Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, everyone.
How are you?
It's a lot of Sarah. A lot of Sarah at a weird pitch.
Let me pray.
Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for who you are.
I thank you that you are a God who sees us, that you are a God who calls us to you, and that you are a God who straightens.
I pray with all my heart for those of us who need you in a special way tonight.
For anyone in this room or anyone listening online, I pray that you will meet us and it would be less of me and more of you.
In your mighty son's name, we pray. Amen.
I wonder how many of you, if I handed you a blank piece of paper and asked you on one side to write three insecurities or weaknesses and then flip the paper and write three strengths, I wonder how easy it would be to write your insecurities versus strengths for me.
I would crush the insecurity list. Can I get an amen in this room?
You need a weakness, I got you. You need an insecurity, I got you covered, okay? But when I think about the strengths God has given me, it's a lot harder to claim.
It's a lot harder to identify.
And I think for so many people, we have learned how to claim our weaknesses, claim our insecurities, claim the things that hold us back.
And it's a whole lot harder for us to identify and step in to the strength that God's given us.
When I was thinking about this, I was thinking how easily the insecurities come to me. And I was thinking about how a lot of us have something called the lid thinking.
A lot of us have self talk that we won't even be aware of, but it's going on in our head all day long.
And it's easy to see where your confidence breaks down with the lid thinking. And what the lid thinking is, is you're putting a lid on top of possibility.
So a lot of times it'd be something like, I can't do that right now.
It would look like, oh, I don't have the resources, I don't have the money, I don't have the time. I can't do that.
I don't have that capability.
And so oftentimes we'll put the lid thinking on our life, and it stops us from becoming everything that God wants us to be.
Oftentimes we give a lot of time and energy into our weaknesses. I heard a pastor say it like this.
We've been fighting the war of insecurity long enough. Now it's time to start Making peace with. With our strength.
My kids and I, we were watching a man named Wim Hof.
Anyone ever heard of him?
Okay, I gotta take her in the back.
We were watching him and he is a crazy man, but he has done some incredible things. He has this Wim Hof method and he is. He's climbed Mount Everest in his shorts.
And that's it. I think it was actually his underwear and boot. He has more.
What is it when you get a record?
Guinness Book, world records. He can stay in cold water. He's like, known as the Iceman because he believes the cold water builds your immunity. He was actually injected, I think it was with Eboli. Not a live version of it, but a dead version.
And anyone that's injected with Eboli, he's crazy.
Gets sick within like three hours. You get fever, your body hurts. Well, Wim Hof got injected and through his method, he was at the doctor's office. They tested his blood, his inflammation. He didn't get sick. His body fought off this injection of this disease.
And it wasn't just that. He also taught 12 other people who were also injected to do his method and they did not get sick.
And so he's like this crazy freak of nature.
And so the kids and I were watching him and he. There was a group of young 20 somethings that went to Poland to like spend four days with him. And for four days he just tortured them. It's really all he did. But his whole point was he was trying to get this group of people to think and know that our body is capable of more than our mind thinks.
And so the very first thing he had this group of people do is climb this cliff and do a cold plunge jump. The water was like 38 degrees.
They weren't trained, they didn't know how to do it. But he had them go out there and do it. The next day, he had them standing in a River for 10 minutes, up to their shoulders, hands in. And it was like a 10 minute cold plunge.
Now, at some point, someone in my house said we should do this.
And we are a competitive group, okay? Like, if one person thinks they can win at something, the challenge is on.
So. So by the end of it, we were like in our bathing suits. We had to. It was middle of the winter. We had to break the cold plunge with like an ax because it was frozen.
And we took turns sitting in the cold plunge up to our shoulders, hands on our legs for 10 minutes. In the middle of winter.
Yes, it was crazy. I blame Jeremiah 100%, my son in law, 100%. He is to blame.
But the goal was who could do it, who would back out, who would do it. We were capable of more than we think if we just pay a little bit of attention to it.
And so I let almost everybody go first because my hope was that it would warm the water up, you know what I'm saying?
Their body temperature would warm it up by the time mama got in.
And I remember putting in the hardest thing about the cold plunge is your hands. They are by far the hardest part. Typically if I cold plunge, I keep my hands out because it's too painful. It's not even fun, keep my hands out. But this, we were committed to 10 minutes because we saw that group of people and we were like, we are going to do it. So like when you get in, you can't breathe. You're just like, like it's, it takes your breath away. Your hands instantly start hurting. But the crew's encouraging each other. Everyone's like, you got this, mom, you got this. I think we put some like pump you up music, some sort of like high Christian rock, you know what I mean? We each picked a song and at about two minutes, I was repenting to Jesus for every bad thing I'd ever done.
At three minutes, I was recommitting my life to him because I thought it was over.
About five minutes your whole body starts to uncontrollably shake.
And then from there I blacked out. I don't even know what happened. It was just like, just do it. Just they hold, hold.
But what I believe with all my heart is that for followers of Jesus Christ, there is something inside of us that is capable of more than our mind thinks.
For followers of Jesus Christ, there is a strength and an empowering by the Holy Spirit within us to strengthen us so that we are capable to do in this world more than we think, more than our mind will allow us to believe.
We are capable of so much more. Not because of our own strength, not because we're good looking, not because we're smart, not because we're educated. We are capable of more because there is a spirit of God within us. Church.
And what I fear is it's like we have this jackpot lottery and we've cashed it in and it's sitting in the bank, but we never go and cash in.
We never go and get some funds out.
And we're stuck living this life, doing it on our own. And on our own we've got these thoughts and these Weaknesses and insecurities.
For some of us it's this idea of like your worth is through your production.
So when you produce, you're worth something.
When you don't produce, you're not worthy.
For some of us it's we've gotta please the people around us because if we aren't pleasein the people around us, then people won't like us. And there's a real fear that creeps in.
For some of us it's we're not good enough.
For some of us it's the lies we have heard our entire life. Or maybe when you were little and you play these things over that maybe you're not worthy, maybe you'll always be alone, maybe your funds will never get bigger. You failed before and so now you are a failure. And we play our weaknesses, we play our insecurities.
And Paul writes this letter to the Ephesians and he, he's writing to the Christians there and he is in prison and he says this.
For this reason I bow my knee before the Father.
He's talking about everything that just came before in Ephesians. It's talking about this God who blesses.
It's talking about how there is a grace that Jesus Christ offers us through faith. It talks about how there is a unity in Christ. And it talks about how there's this mystery of the gospel that's been revealed because the gospel is for everybody.
And Paul says right before this, so I ask you not to lose heart over what I'm suffering because it is for your glory.
So he's saying, for this reason I bow my knee before the Father.
I was studying and one of the scholars said that this idea of praying on your knees, it was not a typical thing in the first century. It was very typical that you would stand when you prayed, you would raise your hands. But this idea of getting on your knees and it showed such adoration and such reverence.
And Paul is on his knees and he says this reason I bow my knees before the Father from whom every family in heaven on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory, the riches there is an abundant wealth.
God.
There is a undeniable richness that God offers. It's infinite in his infinite richness of his glory that he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being.
Paul's praying. It's like this masterclass on how to pray.
And he's sitting here and he's praying for this group of people and he's saying that I'm Asking that God will grant you.
This isn't something we can do ourself.
This isn't something that we can just claim and work harder and strive more.
This isn't something we can self help our way into.
This is only available because God will grant it to you that he may strengthen you with the power.
I wish it was the power of the six pack church, the power of the forearm.
But this is a power of ability.
He strengthens us from within so that we are able to do the life that he's given us.
We're able to do the next right thing.
We're able to carry the load when it feels uncarryable.
We're able and we're strengthened to our inner being.
Because I think what happens is we often go to God and we pray for the circumstances to change.
We pray for the people to change.
But what Paul is showing us is there's a different kind of prayer that is more effective. There is a prayer that says, even though my circumstances suck, even though I, I am not, I don't love this.
Father, I'm asking for your strength in my inner being.
Even though the circumstances are tough, I'm praying that you change me.
Because what happens is God often doesn't change the circumstance first.
Often he strengthens us in our inner being first and then he uses us to change the circumstances.
When I look in the Bible, I see all these men that God is calling to change the circumstances.
I see Moses and he goes to Moses and he's like, listen, I want you to go to Egypt. I've heard my people's cry and we're going to go free them.
But do you know what Moses says?
I don't know who you think I am.
He says, I don't have eloquent speech.
I can't even talk.
God calls him for a purpose. And what does Moses do? He brings up his insecurity.
There's a Bible or there's a man named Gideon in Judges.
And the Midianites have taken over and, and the Israelite people again, they're oppressed and, and God sends an angel of the Lord to Gideon.
And Gideon is hiding and he's threshing wheat in this wine press. And the Midianites, they've robbed them dry. And so he's afraid that if they see what he has, they will take it. And this angel shows up to Gideon and he says, almighty man of valor.
And do you know what Gideon says?
Gideon says, I am from the weakest tribe.
And by the way, I'm the Weakest one in my family.
Gideon is like, I don't know who you think this mighty man of valor is, but I am weak.
I'm not capable.
I'm not even. I'm so low on my family's list.
There's a man named Jeremiah.
God calls him for a reason and for a purpose. And he wants to change some things in this world. And Jeremiah says, I'm too young.
God says, don't you dare say that.
It's interesting to me that these stories are in scripture and they're laced throughout. And that's just some of them, that when God calls with a purpose and a plan and something, that these people, what do they do? They step into their insecurity and church. I don't want us to live this way.
I feel like this sermon is in my bones because I lived this way so much of my life. For so much of my life, I let other people's voices dictate who I would be.
I let other people tell me what I was good at, what I couldn't do, what I could and couldn't do because of what family I belong to for so long in my life.
I would shrink myself down.
Because if you can shrink yourself down, there's a little bit of safety in that.
And I don't know what has caused you to feel that way.
I don't know what truths that you have believed.
But it's time to get with Jesus.
It's time to get in the word of God and say, I'm sick of stepping in my weakness. It's time to step in the strength of who God has created me to be.
It's time to seek him and go after him and see. What I find is that there are seasons of our life.
I find that there are seasons of my life where it's normal rhythm and I can go to God and I can have a healthy life and I can worship and I can pray, and it's a healthy rhythm, and I feel good.
There's seasons of my life where I feel honest to God, just exhausted. Any amens?
We a little tired tonight.
And there's seasons where I'm trying so hard, but everything around me feels hard.
Do you know when everything feels hard around you, then it's like it's hard. All we can see is kind of the lid thinking there are seasons of pain and suffering, and there are seasons when there's people you love that are suffering. And so life is not the same every day.
Life is not the same. And so when we go to seek God, we have to seek his strength for the day that is ahead of us.
My nephew was in the hospital and it was 8 to 12 hour days.
Every single day we'd get there, there would be something worse.
He had an infection in his heart and it spread to every part of his body, from his brain to his feet.
And at one point Jackson, his brother, made a joke. He's like, well, we can't possibly get any more bad news. And we were like, you're right. I mean, this doesn't get worse.
And then sure enough, the doctor would come in and slam us in the gut with something harder.
And I remember in this season I was exhausted and I was tired and I was worried and I was scared and everything around me showed me that this was not going to be a good outcome.
And I would remember seeking God and saying, but they don't know who you are.
And I would get on my knees and I would plead with him and I would say, you are holy and you are mighty and you are capable of everything.
And I would plead with him, please will you strengthen us?
Please will you heal him? Please will you make a way where there is none?
And then I would find myself driving the hour drive to the hospital and I'd find myself feeling like I can do this, I can do this.
Day after day I would seek him.
See, it's how we seek him that matters.
Paul set up a posture in this prayer. He set up a posture of adoration and praise.
See, what I find is when I truly need God, it is a posture of my heart that matters.
When I'm truly seeking him, I don't want to come in half hearted.
I want to come in with everything I've got.
Trusting him, asking him, asking for him to strengthen what I need for today.
And he shows up and he fills you and he strengthens.
There's a story in the Gospel of Luke, and I think it shows physically what happens in our mind mentally.
There's a woman, and Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and there's a woman there.
And the Bible tells us that she had a disabling spirit.
I don't know what that means, I have no idea.
But she had a disabling spirit and it caused her to be bent over for 18 years.
And I was thinking, sometimes we can read past these stories because they're just a couple of verses.
But she was bent over for 18 years. Church, I sleep wrong and I can't move my neck for two weeks.
Do you know what I'm saying? Like, what must her Body have felt like, what pain? Her shoulders, what pain? Her neck. And she couldn't look people in the eyes.
And I think of her bent and broken.
I think of her struggling.
I think of this disabling spirit, whatever it was. And I think to myself, she was at the right place because Jesus Christ was there.
So many of us are not physically bent over, but we are mentally bent over.
And I think of the pain that it can cause.
I think of the struggle.
I think of the feeling of wanting to give up, wanted to quit.
Think of the times in my life where God called me, but my brokenness ignored it.
I think of the times in our life where God wanted to use us for something big and something good, but we stepped in with our insecurity instead of the strength.
As this woman walked into the synagogue, Luke tells us that Jesus saw her.
And I don't know what you need tonight.
I don't know what the longing of your heart is, but here's what I promise you.
Jesus sees you.
It says that he called her to Him.
He called her to Him.
Now imagine her barely being able to walk, but her making her way to Jesus.
She was capable of more than she thought.
Tonight, I believe with all my heart, Jesus is calling to you.
He longs for you to not be bent, not to be shrunk.
He longs for you to live a life with Him.
He longs for you to come to Him. And this woman came to him. And I just imagine him coming around her and just putting his hands on her.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: Her.
[00:25:25] Speaker A: And he says, woman, you are freed from whatever this spirit was. He freed her.
Some of us have a disabling spirit that has bonded us long enough.
And I believe Jesus Christ wants to put his hands on us and free you from it.
So tonight I'm going to end a little bit differently. Before we do our final song, I want you to step in the faith that God has given you.
Some of you need prayer for inner strength.
Some of you have lived in your insecurities long enough. And. And Paul is teaching us a heart posture.
And so I want to pray for whoever needs prayer.
I just ask if you want an extra dose of prayer before we do the last song. Just come and kneel right here.
And then we're going to pray together.
We're going to ask for God to strengthen us with an ability, strengthen us with the power so that we can do and be everything that he's asked us to be.
If you need special prayer for strengthening, come on up.
If you're listening to this online, Kneel wherever you are.
If you're driving or unable to.
It's a heart posture, Church.
It's a posture of the heart.
Some of you, your insecurities won't even let you come up here right now.
Because what will people think?
Life is too short, Church.
It's too short.
If you need it, come on up.
Now. For those of you who feel strengthened, who feel like you don't need it, I'm going to ask you to come put your hand on somebody.
Come put your hand on somebody. And let's be unified as the church.
Let's pray as one where we are weak. Let's strengthen one another in God.
I don't want anyone to be without somebody. So reach in. Reach in, Mighty God. You are everything.
You are a God who sees us.
You see what no one else can see and you call us to you, Father.
So with all my heart, for those of us who are in the posture that need you, I pray. Can they feel your presence right now?
Can they feel your love?
Can they feel a sense of who you are,
[00:29:15] Speaker B: Father?
[00:29:16] Speaker A: And then can your power strengthen them in their inner being, that as they move forward, they stop moving forward in the weakness, in their shortcomings? The lid, Father. They take it off and they trust you in a new way.
And through your power and your might and your strength, I pray that we will live differently.
I pray that when you come call, we will not let insecurity stop us, but we will step in strength to change the world around us.
Father, I pray you strengthen us in our inner being to make better homes, better marriages, better relationships, better friendships.
Father, I pray that you strengthen us in our inner being to live out the call for what you want, want to do in our life.
And I pray that you will be glorified in a new way.
That we will not shrink, Father, but you.
You will call us to you and you will free us.
You will straighten us, that our mind will be free.
I thank you, you for who you are. I thank you for every man and woman here, everyone praying, everyone online. And I pray your healing love and power and might.
In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray.
Amen.
[00:31:13] Speaker B: Who is you at the center of it all?
Maybe we've made this complicated more than it was ever meant to be.
Hasn't it always been about the same thing?
Or bring us back to simple things?
You be the center of it all.
My heart belongs to you, my Savior. All in all, you're the one I hold on to.
For the beauty of your name.
My soul will lift Live to say Jesus, I love you.
Teach us to discern the moment when to serve when to sit here at your feet.
Keep us away towards important Just like Mary she chose the better thing oh for you are the center of it all My heart belongs to you my savior all in all you're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you for you oh for you are the center of it all My heart belongs to you my savior all and all you're the one I hold on to for the beauty of your name My soul will live to say Jesus, I love you oh how I love you.
Oh how I love you Jesus Jesus, I love you oh how I love you.
Oh how I love you Jesus I love you in my whole life for your glory, my whole world for you every day for the honor of your name and if my days tell a story Let it be of you only Every day for the honor of your name my whole life for you glory my whole life oh who you are Every day for the honor of your name is my days Tell the story let it be Love you only every day for the honor of your name in my whole life for you glory my whole world for you all me Every day for the honor of your Everyday Let it be every day for the honor of your oh how I love you.
Oh how I love you Jesus, I love you oh how I love you Yes I do oh how I love you Jesus Since I love you in my whole life.
Everything will the honor of your name My whole life.
Story I love you every day for the honor of your day oh how I love you.
Oh how I love you Jesus, I love you.
Amen.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: When I was looking at Moses and Gideon and Jeremiah and Peter and other people in the Bible, most of them are not known for their insecurities.
They're known for partnering with God and being bold, for changing the course of history.
And I saw a theme that they stepped into their weaknesses and insecurities. But I also saw a theme of how God responded.
When Moses said, I'm not eloquent and I'm slow of speech, God said, go, and I will be with your mouth.
Go, and I will teach you what to say.
When Gideon said, I'm the weakest in my clan, I'm the weakest in my family, the Lord said, you go in the strength and the power of what you have.
When Jeremiah said, I'm too young, God said, no, don't even say it. You're not too young.
For to all to whom I send you, you shall go.
I am with you.
Every person that God has called to make a difference in this world, he has called them to go.
If you feel stuck, then I want to echo the word of God. Go, and he will be with you.
Their confidence didn't go grow because they they stood and they lived in their insecurities. Their confidence grew because they followed God. Even when it didn't feel good, even when it felt scary, even when it felt like too much.
And so sometimes the way out is by going and trusting God.
Sometimes the way out of our struggle is saying, I'm stepping into it anyways. I'm going because he said to. I'm going to have the conversation that I don't want to. I'm going to do the thing that I don't want to. I'm going to apologize even though I don't want to. We change the world when we listen to the call of God in our life, Church.
And I don't want the unholy one to have any room in my life.
His voice does not get to be louder than the voice of God.
The other people's voices don't get to be be louder than the voice of God within me.
So we are in this new series, claim your strength and it'll be continued next week.
I love you, church.
