that's hard, especially for men.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: Women seek community um a little better than we do, and it's harder for us to connect.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's why we have to have food at men's events because otherwise, what are we gonna do?
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Just stand around and talk, you know?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: No, I agree, and I think every man, deep down, their biggest fear is oh my gosh, they're gonna put us in a little group and ask us to share.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Share my feelings.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know what you say reminds me of a story from gosh, 30 years ago uh at my home church.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: We we had a um uh a teenage girl and her mom, they it was just them two living in in their house, and they had a leak in their roof, and they didn't know what to do.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so instead of reaching out to anybody because they didn't think anybody would be interested in helping, they just closed the door to that room.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And months later, I guess they decided to open the door, ceiling had come down, you've got you know, mold in there, and so they finally they were desperate, they they reached out uh to the church.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: And within a week, it was all fixed.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, guys came in, ripped out the sheetrock, they ripped up the carpet, uh repaired the roof, you know, and that thing you're talking about community, right?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: It was a situation they could not handle.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I don't they didn't trust that it could be handled, yeah, you know, and that's what we do, right?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: We we keep it on, but to your point about guys, uh I think most guys would be embarrassed to ask for help.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, that just goes, it seems to go against your very nature.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, look, I have a I have a lawnmower that uh is very temperamental, and it might start, it might not.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh one day I'm I'm mowing the grass uh with my push mower, and you know, I've got a big backyard and my neighbor comes over and says, What are you doing?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, I'm mowing the grass.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Why didn't you come over and get my mower?
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Wow, you know, I was gonna uh get some exercise or something.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Well, that's just stupid.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: And and I agreed with him, he's like, I'm going to get my mower, you know, and in me, I couldn't bear the thought of asking somebody for help.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm gonna be self reliant.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know what's funny about that though?
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_01: I bet your neighbor would have done the same.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thing probably he would not have come asking.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_00: And what's funny is as a general rule, we love to help people.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it tickles us when somebody when we can help somebody, but we just we don't that's right.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want it, you know.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I think of so many times in my life that to my detriment, I did not reach out to people, you know, for yeah.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I I guess it would be safe to say, like if if if people needed a step one.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: A step one would be identifying first off that you can't do it alone.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: I I and that's probably it sounds elementary, but I think for for many people that's a monumental step.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Just to admit like I I can't do this alone.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and then that that opens the door to the Lord and to other people as well to help.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, we're we're talking about self-reliance, we're talking about instead of being dependent on God, but uh one of the things I I think is key in all this discussion is what Paul says um in in 2 Corinthians, and I believe it's 12, uh 12 9.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it says, Paul's talking about the thorn in his side.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: He pleads with God to take it away.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: God, what he doesn't tell us what it is, so we can speculate what that might be.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, but he says I pleaded with God three times to take it away.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then here's the answer.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: For my power is perfected in weakness.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: Man, how how does God's why why do we not let God's power be perfected in our weakness?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or how does that what does that even look like?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think?
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to admit that you're weak.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: When I started in Alcoholics Anonymous, you know, when you when you open up in a meeting, you say, My name is so-and-so, I'm an alcoholic.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember thinking, well, I'm not really an alcoholic.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: I did a lot of drugs.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_01: I never really had a problem with alcohol.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: And my sponsor showed me very graciously, he's like, You you realize that if drugs were not around, you would have just drank, right?
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I mean, maybe.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Chet, think about it.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: If you didn't have cocaine on the table or pills or any of that other stuff, and alcohol was the only substance for you to escape, would you drink?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're right, I would.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_01: So, yes, I am not anymore because I've I believe that I've been changed by the Holy Spirit.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: That's a whole nother podcast discussion.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but to admit that we're weak and have that posture before the Lord where his power can work in us.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_01: Because if we think we're powerful and we're all all that, then God's power is not going to be able to work through us.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I always think of uh, and man, once again, forgetting the reference, I believe it's Colossians where he says, Um, you know, I came to you with much fear and trembling, you know, and I I think of Paul as coming into a new town, just be like, I'm Paul, baby, I'm ready, you come home.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to drown me, give it a shot.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but it says he comes in scared, right?
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: Preaching in in weakness, you know, and so man, how did God God just worked in an incredible way through probably not very good preaching?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: I, you know, I'm picturing him like, hey guys, look, uh, you know, Jesus died for your sins.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I obviously we don't know how he went about that, but if he's preaching in fear and trembling, uh, it was all God.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_00: You know, then nobody could say Paul's a great speaker, that's why I followed Christ.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, that's right.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and and God, I've seen him do this before.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we put so much stock in ourselves.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: I have preached a message, and multiple people come up to me and said, That's exactly what I needed to hear.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: And they would explain what they heard.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm thinking, I didn't say anything near that, but that's the Holy Spirit just working.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so it's it's not about us.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Wesley the other day, Wesley's Wesley's heart is very sensitive to people and like wanting to share the gospel.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_01: And he came up to me, said, Dad, I, you know, I think God is like telling me to share the gospel with adults.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Can I do that?
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Absolutely, son.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Well, he said, but I'm scared.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Man, let me tell you something.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: I am scared every single time I share the gospel and every time I preach and every time I teach, I am scared.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_01: And he's like, Oh, okay.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_01: He said, So can I do it?
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: I said, absolutely.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: I said, if if the spirit is telling you to share, just do it.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: But I I think of that just innocent meekness in him.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_01: Reminds me of Paul and that.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: He knows it's not going to be his abilities that do that.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that that brings me to the the rest of that verse.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Paul, after God says, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness, Paul says, Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may reside in me.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we have to come to a point where we can acknowledge that we are weak.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we are humans.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, an old Rich Mullins song, We're Frail, We're Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: So he actually sang something other than Awesome God?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: He did, man.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: He had some incredible stuff.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and and aside, if you're listening or watching, go go listen to some old Rich Mullins, man.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: You'll be blessed.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's old, that's old people music, but man, it's good stuff.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna have to go check it out.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I don't think God's power is gonna work in us until we could admit it's not on our own.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think back to all these years of ministry.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: There are things that we did ministry-wise, that went pretty well, but without God's power.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I think of what could it have been if we had we had not done our own power?
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because you can do uh some very positive ministry in your own and be successful, and be successful by human standards.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um but when you can let God and the Holy Spirit work through that, that's that's gonna be something different.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: And sadly, I don't think we experience it that much because we do it in our own power.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's a solid point.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think uh there's a there's a dangerous line, I think, with many churches flirt with today.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's the line between worship and production.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not just talking about music, I'm talking about every aspect of church ministry.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, are are we doing this led by the spirit or are we doing this led by a program and production?
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's hard because you want to use the tools that are available to get people in the door because right now the front of the church is no longer the front door, the front door is online.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's 99% of people are gonna look up the church on Google or Chat GPT before they walk through the door.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so there's it's just a fine line you have to be careful with.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: And and you man, you use such a good word there, a fine line.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I always think of of the production around church is like a referee in in uh football or umpire in baseball, right?
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_00: If an umpire does his job, people don't even realize he's there.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's when he messes up that he becomes the focal point, right?
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: And everything we do, the the lighting, the the screens, the the uh welcome table, you know, the gift bag, all those things are are there to keep people from being distracted so that they can focus on God.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Those those things should fade into the background where people don't realize they should never walk out the door going, man, I want to tell you what, that gift bag was incredible.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm coming to this church to give my life to the gift bag.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, or uh I just want to see a big screen every Sunday.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, I I pray that as people walk out, they're singing God's praises and not anything that was around there.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and so that fine line is you know, where do we make sure that doesn't become the impressive thing?
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know what gives me so much hope is when you look back at the history of our church, let's just say the tenure of Pastor Steve.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Everything in this church has changed, but one thing.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: What's the one thing that's never changed?
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_01: The focus on God's word, I would say.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's everything.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you if you look at our building, you look at the worship, you look at our ministry programs, you look at our events, our outreach, all these things have changed, but the preaching of God's word has never changed.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that that shows the vitality of a church more than anything.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_01: Because once that begins to change, then then you have issues, you know.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, God won't give you more than you can handle.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus never said it.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: And if I could rephrase that to what maybe uh Jesus' teaching would be is is be thankful when God gives you more than you can handle.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: And we can be driven to our knees.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yep.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_00: Any last thoughts before we close up?
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, sir.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, thanks so much for joining us today.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, hope to see you next time.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_00: God bless you guys.