All right, we have been blessed to have a number of different people come and bring
messages about how to worship, different ways to worship.
And that when I thought originally like, oh, hey, let's do a series on worship, I wasn't
thinking like, oh, this is a great chance to let a bunch of different people talk.
But over the course of pastoring a church, different people will say like, hey, if you
ever wanted me to, I would love to or da da da.
And that list grows over a certain period of time.
And so then I was like, you know what?
So and so is going to fill in and so on is going to be doing this.
And then I was like, well, what are the different topics that we're going to be thinking about?
And I knew that worshiping through our trials was going to be an important subject for us
to talk about, because we all experience trials.
And I won't steal any of the content of the sermon that's about to happen.
So I'm going to go into it in great depth.
But I thought, who should I invite from this list of people that I know can preach and
have said that they would like to?
And so today I was like, it's got to be Marissa.
And I texted her and I asked her months and months and months ago, because we planned
pretty far ahead.
I said, hey, would you bring a message about worshiping through your our trials and knowing
some trials that she had been through in the past and having no idea of some of the trials
that she would then experience after she said yes.
But what I know is that Marissa knows how to follow the Lord and listen to the Lord.
And so I'm really looking forward to the message that she brings today.
And I hope that our hearts are open, that our hearts are empathetic and ready to hear
how God might be offering some comfort to us when it comes to how to worship Him through
our trials.
Will you please welcome Marissa.
Just watch this funny role.
Go to big screen, big screen, little wider.
Next one's my fish was this big.
If you're a liar, go out there, that's fine.
Don't worry about it.
Jesus loves you.
Grace.
Next one's hold my baby.
Hold my baby.
Got dueling light bulbs.
That's our next one.
That goalpost.
Everybody knows goalpost.
Throw in a heartburn.
A lot of people like to do heartburn.
Double heartburn right back to goalpost.
What's my favorite?
Mufasa.
Mufasa, that's my favorite.
One hand go a bunch of different stuff.
Pointer hatchet schoolroom.
Release the doves.
Give the Lord a high five.
A lot of women like to wash the window.
Wash the window.
When you're comfortable there, go for the big three.
Village people, rocky touchdown.
There you go.
There's your big three.
What kind of worship are you, right?
So I saw that video and I was like, we got to do that on Sunday.
So I love one thing about our church is that you can worship any way that you want to.
Sitting down, standing up, whatever the Lord in the spirit moves you to do.
So I just wanted to break the ice a little bit with that.
Thank you, Pastor Greg, for allowing me this time to share with you all.
A lot of the times like worshiping through the trials, like what is worship, right?
You guys hear Greg said worship is turning all of our attention and all of our affection
towards God.
But sometimes worship can be these things.
Worship is singing.
Worship can be silence.
Worship can be being still.
And worship could be knowing that he is God.
So in all of those things we worship, right?
And then what are trials?
Like what kind of different things do we go through?
We go through emotional trials where there are some things that might be going on with
relationships with our significant others, our family, work problems, just situational
things.
Other trials like physical trials of health and healing.
Things are just not going the way that you want them to go.
And a lot of spiritual trials can be happening too in our lives.
Maybe financial trials.
Just different things that you go through on an everyday basis that affect our way of
life, that affect our joy, that affect our peace, that affect who we are as people and
how we manage things on a daily basis.
The scriptures that I'm going to be sharing today are the amplified version of scriptures.
So if they look a little bit different from you guys following along with me, it's because
it's the amplified version.
But before I go into a little bit more detail, I want to thank God for allowing my dad and
my mom to be here with me and some family members too.
If you guys don't know, a little bit of my history is coming from a PK.
I'm a pastor's kid.
My dad pastored for over 25 years and our family always stood by his side in all of
those years.
And he also went through cancer when I was 11 years old.
And it's part of the story that I'll be sharing today.
And I know that God has always prepared the path.
But I want to thank my family for being here.
First Thessalonians 5, 16 through 18 is an amplified version when it comes to Christian
conduct.
It says, rejoice always in delight in your faith.
Be unceasing and persistent in prayer in every situation.
Does that seem easy to do?
The amplified version says, no matter what the circumstances and be thankful and continually
give thanks to God.
What is giving thanks?
What is thankfulness?
Praise.
It's worship.
For this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.
Pastor Greg shared a little bit of what I call God incidences.
Sometimes there's coincidences in your life, but I call the spiritual ones God incidences.
And so of course him asking me six months ago to preach on worshiping through trials
never did we know that I was going to be going through cancer.
So I'm saying that's a God incidence.
I must be going through this just so that it hits home today.
So pay really close attention.
So that's one of the things that I know God is always preparing our paths and our ways.
But back in August, I'm going to share a little bit of my story is I was starting to feel
a lot of pain and discomfort.
And I'm sorry if I share some intimate, you know, womanly things that are going on with
me, you know, through this process.
But I was going through a lot of pain and it was just like burning pain.
It was really different from anything that I had ever felt before.
And stubborn old me was like, oh, I'll just, you know, eat different or, you know, do different
things.
And the day that I said, oh, if it still hurts tomorrow, then I'll go to the doctor.
Well, it didn't hurt tomorrow.
So I didn't go to the doctor and I started eating really clean, eating really healthy.
I lost some weight.
And the doctor had already scheduled a follow up, you know, because I did end up going for
other reasons to the doctor and I ended up telling him what was going on.
And she scheduled for me to see my gynecologist.
And so I went in October to visit with him and I thought, well, maybe, you know, I'm
of age or I'm going through menopause and things are just changing for me.
There was some times, you know, in my life where it was just really irregular for me
to feel the way that I was feeling.
The doctor took some tests and said, oh, it looks pretty good.
We'll schedule an ultrasound.
Well, he didn't schedule that ultrasound for a month and a half later.
So here we are, October 15th.
I see the doctor, November 29th, I get an ultrasound and he calls me on November 30th,
not to give me results, but to say, hey, I have a surgery here in a couple of minutes,
but if you have some time, can you come to the office?
Well, right away I was like, well, that can't be, you know, really good news.
So I left work.
It was about 1.30 and I go and visit with him and he shares with me that the ultrasound
showed a mass in my ovaries that really didn't look normal.
And he said, it was an accident.
We weren't even looking for this.
And in that moment I said to him, well, there's really no accidents in my life.
It's a God incidence.
So God incidence number two, right, in my life.
And so in that moment I listened to him, but I don't know if when you guys are ever in
a moment where you can go through a little bit of shock and you're listening, but you're
not really listening.
So I didn't really share what I was going through with my family quite yet because I
don't even think I had grasped my head around what was really going on.
And so he said, there's a mass in your ovaries.
I'm going to send you to Iowa City.
They're the experts over there.
And I think that it's better if you go over there so that they could take care of you.
So that was November 29th.
By December, I was, December 11th, I go and see the doctor in Iowa City.
And he repeats and shares with me a little more in depth what the doctor was telling
me.
And basically he said, there's really no way to find out what's in there until we open
you up.
So how about we schedule a hysterectomy?
And it's going to be robotic.
You're going to have three marks on your stomach.
The recovery from robotic hysterectomies isn't as terrible as cutting you open.
But let's do that as soon as possible.
Let's get you in for December 18th, no, December 20th.
So I say, OK.
And I said, I will get things ready and prepare what I need to prepare.
And I was ready for this hysterectomy.
And he scheduled a CAT scan a couple of days before the surgery, which is very normal for
them to do before surgery.
And the day before I was going to go into surgery, I was at work, of course, getting
things prepared.
And I looked at my CAT scan results at work.
Does anybody ever do that?
You look at your test results and automatically you go to Google and you start typing in everything
and the worst case scenario comes up and you just start thinking the worst.
But I did know a couple of words from that CAT scan.
I knew metastatic, which meant that whatever was going on in my body had spread.
And I knew different organs of my body that said heart and liver and diaphragm and all
of these organs that were listed.
And I'm just looking at it.
And I panicked.
I couldn't believe what I was reading.
It was really tough for me to really grasp that the day before surgery.
So I called my doctor's office.
And I didn't tell him that I had read the CAT scan yet.
So I was like, hey, can you have my doctor give me a call?
Well, he didn't call me until 530.
And when he calls me, he's like, hey, how's it going?
I said, well, if what's on my CAT scan is correct, then I'm not doing so good.
And so he tells me, yeah, it doesn't look really good.
Whatever is going on in your body has spread.
They can't call it cancer until they open you up and take things out.
He's like, but whatever's going on in your body has spread.
And he went on to list all of the organs where it was and went on to tell me that things
are going to change a little bit.
We're going to have to cut you vertically.
We can't do the robotic surgery anymore.
You're going to stay in the hospital maybe five to six days.
But we'll try to get you out for Christmas.
And in that moment, my heart just sank.
And the only thing I thought about was my kids, the future of my kids.
You know, worshiping through the trials in that moment wasn't at the forefront.
And I called Greg that day, and I told him what was going on.
And he had scheduled to pray with me that day anyway.
And so him and a couple of other members from the church came over and I told them, I have
been a lot of things in my life.
I have been sad.
I've been hurt.
I've been angry.
I've been a lot of different emotions.
And that day I told them, I don't think I've ever been scared.
I don't think I've ever felt so much fear in my life.
My dad has gone through a lot of situations in his life.
He's a walking, talking miracle in and of himself.
So many surgeries, open heart surgery, a lot of things.
And I've been concerned.
I've been worried.
I've been sad.
But never had I been scared, you know.
And I was just really fearful for my life in that moment.
Fear of the unknown, you know.
And they prayed with me and Greg went over some amazing scriptures with me.
And in that moment, like I just had to take on my faith and take on the spirit of knowing
that no matter what, like God was with me, that I was going to be okay.
And so after praying that day with him, I felt so much better going into surgery.
My sister stepped up like the warrior that she is too and the big sister that she is.
And she was just taking things on, like forging ahead.
We're going to do this.
We're going to prepare for you to be at the hospital.
We're going to set up who's going to come be with you.
And I went through surgery and it was really tough.
All I remember doing before anesthesia, I don't know if you guys have ever gone through
anesthesia, but you really, like you remember and then you wake up and like I don't know
what happened.
But I remember singing in my head right before anesthesia and literally worshiping through
one of the biggest trials of my life.
And all of my life, you know, when I sing, when we sing this song, I'm going to pull
up the words because when I sing the chorus, all my life you have been faithful.
All my life you have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.
I don't know about you, but when I worship, I'm really paying attention to the words that
I'm singing.
And when those lyrics come to mind, whenever, you know, if you see me up here getting teary-eyed,
it's because I've either lived it or I feel the pain of my friends living through things,
but I really pay attention to the lyrics of the words that I am singing and how lyrics,
you know, play such a big part of who we are and what we do in our moments of despair.
So I remember singing a song and I want to share the song that I've always gone to since
I was young.
I've been worshiping since I was five years old in the church, leading worship all of
these years of my life.
Since I was very young, you know, in church, always referred to the heart of worship and
having a heart to worship God and just being true in that moment of where we are.
And so went through surgery.
I remember singing right in that moment and then I remember waking up and I laugh with
my sister because they had given me medication and the only thing I remember was like, it's
not enough, it still hurts when I woke up.
So they kept me back in the waiting room a long time.
Rod was there and my sister was there and it took them a little bit longer to get me
out of recovery because I was in so much pain.
But I do remember every time that they would walk away, I would still, you know, just keep
that in the back of my head that I'm going to be okay and that God is with me.
So when the doctor came in, I still get emotional listening to the words of the doctor when
he shared with my sister and Rod what was left of the cancer in my body.
And below my heart, there's cancer or there was, I'm going to claim healing, if you guys
can claim that with me.
Above my diaphragm is what was left and some on my liver.
And so I shared with Rod this other God incidence.
What are the chances of cancer being left?
Below my heart and above my diaphragm.
Who sings here?
Other than Jen, who's the singer?
What do we use to sing?
Your diaphragm.
That's where all the power, all the belting out, all of the control.
Yes, there's vocals involved and all of that beautiful stuff.
But a lot of control has to do with your diaphragm.
Is that a coincidence?
No, that's a God incidence.
I'm claiming healing and victory now that below my heart and above my diaphragm, there's
no more cancer.
Because I know that God didn't give me a heart of worship for nothing.
And I'm claiming that he's going to continue to heal my body.
So we asked the question of have you ever been speechless?
And what was that emotion?
So after having so much faith going into surgery and in the hospital, I remember coming home
and laying in bed.
And when I would go to open my mouth to sing, nothing would come out.
And I remember wanting to pray and no words would come out.
I was so sad.
Like what's going on?
Like am I doubting?
Do I not have faith?
I just remember being so sad in that moment that nothing would come out.
And just in that moment, a friend of mine sent me a song.
It's Hear My Heart by Jeff and Sheri Easter.
The chorus says, when there are no words to say and no prayer that I can pray, hear my
heart.
When I don't have strength to try and I've cried all I can cry, hear my heart.
Because you know every fear and every doubt.
I cannot speak.
You know all the ways I need you and all the ways I'm weak.
So I'll be quiet so you can hear my heart.
Lord, I'll be quiet so you can hear my heart.
Is it a coincidence that my friend sent me that in that moment?
Absolutely not.
It's a God incidence.
When I read that, those lyrics, she sent me the lyrics and then she sent me the song.
I couldn't relate more.
And I told her, you do not know how much I needed that because in that moment I knew
that God was still with me and that he could hear my heart.
In the midst of those trials, in the midst of whatever you're going through, know that
God can hear your heart.
How can God hear you through your silence?
How does that work?
Psalms 46 10 says, be still and know, recognize and understand that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted in the earth.
Be still and know that I am God.
Why is it so hard for us to be still?
We're reactive by nature.
We're very solution oriented.
We're going through a hard time.
We're going through a difficult moment.
We want to find the solution.
We want to resolve.
We want to reach out.
We want to be there.
We're very reactive by nature.
Why is it so hard to be still?
There's so much noise, both in our hearts, in our souls and outside in society.
We're always multitasking.
What are we thinking in this moment?
What's for lunch?
Anybody thinking about that?
What's for community tables later?
What does this week look like?
How busy am I going to be?
What do I need to schedule?
What do I need to prepare?
Do I need to do my laundry today?
What do we need to do?
Why is it so hard to be still?
Psychologically, we're conditioned to feel guilty when we're not productive, even to
pray or rest.
We feel like it's a waste of time.
The world we live in right now values wealth, competition, high productivity, full schedules,
and that feeling of self-importance.
What can we volunteer for?
What else can we do to fill our busy schedules?
But in those moments of quietness and stillness, God can hear your heart.
While we're going through trials and tribulations, we don't know the outcome.
We don't know what's going to happen.
It's always great to have people next to you, a church beside you that supports you, that
calls you, that checks in with you.
I cannot tell you how all of the support from my friends and family have really, really,
really encouraged me.
I have good days.
I have bad days.
And when people ask how you're doing, I say, I take the good with the bad and I make the
best of it.
I take my trust in God in proclaiming healing in my body
and just continue to trust.
Proverbs 3 verses 5 through 6 say, we have to trust.
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all of your heart and do not rely on
your own insight or understanding.
In all of your ways, know and acknowledge and recognize him and he will make your path
straight and smooth, removing obstacles that block your way.
Obstacles could be trials.
They could be the things that come into your life to stop you from the smooth ride of faith.
Right?
Does anybody think that faith is a smooth ride?
Absolutely not.
But the word of God says trust and he will make your path straight and smooth.
That's really hard to do when we're going through things, when we're so quick to resolve,
when we're so quick to be reactive, when we're so quick to do and stay busy and occupy our
minds.
But be still and know that he is God.
How can we strengthen our heart when we're going through trials?
Emotionally, we can protect our space, create meaningful relationships.
If you don't have any meaningful relationships, I encourage you to find friends that encourage
you and support you.
Create boundaries, process our feelings instead of suppressing them, validate where we're
feeling and what we're doing in that moment, being present and recognize what you can control
and what you can't control.
Hobbes 4, 20-23 about guarding our heart says, and I just, this is one of my favorite verses
and I always refer back to the heart.
There's a picture for this one.
It just says, my son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn.
Open your ears to my sayings.
Do not let them escape from your sight.
Keep them in the center of your heart for they are life to those who find them and healing
and health to all their flesh.
Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flows the spring of life.
How can we take of our heart, take care of our heart physically?
Health care is very important, scheduling time in the morning to worship, to center
yourself.
Create a space in your home if you have to, that private intimate space that you can create
to worship God and be intentional on relaxing and quieting your mind.
Romans 8, 37-39 regarding our victory in Christ says, yet in all these things we are more
than conquerors and gain an overwhelming victory through him who loved us so much that he died
for us.
For I am convinced and continue to be convinced beyond any doubt that neither death nor life
nor angels nor principalities nor things present and threatening nor things to come nor powers
nor height or depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the
unlimited love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Do you think that takes care of our physical barriers just a tad?
I'm going to read that one more time.
It says I am convinced beyond that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor things present and threatening nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor
any other created thing will be able to separate us from the unlimited love of God.
How can we take care of our hearts spiritually and continue to worship through trials?
Memorizing scripture.
There's moments in our life where maybe you don't remember anything but be still and know
that I'm God.
I used to cheat all the time when I was in Bible classes.
Whoever could tell me a verse by memory that was my favorite one, be still and know that
I am God.
It's a short one but memorizing scripture, being prayerful, giving thanks and everything,
it's really hard to do.
And being still, make a playlist of breakthrough worship.
There's a difference between worship and songs that you love while you're cleaning or that
you're in the car and that you love and then there's breakthrough worship songs that really
really speak to your spirit.
I encourage you all that if you don't know what breakthrough worship is or if you don't
have a playlist, contact Greg, contact me, Jen, anybody else that does worship here of
breakthrough songs because that is what got me through after surgery.
I couldn't, nothing would come out of my mouth but I played worship all night on my phone,
all day.
I put the phone right here.
It would fall in the cracks of the bed sometimes.
It would fall under the bed but I would literally go to sleep to worship because that is the
only thing that brought peace to my heart in that moment.
So find worship songs that really touch your spirit.
When I say that God has been with me all my life and in every way, there's a song that
I learned when I was young and every time that I doubted, every time that I was sad,
especially leaving home to go to college, I remember just walking to my classes and
belting out.
I love you Lord and I lift my voice to worship you.
Oh my soul rejoice, take joy my King in what you hear.
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.
And that song I took with me all through my childhood in college when I felt alone, when
I felt moments of despair, I just belted it out and for some reason I felt peace.
Every single time I felt peace afterwards.
Worshipping through trials is one of the best things that you can do for your spirit, for
your life.
Being still, not being so reacting, finding outward ways to fix things, difficulties at
work, have you tried praying through them?
Have you just been still and asked God what he wants from you?
In your relationships?
Are you in an unhealthy relationship?
Have you asked God?
Have you been still and prayed through those moments?
Worshipping through your trials?
Psalms 86, 11 through 13 regarding spiritual growth, teach me your way oh Lord.
I will walk and live in your truth.
Direct my heart to fear your name with all inspired reverence and submissive wonder.
I will give thanks and praise you oh Lord my God with all of my heart and will glorify
your name forevermore.
For great is your loving kindness and graciousness toward me.
You have rescued me, my life and the depths of Sheol.
So what's next?
You know you're going through a trial and you don't know the outcome right?
Well I have three more months of chemo to go.
Some of you have laughed with me as I introduce you to different wigs.
This is Sheila.
Last week I had on Raquel and nobody knew.
But it's still a journey.
I still need all of your prayers and your support and the text messages and those moments
where I'm really down or at my worst.
Just hey just checking on you.
Praying for you.
Let me know if you need anything.
Those are the moments that fill my heart to know that I have so much love and support.
Do I have days where I fear the unknown?
Do I have days where I'm like what if this chemo doesn't work?
Am I going to be able to continue life and see my kids grow up?
Like yeah those days come.
But there's better days.
The better days outweigh the bad ones and knowing that I can worship through these moments
and knowing that I have God in my faith and my family and everybody around me is helpful.
So there's one more picture that I wanted her to throw up there.
I finally threw in the towel but God threw it back and said wipe your face girl.
We're almost there.