Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Good evening, everybody, and, good to see you guys this, MLK weekend. How many of you guys know that Monday was a holiday? Man, I didn't find out till Wednesday. Like, I was thinking, oh, man. I don't really pay attention to those things, but, yeah, Yeah. It's a it's been a nice start to the New Year for me, and I hope it's been that way for you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:21]:
You know, we we had a little extra Time off between Christmas and New Year's, and now we get a holiday on Monday. That's amazing. But, hey. You know, for those of us, that have started well? It's been a great time. Right? And hope that you started with sense of freshness and and and having good times with family and friends? And at the same time, we know some people it's been challenging. I talked to a bunch of families who have just been kinda Sling with flus and viruses and COVID, some of them, and and all kinds of things. And some people, you know, having, things act up. And and so sometimes You can't really tell when those things happen, and they come unannounced, and they don't ask for permission.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:02]:
And I know that that's the way it was, for people in Japan on January 1st? When the day started, it was a beautiful day. Actually, they they the the kind of the bells rang out, that people go, and then they they celebrate, New Year's, and it's very quiet. It's actually the exact I used to think that when you go to Japan, it's gonna be like really rocking. Like, If it's like that over here, it's the exact opposite. Like, that part that if all the fireworks and all that, we probably get that from all the Chinese influence and, and all the local Oh, pyro's right that we just, like, grew up making bombs and stuff. So but in Japan, it's really quiet, and so a lot of places are closed and but people are Traveling, and they go back home and all that, but something happened before, sun, sunset where you guys probably are aware that a 7.6 earthquake, shook this, Ishikawa prefecture on the western part of Central Japan, on the Noto Peninsula, and it was the the most, kind of devastating earthquake that's happened since 2016, and, a 1000 people were injured, 220 fatalities, 26 people still missing, And, it was just a devastating thing, and it's still going on now, right, that you see the effects and and things are happening in Japan. And then a couple days later well, not really the couple days later. The next day on, January 2nd, the this JAL Airline coming from my wife's hometown.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:36]:
We would have probably if we go to Japan, that's the flight we would have been on coming in from support of going into Haneda Airport is, attempting to land only to collide Right with a coast guard, plane that is getting ready to take supplies to all the devastation that's Happened in, the Ishikawa Prefecture, and and the the 375 79 people on that Airlines amazingly all escaped with their lives. Right? Praise god for that. But but 5 of the 6 individuals that were for manning the plane that when the coast guard, they they lost their life? And, you know, sometimes when you see things like that and and it's like, I don't even in Japan? Right? But there's a part of me and that said this. It's like, boy, I hope that's not a kind of a Harbinger of things to come. You know what I mean? Like, that's not a just a first precursor to these things. You know, I I think a lot of times that when we go through difficult seasons, it's very easy for our minds to move in a direction that kinda can can take a slow Spiral down, and sometimes it can go faster, than we think. And this weekend, what I'd like to do is look at a few scriptures that will help plus in many ways that that when we're confronted with the stressful situations that will happen this year, regardless of the things that we know, and there is probably some things that you can anticipate that will be relatively stressful, and there will be that you cannot anticipate, but that we can build an emotional resilience. And, I I wanna take a look at a passage in in in scripture.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:17]:
We'll find it in, Mark chapter 4. It's printed there in your notes, But but this aspect of, having an emotional resilience or the capacity to bounce back or process stressful infer stressful situations is a critical seal that all of us need to develop? And if you have it, that to be honest, at times needing to be strengthened. And I think I see some of the roots of these things found in this passage. And so, I'm gonna open, I'm gonna open by reading, versus 35 to, 38? And so would you be kind enough, to stand with me and then let's read together? And This is what it says in Mark chapter 4 verse 35. Ready? Let's read. As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let's cross to the other side of the lake. And so they took Jesus in the boat and started out leaving the crowds behind? Although other boats followed, but soon, a fierce storm came up. High High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:34]:
And Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat and with his head on a cushion? The disciples woke him up shouting, teacher, don't you care that we are going to drown? And you see in this situation maybe like what happened in Japan or in in different situations that can happen in your life that when you get a phone call about Something that's happened to someone that you love or something that's happened to, that maybe your potential plans, and and it just rocks To your world, sometimes these things come unannounced. Sometimes we see them coming long down the future or maybe in a short term down the future? I remember, when the hurricane, came through the Philippines that that devastated is the reason why we first started to go to the Philippines, and and talking to people who are survivors that We kinda they knew it was coming. They knew it was coming, but there was absolutely nothing they could do to get out of its way. And he said that when the The hurricane that that was tearing apart his house. He was standing out in in the midst of the darkness because it happened at night, And he cried out to god. God, help us in the midst of this time. And so we we walked in and helped in the the recovery for that. But sometimes you cannot tell when these storms come, but we I see in in this some, capacities that, some things that I think relate to all of us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:07]:
And so before you're seated, do me a favor and just turn to your neighbors and say, although we can't We can't avoid all the storms in life. We can be resilient in going through them, and then you can have a seat. You can't stop all the storms in life, but we can build resilience in going through them? Right? And so one of those things we see is that it it looked great. It was a clear day. It was a nice day when it started? And so when they left, no one would have, thought about the situation. But, you know, it says that As the the the the the storm came up and the winds began to blow and the waves began to break into the boat that, I I see One of those things that begins to happen for so many of us that when the the wind start kicking up in our lives and the waves start getting A little more rocky. We tend to focus on all the problems. When when Peter, in a different instance, when they are stuck in a storm, and Jesus comes to them? You guys remember the story about Peter? Peter says, lord, if that's you, call me out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:11]:
Command me to walk on the water. And so he says come to Peter, and Peter begins to walk on The waves, the only person that I I think that I know, right, in all of history who's ever walked on water besides Jesus is Peter. And rather than saying this is like crazy amazing, he says that what does he begin to do? Instead of focusing on Jesus, he begins to focus on what? The winds and the waves, it says. And the Winds and the waves, and then and all of a sudden, that fear overtook him, and he began to sink until he cried out to Jesus. Lord, Save me. Right? And I think that all of us, that part of the problem that when we go through very stressful situations, it sometimes it's the loss of a job. Sometimes it's the loss of a loved one. Sometimes it's the the the the aspect of the the all that you've hoped for gets stymied or or Sometimes that maybe things are moving so quickly that you you don't feel like you can keep up.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:14]:
But all of us that when those times happen, that We may have a tendency to get hyper focused on our problems. And what we focus on, we start seeing all around us everywhere. Like the proverbial, you know, when you're looking for the car. Right? If you start looking for, you know, for me, it was So long was Honda Accords. I I just I still like a I even though I'm I'm driving a different car now, I still have Honda Accords. So when I'm I'm always looking, and I see them everywhere There I go. But the thing is that when you become hyper focused on your problems, you start seeing layer and layer And layer of additional difficulties. Because what you start seeing when you focus on your problems that you start saying, well, this can go wrong too, and this that can go wrong too.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:58]:
And if I Try to do this, then this can go wrong in that process. And all of a sudden, we can find ourselves overwhelmed by problems and Stress. And so in the midst of that time oh, now I know why. I I'm lost because I printed my notes double sided. I was thinking, I was supposed to say way other stuff before I said all this. But, Yeah. Like, it makes sense. So, but here's the thing is it becomes like layer After layer after layer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:35]:
And so what we need to build is this aspect of an emotional resilience. Emotional General resilience refers to a person's ability to adapt and bounce back from stressful or challenging situations. It it involves It's a coping with adversity, right, and and maintaining a positive outlook. And it and it's also you're kinda doing that in a emotionally healthy way. And so people who are Resilient are not just born resilient, but they actually practice some skills that helps them to navigate through These are setbacks or or opposition and uncertainty without being totally overwhelmed. And so There may be some people who more naturally kinda have a certain, a makeup for that or their their way of looking at life, but it is something that can And cultivated and implemented through various ways. And so without this skill, we probably find it difficult to process, these kinds of situations, whether, a minor or a major challenge can set off something where we start feeling Anxiety, maybe we start feeling frustrated. We start feeling helpless in that moment, and then we become overly, Welmed easily in that moment.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:52]:
Can affect your decision making when you're in that place that, you know, that so often we make a decision to kind of remove ourselves and find some relief, but without it being maybe at times the best decision that we could make in the long term? And maybe you start struggling with just kinda the frustration starts spilling out maybe around People, that you love most with your family and friends and starts taking its toll on relationships and and maybe to just the people that you interact with. And so if that happens, it probably bleeds into all different kinds of areas in your life. It happens at work or different things, and it can even affect your health. The people who are kinda overwhelmed not only find themselves more subject to anxiety and depression, of course, But things like headaches and poor sleep and and even a lowered immune system that maybe just that you find yourself getting sick all the time. And so many of those things that they don't just kinda affect today, but sometimes they affect our future Because what happens is that we avoid situations maybe in the future of taking risks because of our fear about What can happen or what that what we can lose in that process? And so as this weekend, as we're looking at these passages, Let's be reminded that we are not to focus only on our problems, but but to, at times, watch the story that You're telling yourself. Because I think all of us have probably hyper focused on problems at some point. Right? That we start Seeing the problem in everything because something happened in 1 sector, it starts bleeding over to other sectors in your life. Right? The problem isn't that the boat is in the storm.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:37]:
That's not the problem. Boats were made to go through go through the ocean or go through the sea or go through the water, and it was made to handle a certain amount of, of of of disturbance, a certain amount of storms? That's not the problem. But the problem is, at times, what you're telling yourself about your situation? What do you tell yourself about your situation when you're by yourself? Right? That when you start to ruminate, you start to think about That time for some of us that happens when you're you're driving to work. For some of us, that's when you're standing in the shower. For some of it, it's the quiet time that you're Sitting at the desk and trying to get your work done. For for others of us, it's that time when you lay your head on the pillow, and then you cannot control Some of those thoughts. But what kind of stories are you telling yourself? What is the the narrative that you're saying? Is this the Beginning of the end. Because what we think about can derail us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:39]:
Not because that's the The situation, but because we end up following the script that we tell ourselves over and over again. And so the problem isn't that the boat is in the water. The problem isn't that the boat encounters Some waves. It was the fact that what they said was the story of what would happen. What did they say of the story of the disciples when they're in the midst of the storm? Says, yeah, that we're gonna die. Right? We're gonna we're gonna drown. This this This boat is ready to capsize or is ready to to, to to, to sink. Now the thing is that Was there real danger? I I think there was real danger because these are commercial fishermen, right, that that have been very experienced and seasoned.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:31]:
And and so For them to be this afraid means that it was, but I think, actually, really scary situation. Right? And so When you have this aspect of a very stressful situation and you wanna be emotionally resilient, does it mean that you have to deny reality for that? No. You don't have to in our reality? In fact, it probably helps at times to face the facts. Right? Because some of us that you're facing real challenges right at this moment. Right? You're facing real financial challenges for some. For some of us that we're facing some very difficult situations in family right now with and And and it's important to to to not deny that reality. Right? And it's true. It's true that there There may be some things you can do, and there may be some things that you can't do.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:17]:
But but that what we look at is that one of those Those things, if you're not gonna deny reality, please also don't deny help when it comes. Right? For many of us that when we find ourselves in these overwhelming situations, if you let people know around you That one of the first things that people try to do is they probably try to reach out to you. Says, oh, man. What what can I do? And and so often, the local the Kind of the the local mentality so often is like, no. No. No. I I am good. I'm good.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:50]:
Right? How many of us had said I'm good, I'm good, and we're Anything but good. Right? We're the farthest thing from being good. And so often when God maybe is orchestrating help for us? That that it comes in the form of a friend. It comes in the form of a family member. It comes in the form of somebody Saying, hey. What can I do? And we say, oh, no. No. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:12]:
No problem. No need. No need. I'm all good. And and sometimes it's in that moment that we need to to be open to receiving? Right? Don't push away the help. Sometimes that's a very help Oh, god. Now I understand sometimes it's not always comfortable to receive help. Right? That I've talked to so many people who have cared for parents? Ailing parents.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:38]:
Parents with with issues with dementia. Parents who are having health issues and and, I've been through that myself? And in that moment that it was overwhelming, and I've had friends say, hey. I can come help. I can come help, and it's like so that when the outcome and just I'll I'll watch that so that you can at least finish The message for the weekend that you can I'll come, and and I'll just keep him company and all that. And it's like, let's just Make sure that he has all those needs so that you can study or you can make a phone call so you can do other things. And my first reaction was like everybody else. Nah. Nah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:18]:
Nah. Nah. No need. Right? But, you know, it was some of the best thing that I've ever said It was to allow that my friends to help me who wanted to help. Right? They they came to I when I was staying at my Folks house during that time. It was a very difficult season, but we saw the grace of God. And part of it is because I think I never did everything all myself. And and but but understand that that you don't have to deny reality, This situation.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:52]:
Yes. It's difficult. Yes. It can be hard, but here's the thing that don't ever not take don't ever, like, burn yourself to the crisp because you're denied help, you denied taking a break because you think you have to do everything? And some of those Things are overwhelming meaning because you can't really do it, all of it. But here's the thing, I think that that can also help that that If you don't look around to see the goodness around you, you start reinforcing that story that this is the end. Right? You start reinforcing that story that things are impossible, but look around for God's goodness around you. My my friends came when Christina, Saipu since moved to the mainland, that when she came, it it really was a help? When, when folks like Frida Takaki came, they brought food. That that was that That was a tremendous help for us when, other friends came and just stood with me in the midst of that, and people came when I had appointments.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:54]:
I would they'd come out to Waihiwa, And and it was helpful for me because I needed a little bit of a break. I had other things and other responsibilities at the same time. And so But that sure. Parents needed care, and they couldn't be left alone, but people came. Take a break from some of us. Like, if you just say whatever the thing that you're you're dealing with, x. And you fill in the blank. What is that? It's a work problem.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:25]:
It's a it's a problem with your, you know, with your parents? It's a problem with your kids. It's a problem with your, you know, neighbor. I I who whatever the case. But When it when the opportunity comes and people come to take a break from doing x, you should take it. You should take it. Because If you're gonna run the long haul, then you probably cannot sustain 247. Right? Literally, some of us having done 247 care. Work can be overwhelming.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:59]:
Is there somebody in your team that can can can a jump on and and and help you in the process? Can somebody jump in the in the the project with you? Children are sick so often that we say, hey. If you guys need anything, can I run and get dinner? And I've had so many people say, no. No. No. No. We good. I've said the same thing. And usually, it's true because we already had cooked or, you know, all that kind of a thing, but but sometimes just people Being able to come alongside.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:29]:
And you know what begins to happen when that happens? You start seeing the goodness of God through Friends, true family, you start seeing the goodness of God, of God's provision through people who care about you. Right? Now I say that that that God has goodness around you. And and and right now, I don't know what your life is like, but I just want you to to To do me a favor, just just take a moment right now. Just close your eyes. Close your eyes for a second. And what's the biggest thing that's weighing on you right now? You think about that thing. And for some of you, I think about it all the time. So this is not a great exercise for me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:09]:
But here's the thing. It's like, we're not asking you to deny the reality of how difficult it is. We acknowledge that. But I wanna ask you, what are you telling yourself about this situation? What is the story that you're saying? Are you saying it will get better because God is gonna work something out? This thing will change? We're gonna or are you telling us, like, I have this this can never get better. This is the beginning and the end. If you find yourself moving downward in that spiral, Would you stop for a minute right now, and can you think is there something of God's goodness that is already in your midst, that is already in your sphere, that is already trying have has tried to help and lend a hand? Can you just think about that for a second? How has God already provided? How has God already He brought relief or help. Right? You guys can open your eyes. And when we think about that, what is God's goodness for the disciples who are already on the brink of drowning and and and already afraid and already probably stopping well and probably already tired from trying to build water if these guys are or that much of a a waterman? Right? But what is their good? That Jesus is still in the boat.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:44]:
Right? Jesus is still in the boat. He's asleep. He's not doing anything. Right? At the moment, he's he seems to be, Kinda he's not engaged seemingly. Right? But what is it what happens to them when they begin to just keep this narrative? It the narrative then continues. If you leave that narrative unchallenged, the narrative is We're in a storm. It's worse than we thought. The water's in the boat.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:17]:
Jesus is sleeping being because he must not care? Right? That becomes the downward spiral for them. Problem isn't that they're in the storm? Problem isn't that water in the boat. Right? They think now that Jesus doesn't care. And so what's some solutions that when we run into situations like that, we find our minds going that direction? This first thing is this, Challenge the narrative of the downward spiral. Challenge the narrative of the downward spiral. In other words, tell yourself, Argue with yourself. Argue with yourself. Argue with your emotions.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:59]:
Argue with your thoughts, and recount what good things God has either done for you or what God has done in the past? Right? If you've ever seen sometimes in the people in the scriptures in in Acts chapter 4 when the disciples are or being persecuted, in the early church, and they've been put in jail, and they've been threatened with imprisonment and death if they do not Stop preaching about Jesus. They begin to pray in Acts chapter 4, and the first thing they pray is that, oh, God who has created both heaven And Earth would you hear our prayer? And then they start telling a few of those things about what you what have you done. Or if we read in Hebrews 11, how we read that that God of the great things that he's done, He says that by faith, these people overthrew kingdoms, who have ruled with justice, Who have received what God has promised them? Who shut the mouths of lions, who quenched the flames of fire? And these are the the shutting the mouths of lions obviously is Reference to Daniel that when he was thrown into the lion's den, that that God began to Do something supernatural, something unbelievable so that they were spared his his life was spared. Or for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fire that they quenched the flames of fire and escaped death by the edge of the sword? Maybe that might be David or their weakness was turned to strength, and they became strong in battle. Now these kinds of things are here Not just to say, well, great for those guys, but to say, god, if you did it for Daniel, could you do it for me? God, if you if you did it for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, could you do it for me? That if you did it for yeah. And then you fill in the blank. You You did it for Abraham. Could you do it for me? Right? You did it for David.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:04]:
Be why? Because that's your spiritual ancestors. Right? They because by faith, you're Part of the family of God grafted in. He says this that would you use these things to recount what God has done? Sometimes I've sat with people and they prayed god that when you made the on the. When you said, let there be light and there was light, and they prayed, and he says that there was light, god. And then when you said that let there be, the waters that form on the earth, and let there be dry land. I said, it's a powerful prayer just like let's not pray all that before we eat dinner because the food's gonna Cole? But, but that prayer is like yeah. Like, literally, and then that's what my kids think I'm doing sometimes when they kinda kick me under the table. But Here's that aspect is that why are they doing that? Because they're building their faith before they actually pray for the thing that they want.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:01]:
Be when they challenge those things. Right? But that challenge is the narrative that we tell ourselves. The other Thing that you do is recount how God has moved personally in your life. Right? That maybe that when you Came. I'm guessing that when you came to Christ, when you really surrendered and submitted your life to Christ, for many of us, it wasn't because everything Thing was going like crazy uphill, and you were on a rocket trajectory. Right? I bet for many of us that maybe even on the outside, even though everything looked good, your private world It was probably kind of messed up. That's how mine was. And you know what? When I think about how God received me in that moment when I felt least worthy because it's just Just kind of the way I was living.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:56]:
Just kind of the way I was thinking. Just kind of the way I was, oriented around my life. I received it By grace. God, thank you for the grace that you poured out into my life. Thank you that you rescued me out of my sin and my shame. Thank you that you were faithful and didn't count my sins against me. And it when there was a moment in my in my life as I began to grow and I and I I was gonna serve God. I didn't feel like I was good enough good enough to serve God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:26]:
Some of you guys, if you're you're in that kind of a place That maybe you have a sensitive conscious. We were most aware. You know who people are most aware of the sin in their life? It's not other people's sin. You're most aware generally of your own? Your own weakness, your own frailty, your own faults. Right? I I never thought I was good enough to serve God. And the Lord whispered to me in 1st Timothy chapter 1, he says this. He says, that may God considered me faithful, putting me in the service? I didn't consider myself faithful enough, good enough. I'm glad god did.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:03]:
I'm glad god chose me. I'm glad God considered me faithful. When I was struggling and and wondering kinda like relationship to relationship in some ways that, god, when is my time to get married? God, when are you gonna bring that woman for me? And I remember praying in the in the the middle of this park in Cerritos, California, And the Lord whispered to me about my wife that right now she's in a relationship. This is crazy, but he whispered that she's in a relationship. She's gonna be pursued, and when she says no, when she turns it down, that's gonna be your time. And I just had to say, it's not that long. It was so crazy. I wrote it down in my journal.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:48]:
I was thinking, what is so specific? And then when we started dating, we had met at a I mean, I asked her out on a New Year's Eve or the 1st service of a midweek? The 1st midweek of the year. So right after New Year's, And I asked her out. My friend was there too. I I saw him. His name's Cal, and, he's hey, Glenn. What are you doing here? And I said, oh, just he came for the service. He said, what are you doing here? He said, I came to ask out the girl Rica over there. And I said, oh, hey.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:23]:
Not bad. And then, Andy, Yamamoto, pastor Andy was there at that time. And he go, like, oh, Andy. And as soon as he said, hi, Andy, then I went and I asked Rica out right You snooze, you lose. Right? We started dating. Right? Hey. All fair, man. You know? I'm like, here's the thing is that That when we got after we got engaged, then we were talking, and I knew that Rica had been engaged before.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:49]:
And then she said about you don't like at that service that when you came that that whole time I was Just struggling, whether I go back to Japan because her old fiance Was calling her and say, let's get back together. I'm sorry. I was an idiot. I was wrong. I shouldn't have done that, and let's just try Okay. And she was struggling whether she go back to Japan and take that go back to that relationship or stay, And that was her biggest thing. And at the New Year's Eve service they had that she laid it on the And she just said, god, I'm willing to do whatever you want me to do, but she's felt that God was saying stay. So she committed to stay? And then the next day, not the next day, but 2 days later or 3 days later, I asked her out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:46]:
Right? So it was God's will that Andy Yamamoto came and touched it, Saw Cal so that he wouldn't have messed up the plan of God. No. But but here's the thing. I start recounting those kinds of things. Right? I start recounting how God has been faithful, how God has moved. When when I became a missionary, I thought I will never own a house ever in my life. Just I I just I laid it on the altar. And then when you get married, you know, it's fine when you're single, then you get married, and then you start thinking different things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:22]:
Right? He said, I think you wanna provide stability. I was thinking, lord, I already laid that on the but I there's no way I can do it. Like and God provided a way. And and we're we've been in that house since about a year and a half after we got married? That that that's not me. That's not my great planning. That's not because I'm a financial wizard. It's the grace of god. I start thinking and I start replaying god that when they're I've had my back against the wall.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:49]:
When I and and you know what? He's the same god. Amen. What about you? How has god met you in your time of crisis? How has god met you in your time of need? I was gonna answer the prayer that was beyond what you could think. Right? If you're new in the faith, this is where you know what? If you cannot think of your personal 1, read this because this is trying to for you to say that if you face a situation like that, it's not just these guys that God hears. It's the people who trust him that he hears. It's there so that you can say, I can believe for the same thing they had. And so tell yourself something that challenges this downward spiral. Right? Challenge that narrative.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:40]:
What you do not challenge, you will live with. And so This weekend, I we started by looking at that passage, but I I wanna, read on on what it says. Then it says in in that whole Mark passage, let's come back to Mark. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion and the disciples woke him shout woke him up shouting, teacher, don't you care what we're gonna drown? And then Jesus woke up, and he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, silence be still. Let's say silence be still. Silence be still. The biggest threat to their life was the driving winds, the roaring ocean, And when Jesus said be silent and be still, things change. Suddenly, the wind stopped, and it was a great calm.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:36]:
And he asked them, why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? And the disciples were terrified, absolutely terrified. Who is this man? They Ask each other. Even the wind and the waves obey him. You know, even though they thought In some sense, poorly of Jesus that you don't really care. They still knew where to go. They still woke him up. They still called out to him. And so if you're in In the midst of this thing, what do you do? Just call to God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:15]:
Just call out to God. Sometimes, you can think crazy thoughts about God. He's against me. He doesn't care about me. Just doesn't matter. Just keep calling out to God that they did. And you know what? Jesus doesn't say when he wakes up. Oh, you guys get so little faith.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:37]:
Why should I do anything for you? Aren't you glad that's not what he says? What is the first thing he says? Silent. Be still. God knows the problems that you're challenged with. God knows The overwhelming things that you face. And when you call out to him and sometimes it feels like, man, I'm not faith filled. I I'm fear filled. I'm I'm anxiety filled. I but you know what? God hears you when you call out.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:12]:
God hears you when you call. Do you return to your neighbor? God hears you when you call out. He still responds. That's the first thing he does. The first thing he does. You know, sometimes God meets us in these moments and does amazing things? A lot I've told the story about us getting into this ministry center a a bunch and But I I haven't told one that that when we were transitioning from our 1st ministry center to our 2nd ministry center, the one around the corner, that happened that we were using realtors and searching listings and doing all those things? And, time was getting short that we needed to be out, move out, and and just every place we went just didn't plan out. Just it wasn't appropriate. It wasn't the the right day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:10]:
They didn't want Sure. Sure. They didn't want all these kinds of situations. And so we're in that place, and and I'm crying out to god. God, we have to actually move all of our of out in 2 weeks? I don't know how we can even sign a lease in that time. And just as we're doing that, I'm driving home on Leo County Street going up to that stoplight, and then I'm past that bank of mirrored glass warehouses, and I see space available sign? I've driven down that road every day or whatever for 5 days a week, 6 days a week for years, I never noticed the sign. And partly, the reason why I never noticed the sign is because the Department of Education had rented out that whole, like, 100,000 square feet of warehouse. It used to store all these supplies before, for the DOE in that place? And then they shifted their system, and they started to open the thing up.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:08]:
And it I I don't know when it opened, but then it I saw the I I called the number. They said space available. How much? 100,000 square feet. That's a little bit too much for me, but, like, But we looked at this. Are you willing to cut it smaller? Sure. And then, like, we went. We saw the space. This would be great.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:28]:
It was just a giant warehouse because they hadn't Demise the walls or anything, and we negotiated the terms. This took a few days, obviously, to do that. Finally, You know, we're ready to begin to sign the lease, but now they said, but, you know, it's gonna take us a few a few days to generate the agreement. Right? It it has to go through legal and all this kind of stuff they're legal. And and then we have to look at it and all that. I said, I don't know what We're gonna do because now we're, like, less than a week away. And they said this, this if you meet me tonight, I can give you the key, and you guys can bring all your stuff? We had just, like, tons of stuff in the old ministry center. We didn't have a lease.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:15]:
We didn't make any, like, formal commitment. Right? We'd been talking for, like, about a week, And the lady gave me the key so that we could go in and bring in all of our stuff in this 100,000 feet of warehouse space. And, of course, we didn't put it all over the warehouse, but some of you guys remember. Right? Guys like Troy was there. Right? Bunch of us were At that place, we remember maybe moving into that warehouse. And, you know, the thing is that sometimes when you call out to God that he makes a way through it that you never thought was possible? Right? And I I wouldn't expect that people to give me the key if we don't have the lease. But sometimes, he makes you stronger to get through the situation. Right? Sometimes he makes you stronger.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:07]:
And so but when that happens, when God takes you through it, you have to kinda embrace your weakness for that. Right? You you cannot deny your weakness. You cannot be afraid to embrace your weakness. Don't be afraid to Embrace your weakness. Because when you embrace your weakness and you own it and you bring that before God, then God can strengthen you. You know, it it says this about the apostle Paul. He was praying for a miracle first. He was praying for a change of situations.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:40]:
In in 2nd Corinthians 12 verses 7 to 10, he says this, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keeping me from becoming proud? And people have guessed all kinds of things. What is it? Part of that is Paul that that Basically, they think Paul had very poor eyesight, so they think that might have been it. Some of it thought that that it was the aches and pains that he suffered from the beatings and scourgings that he went through in all of his life? For some people thought it's, you know, it's kinda like an intestinal thing that there's different reasons why they they think These things we don't really know what it is, but this is what Paul was praying as an apostle. Three different times, I beg the or to take away? Let's say the words take it away. Take it away. That's what we're saying, God. Take it away. How many of us have prayed that prayer many times? Right.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:28]:
Lord, take it away. Take it away. Paul's praying the exact same prayer each time he said this, my grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad, he says, to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me? That's why I take pleasure in my weakness and in my in in the insults and hardships and persecutions and troubles that I suffer for Christ because when for when I am weak, then I am what? Strong. You see, God will sometimes help you through your weakness by strengthening you in the midst of your weakness, But you gotta admit that you have weakness for you to be strengthened to that. You gotta admit that you you need it. So don't be afraid to in Brace Showing? Some of us, we just wanna deny.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:21]:
We wanna cover it. We don't wanna anybody to see it. But when you're honest to god, you say, god, I cannot do this. God, I would you take it away? We ask those things, and sometimes God does the miraculous By changing the situation, and sometimes that God does the miraculous by changing us. And so Paul said this. Right? All of a sudden, by his grace, His power worked best in my weakness. What does that mean for him? I I'm not exactly sure. Does it mean that he could somehow still function despite the fact that he couldn't see? We find later in in In one of the epistles where he says, see with what large letters I write because that's why they thought that it was his This thing that he had to write big letters because he couldn't see, but then later it says this, but I thank, But, my servant, and he he says the name.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:28]:
I can't remember the name of the guy who actually wrote it. They call that guy an amanuensis. Somebody who dictated, he wrote. Paul said the letter, but it was actually somebody else who wrote it. Because by then, Paul couldn't write. By then, Paul's eyesight probably had degraded to such a degree, but this is what he said. When I couldn't see, God provided the friend who could see. And he says that's how God you had the power to do that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:00]:
So sometimes God's strength is perfected in our weakness. God, you did that, he's saying. Right? And we've all been in this place. God, take it away. You thought that. You've said that. I've said that. And there's times where God maybe has, and there's times where God maybe hasn't.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:25]:
But when you embrace and own it, then God has a grace for you. God can have a grace for you, And you'll know his heart, and you'll know his voice. And maybe on some sense, Paul would probably say, I would rather be able to see. I would rather have my vision restored. But you know, I'm not hindered, he says. Later, we see in the Last letters he wrote, he says it's even to your advantage that I'm in prison. It's even to your advantage that I'm in this situation. And he couldn't even see, But he could talk, and he led people to Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:04]:
And so embrace your weakness. God will have a balance for you. He will give you strength in your weakness. And, you know, sometimes When you get in that moment where you're battling those thoughts, and we're nervous, and we're afraid, and we get to that place? You know, where it says in that passage in the in Mark 4. It says that when they were in the boat and then he calms the wave? It's an amazing thing that he says, why are you afraid that some translations say, why are you still afraid? This is after he calms the storm. See, sometimes God can do the miraculous, But to be honest, even the situation changing doesn't change the narrative that we tell ourselves. So we're still waiting for the bottom to fall out. Right? When when I got healed of prostate cancer, I I went to see the the guy again, like, in last month, and he started talking to me about, the doctor started talking to me about the situation, and he and, he says, oh, you know, your prostate cancer.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:41]:
So I had prostate cancer. I don't have prostate cancer now. He says, oh, no. You still have cancer. He said we just couldn't find it. Now I understand. And then I And I asked him about these things, and he goes like, you know, like, hey. Yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:55]:
You know this there's this test, and there's the prostate number the the prostate levels. And and And, and he goes he goes, I know that yours keeps going lower and lower and lower. It's crazy. He said, I I don't really this is like I don't really understand I said, yeah. But I know I noticed on the test, there's this other thing called the free, kind of prostate kind of thing that you're looking at? And I well, what is that? Because that's going up. Then he says, oh, no. That's that's a good number that should go up. He said, I never seen anybody higher.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:27]:
And, you know, the thing about it, though, when he said those words, there's a part of me that said, oh, maybe I still have it. Right? But then the thing I do right after I said, I just refuse that, god, and I just received that I'm healed. Right? Gotta receive that I'm healed because I needed to renew myself because sometimes fear can come back. That makes sense? And so for each of us, you have to renew yourself in God's presence. The other day, some of us who read the bible app in our phone, I know that there's this thing called the verse of the day. And a couple days ago, there was this verse that I have read and it has ministered to me tremendously in the past as a young believer, I've shared this to people who have been through going through Fickle things for my father-in-law when when he became ill. I remember sharing this with him and talking to him about it, And I knew it ministered to him. And then sometimes you just kinda don't I just read it probably last month just in my regular devotion.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:39]:
And then all of a sudden, you just kind of forget about it. You guys never forget what the God tells you and all that. But then it came up in the Verse of the day, and it says this. Can we read this? Isaiah 4110. For I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your god. I will strengthen you. Surely, I will help you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:06]:
Surely, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. When he says this, he says, do not fear. There's a reason why he says do not fear. He He doesn't tell you just do not fear and that's it. Right? It's not like, you know, just say no. But he says, why? Because there's a reason. What's the reason? For my end. For I am with you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:29]:
And so I started to thank God for his presence? Thank you, god, that you've not left me. Thank you, god, that you're not abandoned me. It counteracts the story that sometimes we tell ourselves. God, that you haven't left me. You haven't changed your mind. Right now, whatever the circumstances that you're going through right now? Would you just realize? Would you just say to yourself and maybe you say to God, God, thank you that you're with me Right now, you haven't left me. Then he says this, don't be anxious. Why? I am your God, he says.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:08]:
Don't be anxious. Now some translations will say this, don't be discouraged. Don't be dismayed. And I did a study on it. I just take a look about it, and and it comes from this Hebrew word which can mean to gaze, And then other part, it can mean to look around you. And so that's why this translation says don't look around you or or one says do Not anxiously look around you, that translation. They're saying don't be, like, so paranoid and scared that everything's gonna fall out from Why? He says, because I am your god. You know, if I if you start looking for that weird pain, sometimes you find it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:53]:
Right? Sometimes if you start focusing on those Think you you'll find it. Right? But instead, he says this. He says, hey. Would you focus on me? Why? Because I'm your god. And you know what he's saying is that when you gave yourself to him and you claim Jesus as your God, God claimed you. When he says, I am your God, God is claiming you now. He says, no. You belong to me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:24]:
I'm gonna take care of it. I'm not whatever that situation that you're facing, it's not bigger than me. Right? Whatever you're facing, it's God is bigger than that thing. I claim you. When you claimed him, He claimed you. And that's true despite how you feel, despite what you see. Right? Despite what you think at times? But he doesn't just tell you not to fear and not to get anxious Because he's with you and because he's he's your god. Because he also says he will, what, strengthen and help me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:07]:
Can we just say that god strengthens and helps me? So he doesn't just give you more power to go Go through it, which what we saw with Paul. God gave Paul. Right? He didn't answer it, but he says I'm gonna Help you. Maybe the help was bringing the guy who came, who could write, who who meshed well with Paul. But god says, I wanna give you strength so when your strength fails, you'll still have strength. And it will undergird you, and he'll help you. You know, when we kneeled, this evening, I had to literally think. When I kneel sometimes, I gotta literally think, okay, which knee should I kneel with? Because I blew out my knee a number of years ago.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:55]:
Right? I had to get a replacement, ACL replacement surgery, but I remember when that happened. I was at Long Beach State. It was a a judo thing, and we were there. And it's not like I was great at judo or anything. It was just kinda really beginning, but, My friend who's, he's just one of those he he has his own clubs and all these things. He's, Glenn, you gotta go to judo. You're built for judo? You're low to the ground. Your center of gravity is, like, oh, in other words, I'm short and I'm heavy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:24]:
That's what you're saying. Right? Is that but he says that, no. You would do great in judo? Right? So so yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'll go.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:30]:
And then so we were there, and we're just supposed to do these drills where you go back and forth when you throw each other. You're not supposed to run away because it's harder to throw a guy who's running away. Right? So you're supposed to just kinda do these things, you're doing So I let him throw me, and then when it came time for me to throw him, the guy started running away. I got mad. Like like, oh, I let you Show me, but then when you my time. Right? You're not so I just thought I wouldn't get them anyway. So I just I hopped in, and I threw them, and he went over. But As he went over, I heard this thing go.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:06]:
That was my knee. That was my ACL being torn. I didn't know it at the time. I heard it pop. I heard it tear, and I was down on the ground. I just knew that my pain was my knee was so painful. And Is that when it he got up, and then I got up, and then all of a sudden, my knee went like Jell O, and I fell. Right? I go, oh, that's new.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:55:31]:
Never had that happen before, and I knew something was wrong. Right? And I knew it was it was a total pain. I just sat out for the rest of the practice. And then when it was done, you know, they got some ice and then and when it's time to go, I started to walk. There's I just thought there's no way I can walk. Because I probably had to walk maybe, like, 500, 600 yards. It was far to to get to my car. But my friend, my best friend, Andy Yamamoto, pastor Andy, he was there.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:05]:
And it'd be when I couldn't walk, He came up alongside and put his arm under my under my arm, and I leaned on him. And although I had pain, I was able to make what I couldn't make on my own. And I hobbled to the car. Right? I don't want your recovery and all that, but there's times in your life that you literally you feel like there's so much pain in your life? There's so much difficulty, and you just feel like, I don't think I can Dude, I cannot make it. But this is what God says. Do not fear. I am with you. Do not anxiously look about you because I am your god, and I will strengthen you, And I will help you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:58]:
And maybe this right now is this is the time we invite god. Would you help me today? I need your help Because I cannot do it. Sometimes this process of gaining emotional resilience, It's focusing our mind. Right? It's attacking the things that we that we tell ourselves. So it's, of course, doing the things that will change situations that if that's the thing that is open? But even when you can't, this is God says, I will strengthen you, and I'll help you. That makes sense? Can we bow our heads? Close an order prayer. And with our heads bowed, our eyes closed, That thing that maybe is your greatest fear. Maybe you might not have been able to see the good around it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:50]:
You might not have been able to see all those things, But can right now, can we call out to god? And we say, god, I'm weak. I'm scared. You fill in the blank. I'm angry. I'm upset. I'm nervous. I feel uncertain. I feel unsteady.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:17]:
You fill in the blank. Embrace that weakness because it's in that moment that you can find grace. And would you hear the voice of your father in heaven that says this? Do not be afraid. You're not alone. I'm still with you. You don't have to run around like a chicken without a head because I claim you. I haven't rejected you. I'm your god, and you're my child.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:02]:
And I will strengthen and I will help you. And if you just want that help, Would you just tell them, lord, I need you, and I want your help? Father, we receive that you're a strength to the weak. Father, that you're a help to those in times of trouble, a very present help in times of trouble? And, father, I pray that your sons and your daughters would sense your embrace today. Just like Andy helped me to walk, that you helped me to walk. Through Andy. Lord, would they sense your presence? Well, he sent your power because it's not just the things that we face. Lord, it's it's telling us ourselves the truth that you are still with us in the midst of those things and that you're making a way? We receive it today. We believe it today, and we pray it In Jesus' mighty name, God's people say.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:14]:
Amen. Amen. Amen. Hey. God bless you guys.