Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey. You know, if you guys had a great time last week, whether it's the Good Friday service, a bunch of the guys who spoke and helped lead, are here as well. And or if, came Saturday night and, you know, you enjoyed, just the the just the power of what God was doing in the midst of all those things, or Sunday. Would you know it's like none of that would be possible apart from what we call the dream team, and that's the the people that really kinda make it work, that their heart is to serve. They're they're leaders. They're, people with a spirit of a volunteer, that they they they give not because they get paid to do it. They give because they want to do it. And apart from you guys, to be honest, we there's nothing that any staff team could do, any pastor could do, but it really is you guys.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:48]:
So can we just give, our dream teamers a hand, our leaders, all the guys who are making a difference? I I was just amazed. I just saw, you know, Saturday was nice, you know, like, one of the things that I was praying over the the Easter kind of celebration, was just that the church would more than double. Right? It would more than double on that weekend, and you know definitely I saw those things, but it's like what I saw was really people who came because you guys really took the initiative to invite. You guys took the initiative to pray. You guys took the initiative to talk to your neighbors and your friends and roommates, and all kind of people came, and that it's really, you know, like it it just was amazing to see what you guys had done and to hear the impact as well. So, there are a great amount of people recommitted their lives. People made a decision for the first time, in, for Jesus. And some of them, you know, I to be honest, seeing them for a while at at church starting to come, starting this process, and then seeing that they crossed the line of eternity.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:57]:
You know, that it says this that there's a party in heaven when one person gives their heart to Christ when they turn and come to him. And you know what? There was a huge party last weekend, not just in our church, but all over the island, all over the world. And we give God the glory for that. Amen. Heaven is so good, you never wanna go there by yourself. Right? And, and so we wanna be able to bring as many as we can. But you know, the thing is that, where whether you're a regular here or you're joining us online, and you join us regularly online, or you know, maybe this is your first time, you know, we're glad that you're here. But it's it's not always the case that people feel welcome.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:38]:
I heard the story, about a guy that, young man, you know, is dating, and and it didn't matter what girl he brought over. The mom was never happy about the girlfriend. Oh, he's not good enough for her son. Anybody ever relate to that? Right? So, there's so she the the son finally got frustrated, and he said, man, I I I gotta bring home a girl my mom's gonna like. So he she's I'm gonna find somebody that looks like her, that has the same interest as her, kinda acts like her, maybe even looks like her, and he, you know, against all the odds, he found a girl. Right? And and, he brought her home, and mom loved her. It's like, where in the world did you find this girl? The only problem is dad doesn't like her now. Yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:03:21]:
No. Yeah. But, you know, that's just joking. Right? Just joking. But, you know, here's the thing is that so sometimes, you know, we we get in this place that it's not that easy to to go against the odds. And and I I think, you know, all of us, we we we face things at times that are difficult. And if you're facing trouble in this season right now and it seems like the odds are against you, would you know that God is on your side? And some of us, it's a difficult time at work. Right? Some of us that you work in maybe federal government that maybe layoffs are looming or maybe, things are already expensive and then you're like, when tariffs hit all of a sudden, I talked to one, brother, actually, the guy who who did our food for the weekend.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:03]:
His his costs went for some of these things that he uses in, catering. He says, like, they went up 300%. And, sometimes, you know, those kinds of things, they can stop your energy. And for some of us, it's not just one giant thing. It's kind of the accumulation of little things. Right? And uncertainty, and and and doubt, and we we get to that point. And it's it's like you could handle one thing. It's you start feeling tired when it just seems like it's one after the other.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:31]:
For some of us, it's a difficult season in a relationship, or just a difficult relationship. Sometimes you hit something, you go like, I I just never pictured us ever having to deal with something like that. And for some of us, it's the thing you always feared. And to be honest, it's starting to show itself. If you're in this kind of a place, know that you're not alone. Right? You're not alone. And sometimes we feel overwhelmed in these kinds of things. And to be honest, sometimes it's emotional.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:00]:
Right? We get a we get a little tempted by old things. We get a little distracted. And and for some of us, even as great as Easter was, it was a real high point. Some of us, you ever get to this place after the high point, it's almost like a letdown. You know, because you're riding that wave of adrenaline, and then when that adrenaline dumps, all of a sudden, it's like feeling flat, right? And I was kind of that way on Monday, you know, God did amazing things, and I woke up and I just felt flat, you know. I didn't know. But I rejoiced in God, right? Rejoiced in God. It's not in the situation, but we rejoice in the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:41]:
And so, you know, if you're facing these things, we need to be reminded in this series that we're doing, Against the Odds, that Jesus beat all the odds, and and he can beat our odds as well. This is what he said on John sixteen thirty three. We're gonna read this. This is kind of our, just in this series. This is one of the verses that we're using. Would you be kind enough to stand? We're gonna stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word. It says this in John sixteen thirty three. Let's read together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:10]:
Ready? Begin. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart because I have overcome the world. Let's say that word, take heart. Take heart. Now what does that mean to take heart? It means to not grab somebody else's heart, but it means to be encouraged. Right? It means to be strengthened. It means to be be bolstered. It means to be have some perspective.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:06:35]:
Sometimes it means take heart means to remember all the things that I've done for you in the past, all the things I've promised you in the future. And so he's saying that when you take heart when you take heart, then we'll know that you know what? We can move through whatever the situation is. So do me a favor. Before you're seated, you turn to your neighbor and says, God wants you to take heart today. Then you can have a seat. And you know, sometimes it doesn't matter what you're facing. It's it's the fact that that there are things that remain. You know, a lot of the things that we go through, they they come and go in life.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:12]:
They a lot of things come and go in life. But the scripture promises this three things that that remain. Three things that really last. And and it says it like this in first Corinthians 13. You might be familiar with it. It says, now these three things remain. What are they? Faith, hope, and love. Right? And and he's talking about, like, giftedness.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:32]:
And he's talking about things that we do in this life, and and all the good things that you might do. But he says that, you know what? Things will come and go. Right? Gifts will come and go. Sometimes, it's even people in your life have come and gone. The situations in your life will come and go, but he says there's three things that remain: faith, hope, and love. And this this evening, as we're continuing the series, we started at Easter, we want to talk about a faith that will strengthen you, a hope that endures, and a love that can surround you. And when if you have those three things, not only will faith, hope, and love will endure, you will endure, and you will move through it, and you will persevere. It's that when we lose those things, right? When we lose our faith, when our faith begins to wane, it's that part When we when we have no hope, all of a sudden, it's not that you will be overwhelmed, it's sometimes we throw in the towel.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:26]:
Right? And so, we need to be focused on the fact that the things that will remain. And so, this evening, I just have four things that I I wanna talk about about how do we build that faith that strengthens us. How do we build that? And and I think, you know, one of the things that's important to remember is what faith is. Right? That what is faith? Faith is not something that you you buy in the store. It's not something that you you get just because you somebody likes your post. It's not because you get a promotion. It's not because things go your way. Faith faith is a deep trust.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:00]:
It's faith is a a sense of commitment. It's a sense of of dependence. And we understand that sometimes I I've talked to I remember talking to a a girl once, my friend's sister. And we were having dinner, and and she wasn't a believer, yet. And we were just talking about these things and about God. We're talking about what God's doing in her life, and and and I could tell she felt a little uncomfortable. And I said, any answer. And I just said, But you believe that God exists, right? And then she she said this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:39]:
She said, You know, the first thing I felt was, I don't know. So maybe I don't know. So I guess I don't have faith. You know, and I said, you know, faith is not a feeling. Faith is not a feeling. You might have feelings, but faith isn't a feeling. Faith is trusting, sometimes despite our feelings. Right? And sometimes it's in line with our feelings.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:06]:
But so often, how many of you guys here, your feelings go up and down? Right? Our feelings go up and down. Everybody's feeling goes up and down. And so this is what, to contrast just from that sense, Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews tells us this, Now faith is confidence. Let's say confidence. Right? You want to have confidence? You wanna have confidence in God? You wanna have confidence in God's plan? You wanna have confidence that he's for you? He says this. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for, and assurance let's say assurance. Assurance. About what we do not see.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:39]:
You know that word, confidence, those two words, confidence and assurance. The word confidence means the the substance or or the foundation, right, that of that. And it and and so we're in that place, and and it's because we have a confidence, because we have a foundation, because there is a structure that's beyond what we feel that we can trust God. Now for some of us in this aspect that this word assurance then also applies. It talks about whatever assurance means, it's like you have an evidence. There's a certainty. There's a proof. There's some kind of an example that you have an assurance.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:24]:
And so faith can give you, it says, not just confidence and assurance of things that you know will happen. There are some things that you already know will happen, right? You know one of the things I can guarantee you tomorrow? You'll be one day older. It doesn't take faith, right? It doesn't take faith for that. It's just gonna happen, right? But here's the thing, is that I'm confident that at times we will see not that seeing is believing, but that believing is seeing. And when we're in this place that you can see things, sometimes they haven't happened yet, sometimes things that are spiritual in nature, they're not seen. Like how many of you that you can just look out in a room and you see love? Probably not. Right? I mean, maybe if you saw somebody like a mom taking care of her child or, you know, somebody tenderly helping someone, I think you might see love like that. But you don't see it because love is not that way.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:25]:
Right? You don't just see you might see examples of love. Right? We don't we don't we don't see, angelic beings. We generally, we don't see the Holy Spirit. We don't see but we can see them. We can see them through faith. And the world often says that seeing is believing. Right? That seeing is believing. And that's the way the world works.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:48]:
Right? The problem is though, even when we see, sometimes we don't see. Right? Sometimes you're in a situation, you can see, but you don't really see. I remind you of the story I read about Sherlock Holmes and, Doctor. Watson. You guys remember, you guys know, familiar with the characters, right, that they go on a camping trip, and they're laying out in their sleeping bags, and Sherlock Holmes says to Watson, Watson, look up, and tell me what you see. And he looked up, he says, Ah, Holmes, I can I can see fantastic stars, countless panorama of stars? And what does that tell you? Holmes said. He says, Well, astronomically, it tells me that there's maybe hundreds of thousands or millions or billions of other stars out there, and in the the astronomical order, they may have throughout the cosmos. And is it possible with that kind of a sense if there is life on our planet, maybe there is life somewhere else? Because but also as a believer, theologically, it tells me the vastness of space suggests the greatness of God, right? And the power of God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:07]:
And meteorologically, the blackness of the sky tells me that and how crisp the images of the stars are that we have low humidity and stable air. Therefore, we probably have great weather tomorrow. What else does it tell you? Mr. Holmes, he says, I mean Holmes says, What else does it tell you? And Holmes quietly says, What it tells me is someone stole our tent. Right? You see, sometimes you see all the details, but you miss the big picture. Right? That even seeing is not believing. But the scriptures tell us that when you believe, then you'll see more. If you want to build a faith that strengthens you, don't wait till you see.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:57]:
Don't wait till God has to prove something to you. Don't wait till, it, things turn out exactly the way that you are. But would you pursue God and believe God first? Because when you do, you'll start seeing. Part of it as well, I I I've heard many times that people will say, you know, that that faith and reason, you know, like I don't need a reason, but sometimes I hear it on both sides. I hear it from agnostics, atheists, and sometimes I hear it from Christians that I don't need evidence, I don't need reasons. And so they they almost set up a contradiction that faith and reason are opposites. Right? And, I I actually saw this debate between two guys, one of them Richard Dawkins and and this guy John Lennox. John Lennox is the professor of mathematics emeritus at Oxford University.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:55]:
Great. Like one of the best debaters, I've seen using pretty, like everyday language in general, and, but really very insightful and quick on the thing. And Richard Dawkins as kind of the more, like likes to think of himself, I think, as erudite, like to think of himself as a great debater, was saying that, you know, if there is evidence, and Lennox was saying that, you know, faith is reasonable. Faith is reasonable. It's based on faith is based on some kind of reason. And what he's saying is that if God did something for you, if there's evidence in some sense, that's why you believe. But this is what, the atheist was saying. Well, if you need if there is evidence, then you don't need faith.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:42]:
Right? Faith is unnecessary. He said, unnecessary. He says this, that faith is only necessary when there's absolutely no proof for something. And and then he just said this, he goes, Really? You really believe that? He goes, Yes. Yeah. If faith, if you have faith, it's because there's absolutely no evidence. And then he asked him, Dawkins is married, so he says, Do you have faith in your wife? And he goes, Yeah. Sure.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:10]:
Is there any evidence? He goes, oh, of course. There's tons of evidence. But then then the the the room erupts in laughter because he contradicts himself. Right? In other words, just because he knows his wife, right, just because that and he he has a faith in his wife, he it's still relying on evidence of past faithfulness, of past things that have happened. And I say this because faith and reason go together. Sometimes somebody will say, you know what, trusting Jesus is just a blind leap of faith. Is it? Really? God will catch you if you jump. But many people cannot make that jump because they say, It's like I have to throw out my intellect.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:55]:
Now the scriptures actually use both faith and reason to to help people to come to know Him, to help people grow in their faith. Because it's reason helps us grasp truths through observation, logic, reflection. Faith, on the other hand, calls us to trust what God has said, or who he is, or beyond what we can sometimes understand. And when properly used, reason will support faith, and faith will elevate reason. You know, Jesus not Jesus, but in the book of Isaiah, God speaks to the prophet Isaiah, and he says this. Let's read what it says. What does it say? One eighteen. Come now, let us what? Reason together, says the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:46]:
What is the what is the logic? The logic of he says the the verse continues on. It just says this, Though your sins are as red as scarlet, that I will make them as white as snow. And I've heard some people say, Yeah, I don't want to come to God just to get forgiven. I don't want to come to God just because, you know, I said in the past I didn't believe in God. I don't want to be a hypocrite and come to God now. But this is what God's rationale is. Look, you have things, right? There's things in your life, right? How many of us say you have something in your life going on? Right? You got things going on in your life, right? Things that don't work toward your faith. But guess what? He says this, Yeah, I know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:25]:
He says, But just come, and I'll make them clean. And let's reason together. God uses reason. And to be honest, there is no one in this world that is perfect. No one in this world that is that is better than God. There's no one in this world that when they've come to God hasn't made some kind of u-turn in their life. Bible just calls that repentance. Right? Many of us, we were our own god.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:54]:
Many of us, we were our own captains of our masters of our own fate, and we came to the place of trust. But how did we do it? God called us to reason. He says, Let me lead you. Let me guide you. In fact, this, you know, when, the whole, Sherlock Holmes Watson, little, silly joke that I had told, that it it talks about how he's looking at the sky. And God says this in Romans one twenty, for his invisible attributes, that is his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. In other words, you know what he's saying? That when you go out and some of us that you've probably been out there, you you've gone out to the North Shore, you go out some, maybe on the East Side somewhere on a cloudless night, and you see all the stars. Some of us, you've been to Haleakala.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:49]:
You've been at Mauna Kea, and you see. You can see the Milky Way. And you look at that, and you go like, Oh my gosh. This cannot just be by accident. Or maybe some of us, when that child that you knew was inside, you knew was growing, When that child came out and you held that child in your hand, how many of us that there's just something innate in us, we go, Man, it took this more than me and my spouse to make this baby. Right? And he says that when you look at nature, it's a testimony that since there is a creation, there must be a creator. Right? I was talking with my son the other day, and we were talking about like that whole design kind of argument, that if you walk down the beach and you were to see, you know, little holes in the sand, it doesn't mean that God created it. Right? It could be the action from the the foam of the sea or crabs that somehow have dug holes or all of that, or sand turtles, all that kind of stuff.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:08]:
Right? It could be that. But, you know, if you if you walked down the beach and you saw a stainless steel citizen watch in the sand, no one would say, Oh, wow, that wonder of nature. No one would say that, right? And And if you did, you better give me my watch back. But, but here's the thing, it's we under understand that having something that is created implies a creator. And you know, that's reason. And God says this, that that use reason to build your faith. Don't let reason stand in opposition to your faith. That that God appeals to reason.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:54]:
And then he says this, that when we talk to people about our faith, he says that we need to be reasonable. In one Peter three fifteen, he says, Always be prepared. Let's say, Be prepared. To give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. Does that mean that you have to be able to explain about, you know, the the the cosmological arguments for the existence of God, and you have to be, but, no, you don't have to do that. I mean, that some of those things are helpful for certain people. But but some of it is being willing to tell your story that you you can share, like, what happened to you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:33]:
And we talked about that over the last weekend, but what is that? He's saying, be prepared. Have an answer. Use your reason. He says that when you do those things, you understand that faith and reason go together. It's not that reason and faith are opposites. We study and we come to a conclusion what the scripture says that builds our faith. What is that? There's reason. And so they work hand in hand.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:00]:
They work in tandem. If you want to build a faith that strengthens you, understand that sometimes sometimes it involves a little study. We will study so often for the things that really helped our lives to function, but sometimes when we get to the things of spiritual nature, we get a little lazy, right? How many of us that sometimes it's hard to read the Bible? Right? Sometimes it's hard to study, right? But if your license was going to expire, or your license had expired and you need to get a new license, how many of us would read this thing that we know, that we've read this thing so many times? That you would study for it, right? You would prepare for it. How much more he says this: that when you think about the things that will lead you in life and your faith, put in some effort. The more you put in, he says, the stronger your faith. And toward that end, and toward that end, Proverbs three:five and six says, trust in the Lord with all of your heart. Let's say, all your heart. Alright.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:25:09]:
It's very easy to trust with a little bit of our heart, but he says, trust with all of your heart, and then what? Lean not in all your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to Him. And while reason is valuable, while reason is valuable, faith means going at times beyond what you can grasp alone through reason. So they're not in opposition, but having a reasonable conclusion isn't necessarily faith. You know, God wants to get us to the place where we can trust him completely. God does want us to get to the place that that when we understand him and and where you are in life, that he knows you and that he he can lead you wherever you are, Because He's the same. He hasn't changed, right? He's the same when you trust Him. He's the same when you don't trust Him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:01]:
But He says this, that when you trust Me and you look for Me, He says this, you'll find Me, right? You'll find me when you seek me with all your heart. Pastor Jeff stole my scripture earlier. No, I'm just kidding. But like But there is a mechanic. There is a mechanic about things that build your faith. And he says it like this in Romans ten seventeen. It's a familiar passage to some of us. Let's read what it said.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:27]:
Ready? Begin. Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is through the word about Christ. There is something about hearing the word of God. There's something about hearing the word of God that actually grows your faith. Is it instant? Sometimes it's not. Sometimes it's quick. But sometimes it's on hearing the message, faith is awakened. Sometimes this is what we say in our mind, If God could do it for him, maybe he could do it for me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:06]:
Right? If God did it If God did that back then, is it possible When you just start entertaining the possibility, your faith is already. Right? Because when the odds are against you, when you can't see how you're gonna make the payment, when you can't see how you'll get through this kind of locking of horns with somebody else, when you say, God, when I read about how you did amazing things in the scriptures, could you do it for me? All of a sudden, faith begins to be stirred. And you read the word of God because it's this is something that not only is instruction, but it's an example. It's an example for you. It's how many of us that we need an example? I need examples. I need examples to follow. I needed examples to to be a godly husband. I needed an example about what it means to be a good follower of Jesus.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:02]:
I needed an example about how to, be a good worker in the workplace and and follow Jesus. When I first became a believer, the Lord really revealed himself. I totally followed. And I was a college student. And you know, one of the things that would happen is that I would never study. I would never study in college. I had the, I majored in partying. No, you know, I majored in other things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:30]:
And but when I became a believer, you know what happened? I didn't instantly develop the study skills. Right? And you know what happened is I was telling people about Jesus, but this is what they were what would happen. This is just I'm just being real honest. That sometimes, you know, the people that you work with in a group project, you guys ever get that guy in the group project that doesn't always do their part? That used to be me. You know what? They don't want to hear nothing from me. They didn't want to hear anything from me. You know why? Because I never did this thing that was due in school, and so they didn't want to hear about my faith that supposedly changed my life. But you know what happened? That when I learned that it's like just be faithful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:17]:
I don't have to be the best. Right? I didn't have to be the best in math, because I still had to take the business math. I still had to do some of these other projects. And and and majoring in business, you do a lot of group projects. That what happened is the more I got better as a student, to be honest, the more effective my ability to reach people that I went to school with. I didn't. I didn't think that. I didn't think the two were connected.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:46]:
I just thought, you're either a good student or you're not. But but Jesus trans you know, transcends all that. But this is one of the things I had to learn certain things. And and so you gotta learn how to align your life with Jesus and His Word. I didn't know how to align my life. Right? I needed to learn how to align it, and I needed models. But he says this, that faith will engender something. It will grow something of faith in us.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:19]:
You know, some of us some of you guys knew that, I I had some projects to do in my house recently. And, you know, one of those things is that, we had my wife's side of the closet. All of a sudden, we were we were somewhere out, and when we came back, her whole side of the closet had totally collapsed. You know, like all the the hanger, you know, all the struts that kinda held this up and all these shelves and all this stuff, Everything would had collapsed. Boom. And I was looked at that, and I go, oh my gosh. It happens at the worst possible time. Right? And I think I couldn't get to it that day.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:04]:
Right? So I just said, I can't get to it. Her clothes are all, like, getting wrinkled, and my wife doesn't, you know, like my wife is amazing because, you know, her clothes got all wrinkled, but she didn't complain. She didn't say, You need to do this right now, because it was like a super busy time, right? And so, you know, the thing is that I went out and and and I went out and bought all the materials, and I I I went and rebuilt it, rebuilt it. But you know the thing is, can I just be real honest? That's not the first time I rebuilt it. Because this had happened ten years ago, and you know what I did? I used the exact same material, right, the exact same kinds of supports, the exact same kind of rack system, and you know what? It couldn't hold it. You know what that's like? That's like going and drinking milk in the refrigerator. You go like, oh, this is sour. Maybe it'd be better tomorrow.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:10]:
Right? You know what I mean? Like, if it couldn't hold it the first time, what made me think if I bought brand new stuff and did it again that it would handle this time? Right? It something needed to change. You see, I was willing to do the work, but I wasn't willing to make a change. And so this time, you know what I bought? Heavy duty rack system, Right? I bought the heavy I think the construction guy, right? He's laughing like, he's learning something. Right? Like, and and so I I bought that rail system. I bought these other things where the the weight holds like three times as much. Right? Because you know what? When you're you're growing in your faith, if you wanna grow in your faith, sometimes it's not enough that you just do what you know. Sometimes you need to learn how to do it different. Sometimes there's we need to learn how to do relationships different.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:08]:
Sometimes you you we know how to work, but sometimes you gotta learn how to do it as a follower of Jesus. Right? You know how to be a neighbor, but sometimes you need to do it as a follower of Jesus. Right? You know how to be a son or a daughter, but sometimes you need to learn how to do it as a follower of Jesus. When you say honor your father and mother. You know, sometimes it's just it's easy to honor somebody when they do perfect. It's not always easy to honor when they have flaws. But you know what it doesn't say? Honor your parents when they're perfect. It just says, Honor your father and mother.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:44]:
And so often the world says, You know what? I'll honor you if you do everything right. You'd make one thing, you have one mistake, We're out. We cancel you. Is that God's way? No. It's not. So often, if we're not careful, we take you're like you can be like me. You take the exact same structure of something that collapsed in your life, and you just rebuild the same thing. But this is what God says.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:17]:
Can you build different? Can you build different? And he uses the illustration. He says it like this in Matthew seven verses 24 to 27. He says, Anyone who listens to my teachings and follows it is wide, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. And though the rain comes in torrents and floodwaters and rises, and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. Because when the rains and the floods come, and the winds beat against that house, my closet collapsed with a mighty crash. Right? And so sometimes I am learning that lesson. I thought my life was aligned.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:10]:
I thought that was, but somehow in my home project, it wasn't aligned, right? Sometimes, penny wise, pound foolish, they call it. Right? Sometimes you save a little upfront, but sometimes the other thing you do is you invest upfront. You know what happens? You get a long term reward. And so God's way is sometimes different than our ways. But what will happen is you'll stand the test. You'll stand the hard times. It's so often when we want to escape, when we don't want to have to do the things that get us stronger. But that's what will give you the strength to go through.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:50]:
Amen? Amen. But you know the other thing, and this is just one last thing. It's that the scripture says, everybody has a little faith. When I first heard the gospel, I I just I literally said to the guy who was telling me about the Lord, I just said, you know, I cannot believe like you. I just can't believe like you. You guys seem so like knowledgeable and confident and all that. And it's the first time I'm hearing about Jesus. And I just said and I'm just being honest.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:18]:
And he says, Well, you know the thing is And I asked this question. He says, Well, you know what? In the scriptures He and he pointed me to the scripture in Romans twelve three. And this is what it says. Let's read what it says. God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Right? God is allowed to each a measure of faith. And so you he said this, You don't have to have faith like me. Right? You just have to have faith like you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:47]:
And and it took a little refresher off me. It's like, you know, I'm not as confident as you. But, you know, I I gave my heart to Jesus that night, and my faith at that night, my faith on that night was, God, I don't really know. It's like Kyle said the exact same thing in that testimony. God, I don't know if you're really over there, if you're really there. But if you are, that's the kind of faith I had. So I just used that faith. Right? I just used that faith.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:16]:
And I said, God, if you're really there, I'll do what it takes. And you know, my life changed. My life changed from that moment. But your life and your faith will change anytime you use whatever level of faith you have. It's not at times just growing the intellectual capacity of your faith. It's not just saying, you know, knowing more bible verses, or or being able to, you know, recite these arguments or reasons. And those things are good. They're helpful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:54]:
If you want to get more faith, he says, let's seek. Right? Hear his word or read his word. Actually, other things. Gather with other believers. Pray. Yeah. But sometimes, you got to just use what you have. You know, I was, talking with a friend this morning, actually.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:18]:
And he said, you know, Glenn, you gave me there's one thing that I remember when I was going through my questioning phase and and, you know, he had been a Christian but never really wasn't really And then we were talking and we read the Bible together, and so he started his faith started to grow. And but he still had questions, right? Any of you guys still have questions, right? I still have a saying something to me and I but I don't know how he's gonna do it. And and he says, You gave me this little phrase. You just said this. You said, Just lean into it. And And I totally remember saying that to him. And then somebody asked, what does that mean to lean into it? You know, sometimes we're confronted with different situations, and you're going like, God, is that you? Right? Right? Because the situation is a little bit scary, because, because I don't have all the information, because I don't have a guarantee. Right? But I I just said this to him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:29]:
It's like, if it's not gonna kill you, it's not gonna make you broke, right? You're not gonna put your family in jeopardy. Just lean into it. In other words, take a step to obey and trust that that's God. You know why? Because mostly what shoot how we shoot ourselves in the foot is not that we don't, like, obey God, like I'm gonna instead of following Jesus, I'm gonna go worship the devil. That's not what happens. That's not what happens. What happens is God tells you, I want you to reach out to that person. And you go like, Oh, it's not convenient right now.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:10]:
I don't know that person. We've we've kind of locked horns in the past. I don't know. They're going, you know, because I never do my project. No, but you know and so we hang back. But this is what God says. Each is given a measure of faith. You know what? Just take a step.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:28]:
Lean into it. And you know what you'll find? Is that often when you lean into it, God meets you in that moment. And so trust him. Trust him with your finances. When he when he says, I am your provider, and you look and you don't have enough, right? Or you're worried because you don't have how much you want to have a nice cushion. Just obey. Just take a step. Right? When when you you want to correct if you have a child, speak a word of correction, and you ever get worried about, I don't want to go so hard they get discouraged, but I don't want to be so soft that nothing happens.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:21]:
Right? And you know, you get that moment, but and you pray about it, and you're still not sure. But here's the thing. When you look at that, it's like, you know something needs to be done. You're not exactly sure what to do. You know what? Just broach the subject first. Just just start that conversation. Sometimes you don't have to know the end of the conversation. You just need to start it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:04]:
The time never comes. And it's passed, right? Yeah. Lean into it. Where does you where does God want you to lean into something today? When's the last time when's the last time when God spoke to you about something, and you were nervous, and you didn't know because you don't want to fail, you don't want to make a mistake? You just said, God, if this is you, I'm just gonna take a step. You know what's going to happen? You keep doing that. Your faith is going to grow. Somebody said this once. He was in a a pastor said he was going to college, and he had a chapel service.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:48]:
And he, he, he took his army boots off and he, he picked them up. And on one, he wrote, trust, which means, which is what, in essence, faith is. And then the other side, he wrote Obey. And he says, yes, as soldiers in God's army. He says, you cannot have one step without the He says that when they follow together You don't just obey, obey, obey without trust, but neither do you just have trust, faith, faith, faith, faith without some step toward obedience. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:31]:
Amen. I'll close with this story. In 1815, James Riley was a merchant captain from Connecticut, and, left his family. And as a young kid, went as a sailor. Right? And over time, he became one of, the experienced sea captains. And from 15 years old, he knew the world's oceans had been all over the world. And he was put in command of a ship called the Commerce. And they sailed around the world, around the the North Of Africa.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:14]:
Seem, and they were in the midst caught in a storm, couldn't see the stars. And so the next thing he knew, they were blown off course till finally when they woke up the next morning, they noticed that the ship had they felt it earlier, but they had no idea where they were. But they were shipwrecked, on a reef. Thankfully, it wasn't far from the shore. But what had happened in the middle of the night is being battered by the wind and the waves, that much of their cargo had fallen into the sea and blown onto shore, only to have what he described as savage natives picking up along picking up all their things. And so, he looked what can he do? Because he knew they couldn't stay on the ship. It was gonna be certain doom. That ship was already stuck.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:08]:
They had a lifeboat. But there's only one of two directions: out to sea or among the savage natives. And he was sure that if he went to shore, the natives would kill them and take everything. But when he looked at the ocean, there was 20 foot waves, And he's in a rowboat. He's not surfing the Eddie Aikau. You know what I mean? So he's he's saying, We can't we're stuck. And so Riley was not a spiritual religious minded man, But he did say he didn't believe that God was involved in the affairs of the world, but he just said this. He said, Lord, God, I don't know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:57]:
If you're there. Right? That he prayed, he says, great creator and preserver of the universe who now sees our distress. We pray thee to spare our lives and permit us to pass through this overwhelming surf to the open sea. But if we are doomed to perish, thy will be done. He would rather trust God than trust the people who are on the beach. We commit our souls to the mercy of thee, our God who gave little later. But he said this. As they got toward the break, all of a sudden, the wind stopped.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:44]:
The the thing shifted and and an opening like someone just opened the curtain happened in the waves that they were able to get out from a closeout set, 20 foot closeout set. And we went through it. When they were When they were got to shore, and he wanted to write about his adventures, and he had basically retired from active sailing. And a publisher was, picked up his work, and he wanted to write it, But he says, You cannot put that story about the shipwreck and the calming of the waves because it sounds too fantastical. But he he said, I have to put it in the book because it's what happened. And you know what? James Riley learned was that it's only God that can sometimes bring order out of chaos. He alone triumphed over the sea. That's what He thought that He rules in the affairs of men that He cares and hears the cries of the humble.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:11]:
And ultimately, all Riley did was exercise the faith that he had. Even as a young unbeliever, he exercised that faith, and God met him in that moment. And he became a different man. God is with us even when it looks like the odds are against us. Amen? Amen. Okay. Let's bow our heads. We'll close it in a word.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:41]:
You're facing today. And maybe, maybe it's just a great season for you. If that's the case, that's awesome. We rejoice. We rejoice with those who rejoice. But if you're in this season where it's been challenging, and there's a relationship, there's a situation, there's a fear, there's a thought that comes back that turns you. It's an emotion that you cannot control. Would you do me a favor today? Would you be able to bring that to God today? Maybe you bring that person.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:19]:
Maybe you bring yourself. Maybe you bring that circumstance. And would you just present it to God, and that you might say, like Riley said, Oh, God, my Creator and Preserver, Lord, you see my distress. And I'm praying to you, would you let me pass through this overwhelming season? Lord, would you be faithful? Thank you that you are. Thank you that you're my shepherd, that you're my savior, that you're my healer, and you're my provider. God, you are the God who never changes. I commit my soul to you. I commit this circumstance to you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:50:12]:
And thank you you're making a way. Help me to see it as I lean into all that you say. In Jesus name, God's people say, Amen. Amen. Hey. God bless you guys.