You can have all of me
Every single little piece
You can have it all
Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.
To get connected or to give online,
go to hcv.church or give.htv.church.
If at any point during this message
you feel called to make a change in your life,
text changeme to 970-00.
Thank you and enjoy the message.
I'd do up forever to touch you
Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your lies
When sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think you may understand
That everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
Yeah, you play just to know you're alive
And I don't want to go home right now
And all I can taste is this moment
And all I can breathe is your lies
When sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And all I can taste is this moment
When sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And all I can taste is this moment
When sooner or later it's over
I just don't want to miss you tonight
And all I can taste is this moment
When sooner or later it's over
Come on, sing it with me
And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think you may understand
That everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
And I don't want the world to see me
Cause I don't think you may understand
That everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am
It means Summer Jams, a series that focuses on music and its connection to our culture.
This series is simply about discovering God in everyday life.
The songs that we have chosen for this series are simply tools
to assist us in discovering God's truth for us.
Now some of you are sitting there thinking, well, Chris, is this biblical?
Well, in the book of Acts, Paul referenced the unknown God in chapter 17 of verse 23,
where we read, for as I was walking along, I saw your many shrines,
and one of your altars had this inscription on it, to an unknown God.
This God whom you worship without knowing is the one I'm telling you about.
So Paul used their own shrines, their own gods, to point them to Jesus.
We here at HCV are in no way encouraging you to go out and buy this album that the
Goo Goo Dolls released and sold, but if you want to, go for it.
You know, just don't make it a shrine.
The Goo Goo Dolls originated in Buffalo, New York.
The band which formed in 1986 didn't see any large success until 1995,
nine long years until their release name came out and sent them to superstardom.
Three years later, right, they delivered their most recognized song, which you just heard,
Iris, which was just performed by HCV Worship, didn't they do an incredible job?
Absolutely.
This song became a huge success for the Goo Goo Dolls, topping the Billboard top 100 Airplay
chart for 18 straight weeks and reaching number nine on the Hot 100 chart months
after its popular release.
Please understand, in 1998, if a band released a single, it wasn't considered for the top 100
chart until December 5th of that year when they changed the rules.
Iris would have been number one from start to finish for many, many months had they not
changed that.
Now, Iris also contributed to the success of the City of Angels soundtrack, which is
based on a movie and it became the best selling album in 1998.
The song received three Grammy nominations in 1999 and was certified quadruple platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2018.
In other words, the Goo Goo Dolls don't have to work another day in their lives, okay?
While Iris was influenced by the movie, it also reflects the personal struggles of lead
singer John Resnick, the singer-songwriter of the Goo Goo Dolls.
At the time of the writing of the song, Resnick was facing writer's block, identity issues,
and the pressures of fame.
In an interview with American songwriter, Resnick says, I felt like I had just won the
lottery and everyone was standing around going, wow, you won the lottery.
That's amazing.
Do it again.
So it really kind of froze me up.
I think it was the period where I finally had to come to terms with the fact that songwriting
was now my job.
So with the pressures of stardom, Resnick felt like he couldn't produce another hit.
He felt lost, not only in his musical life, but his personal life as well.
Resnick continues in the magazine article, I was feeling kind of schizophrenic.
My wife and I had just divorced after 10 years of marriage.
I'd moved from my home in Buffalo, New York and was living in this random hotel.
So it was a really manic time in my life.
I was looking for something to hold on to.
So think about that.
He had just reached fame and then suddenly he has nothing.
He felt lost both musically and personally, and Iris became a way for him to express his
vulnerabilities and seek acceptance.
Now the song's meaning directly correlates to the plot of the movie City of Angels.
In the movie, Nicolas Cage plays the part of an immortal angel, but throws away his
immortality for love.
He became human so he can be with the woman that he loves so much.
Resnick explains, when I wrote it, I was thinking about the situation of the Nicolas
Cage character in the movie.
This guy is completely willing to give up his own immortality just to be able to feel
something very human.
And I think, wow, what an amazing thing it must be like to love someone so much that
you give up everything to be with them.
That's a pretty heavy thought.
And when I was reading those words and listening to what he was saying, I thought, man, that
sounds so familiar.
And as I was praying and studying this week to prepare for today's talk, I felt the Holy
Spirit whisper in my ear, Chris, he's pointing to Jesus.
I mean, think about it.
What did Jesus do for humanity?
Well, Philippians 2, from the message paraphrase, answers that question.
Think of yourselves the way Jesus thought of himself.
He had equal status with God, but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to
the advantages of that status no matter what.
Not at all.
When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave.
He became human.
Having become human, he stayed human.
It was an incredibly humbling process.
He didn't claim special privileges.
Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death and
the worst kind of death at that, a crucifixion.
Why?
Why did Jesus leave eternity, his immortality to come and be here on earth?
Because he loves us.
Jesus loves us.
Friends, this song can be considered one of the greatest love songs ever written and it
is because it can literally point us to Jesus' actions to reconnect us to the Father.
Listen to some of the lyrics.
And I'd give up forever to touch you.
And think about all the people that Jesus touched, reflecting his willingness to sacrifice
everything for the people he loved.
The lyrics also touch on feelings of being misunderstood or out of place.
And I don't want the world to see me because I don't think they'd understand.
I mean, think about Jesus' teachings on the kingdom of God.
He was always what?
Misunderstood.
No one could understand the vastness of God's love because it goes against everything that
this world values.
Now in preparing to share with you this morning, God led me to the book of Hebrews to bring
encouragement to you.
Now the unknown author of this book encourages the church to never give up.
The author writing the Jewish Christians facing persecution and imprisonment because of their
relationship with Jesus.
Some within the community were abandoning the faith.
They were walking away from their relationship with God.
Life was coming at them from every angle.
They were being tempted to walk away, to go back to their old lifestyles because it felt
like it just wasn't worth it.
When in reality, being in a relationship with Jesus can be challenging, can be the hardest
decision that you ever make because the enemy will whisper in your ears, it's just not worth
it.
You're not good enough.
It takes too much effort.
It's so much easier just to go out and do what you want.
Return to your old life.
And all throughout the book, the author expresses encouragement that following Jesus means remaining
faithful to Him despite persecution, despite life's challenges because God will not abandon
you.
God will not abandon us.
And before we jump into our thoughts and our steps this morning, let's open in prayer to
just believe that God is going to change us.
Holy Spirit come.
I'm thankful for each and every person gathered here watching online.
Open our ears, our minds, and our hearts to receive your truths.
God change us.
Make us more like you in Jesus' name.
Amen.
And that leads us to our first thought this morning.
You see, humanity tends to drift.
Humanity tends to drift.
Look at Hebrews chapter two.
The author tells us, so we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard or we
may drift away from it.
For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm.
So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first
announced by the Lord Jesus Himself and then delivered to us by those who heard Him speak?
And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and miracles and gifts to the
Holy Spirit whenever He chose.
And He's encouraging us church, be careful not to drift away from the kingdom of God.
Be careful not to drift away from your faith.
And if you ever noticed that people, they don't drift towards holiness, right?
They don't drift towards a relationship with God.
Just like we don't drift towards a kale salad, we drift towards Crumpies donuts, right?
Like kale salad and Crumpies.
Many of you are like, ah, take the Crumpies, right?
We in a relationship with Jesus simply drift towards holiness.
Theologian D.A.
Carson says it best, apart from grace driven effort, people do not gravitate towards godliness,
prayer and obedience to scripture.
We drift towards compromise and call it tolerance.
We drift towards disobedience and call it freedom.
We drift towards superstition and call it faith.
We cherish the indiscipline of law, self control and call it relaxation.
We slouch toward prayerlessness and mislead ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism.
We slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we've been liberated.
See, this is the challenge that we face every single day when in a relationship with Jesus.
And you know why?
Because our culture that surrounds us encourages us to drift away from God.
Our culture doesn't encourage us to be more like Jesus or get closer to God.
They want us to drift away so they don't feel conviction.
Now, I have no idea if the lead singer John Resnick was in a relationship with Jesus or
not, but we did see his life drift after writing the band's first number one hit entitled
Name.
Think about it.
The singer lost his marriage.
He lost his ability to write music.
He lost his own personal identity, finding himself living in a random hotel room, trying
to live up to culture's expectations, which he couldn't.
And if you're in a relationship with Jesus and you're here this morning and you find
yourself drifting, my encouragement to you is this, don't give up.
Don't give up.
Press on.
We have got to be intentional when it comes to our faith.
Now, if you are currently in a difficult situation, my encouragement to you is this, read the
Book of Hubers.
Read it and don't just read it once.
Read it two or three times because the author is so encouraging to us.
Rudy is actually going to start a devotional.
We'll email it out.
We'll put it on social media and it focuses on, guess what?
The Book of Hebrews so that we can all go through it together and be encouraged.
Now, what's interesting about this book is we don't know who wrote it.
We don't know who the author is.
He or she doesn't let us know their name.
It's literally an anonymous writer.
Now, of course, biblical scholars debate who wrote the book.
Some believe that it was Barnabas who wrote Hebrews while others believe it was Luke.
Still others think it was Apollo.
Some believe Priscilla wrote the book while a majority of the scholars, and please understand
I am no biblical scholar.
Okay?
I'm a pastor.
Okay?
Believe that the apostle Paul wrote the book because of its rich language.
And the rich language points to a higher education.
Now the counter argument to all of these suggestions is that Paul assisted one of his coworkers
or one of his co-laborers in writing the letter because there's one distinct reason that Paul
did not write these words.
Because whenever we read one of Paul's letters to the churches, and remember, he wrote most
of them, he wrote more than half of the New Testament, Paul lets us know in his intro,
in the intro to the letter, who is writing the book.
When you read any of Paul's letters, typically you'll read, I, Paul, an apostle of Jesus,
chosen by the will of God to the church at Corinth, or to whichever church he was writing
to.
See, if Paul commonly wrote these words in his other letters, why would he not do it
here?
Because in every other letter Paul writes, I, Paul, right, that's who he is, an apostle,
that's what he's called to do, by the will of God, that is who called him to do it, right?
That's how he starts off many of his letters.
And my challenge to you is, what if we started to declare who we were with confidence?
Right?
Think about the confidence that Paul has in writing these letters.
And there's so many followers of Jesus that slouch away from being confident in their
faith.
What if you began to send a text message like Paul just stated?
For example, I'm going to start sending text messages to Elijah, and they're going to say,
I, Chris, that's who I am, pastor of HCV, that's what I'm called to do, by the grace
of God, right, it's God in me, it's in his mercy and his grace that he's called me to
do this.
I do this because of God's call on my life, right?
Just being honest, if it was my will and it was my choice, I'd probably be doing something
else, right, because my degrees reflect that, but God's mercy and his grace has called me
to do this, to plant this church and to pastor this church.
And my challenge to you is, it's time to move away from insecurity and embrace God's call
on our lives, right?
Paul let all of us know who he was, he let others know because his identity wasn't his
own.
Where did his identity come from?
It came from, it came from God.
And this is important because ultimately people drift because they don't know their identity,
which leads us to a question, not a thought, but a question.
Is your identity rooted in something shakeable?
Now the author of Hebrews writes these words in chapter 12 verse 28, since we are receiving
a kingdom that is unshakeable.
Notice unshakeable.
Fast forward to today.
Is your identity rooted in something that is shakeable?
It's very dangerous if your self-worth is built upon something that is shakeable.
Now some of you are sitting here thinking, well, Chris, how am I supposed to know that
answer?
Well, my answer, my point is another question.
What do you point to to prove your value?
What do you point to to prove that you are somebody?
Because whatever it is that you point to, ask yourself the question, is it shakeable?
And for so many people in the United States, their identity is their bank accounts, how
much they earn.
And that defines success within our culture when in reality, our bank accounts can slowly
go away when a company decides to downsize.
What happens when the economy falters?
See finances are what?
They're shakeable.
And if it's not finances, so many people within our culture use a mirror to define their identity.
How good they look or how good they don't look.
When in reality, as we age, our bodies change and we will never be able to maintain that
youthful appearance no matter how many surgeries you get.
Right?
It's just not possible.
It's shakeable.
So would you point to your spouse or a house or a car?
Is it your business?
Is it recovery?
Some of you are in recovery and you point to recovery as your definition when in reality,
all of that is shaky.
If whatever you point to is shaky, your life will not live up to God's standards because
you won't know who you are.
But God says, if you point to me, an invisible authority that calls you into a relationship
with him, that calls you to serve others, then you will have an anchor for your life
and point others to him.
Right?
Listen to how the author begins this letter.
Hebrews chapter one verses one through two, long ago, God, right?
He or she points directly to God, a name that cannot be shaken.
It's almost as if the author is repeating Genesis chapter one in the beginning, God.
Right?
They're pointing us to God because they know in their own self, it's weak and it's shaky.
And let's continue.
God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.
And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his son.
God promised everything to the son as an inheritance and through the son, he created the universe.
So the author of this book has let us know that they serve a God that communicates.
They follow a God that speaks.
And I want to encourage you since the beginning of creation, God has spoken.
He spoke the world into existence.
He spoke through the prophets.
He spoke through the priesthood.
He spoke to shepherds.
He spoke to the early church.
He speaks to us through the Bible.
He is still speaking today.
He is still speaking to us this morning.
For example, I've had several of you ask me, Chris, I've noticed over the last few
Sundays that you've been sharing these words of knowledge.
What does that mean?
Well, there's people that pray for our Sunday gatherings all week long.
They're praying for you to sit in these chairs before you even get there.
And while they're praying, they receive these words of knowledge for us to communicate to
you as a means of God wanting to meet you where you are.
For example, this week there was two words of knowledge received.
The first one that I got a text message from was that God wanted to heal gout today.
Gout specifically in the foot, knee, or wrist.
And if you're here this morning and you're struggling with gout, we want to pray for
you.
And the other one was someone is living or is living with a stigmatism in their right
eye.
They would be here this morning and they're struggling with this stigmatism that is in
their right eye.
And what we typically do, as many of you know, is towards the end of the gathering, I communicate
to you these words of knowledge and then I invite you as everybody's leaving, come up
front here to get prayer from our prayer team.
Does everyone recognize that part of our gathering?
Yes.
So you recognize that.
That's a normal part of our gathering.
Well that's God speaking to us.
And notice I encourage you at the end of the gathering to come up here because I know that
if I gave those words of knowledge right now and said, okay, if that's you, come up here
and get prayer, none of you would.
You would just sit there because there's too many people looking at you.
So I say, well, when everybody's leaving, no one's looking at you, come up and get prayer
because we believe God communicates those words of knowledge as a means of you experiencing
healing.
Because we believe God wants to heal those two areas of your life.
The author of Hebrews begins the letter pointing us to God because God still speaks today,
which leads us to our next stop.
See, our identity is developed through listening.
Our identity is developed through listening.
Look at Hebrews 12 25.
Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the one who is speaking.
For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the
earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the one who speaks to us from
heaven.
Now, everyone humor me.
Look at your neighbor and go, shh.
God is still speaking.
Now, look at your other neighbor, the one you really don't like and say, shh.
God is still speaking.
Wendell, you didn't look at your other neighbor.
Well then find the one behind you.
Geez, I don't want to treat you like elementary schoolers, friends.
Come on now.
And the reason I did that is because I want to ask you a question.
What is the one thing that you need to turn down in order to hear God speaking?
What is the one thing you need to turn down in order to hear God speaking?
For some of you, it's busyness, right?
You don't make time to read the Bible.
We're so busy going to and fro and getting things done that you don't have time to read
or listen to the Bible.
And friends, that's the first way God speaks to us.
It's through his Bible.
And when we read it or we listen to it and we apply it, that's how God changes us.
Look at James 1, 22, but don't just listen to God's word.
You must do what it says.
Otherwise you're only fooling yourselves.
So for some of you, it's busyness.
For others of you, I know what it is.
Is it TikTok or is it Instagram or is it Facebook?
Right?
What has you so distracted that you cannot hear God speaking to you?
Because it's in his stillness, in the quietness.
It's where God speaks.
Now I saw a piece of artwork this week and it wasn't really a piece of artwork.
It was words turned into artwork.
I was searching for the album covers of all of the bands that we're doing for Summer Jams
because I wanted to put them in the cafe to prepare you for Summer Jams.
And as I was searching for the album covers, I came across this piece of artwork that read
this.
Make time for quiet moments because the world is loud and God often whispers.
So ask yourself a simple question.
Are you making time to listen to God?
Because it's in listening that our identity is built up.
Now this week I had an incredible opportunity to share at the Hagerstown Church Softball
League's weekly devotional.
And one of the verses that I used for my devotional that I shared with the softball players was
1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24.
It's one of my life verses and you'll understand why here in a second when I read it to you.
Paul writes these words, don't you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one
person gets the prize, so run to win.
And I love how Paul says run to win.
There's so many of you that think, Chris, why are you so competitive?
Because Paul was competitive, right?
I'm competitive because Paul was competitive and I really like Paul.
And if Paul tells me to run to win, guess what?
I'm going to run to win because second place is just the first loser, right?
Ricky Bobby was right, okay?
Second place is just the first loser.
We are called to run to win.
You guys aren't winning nothing with that.
We are called to run to win.
That's right, we want to win.
Now listen to what Hebrews says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd
of witnesses to this life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance the race
God has set before us.
Friends, the only way that we win the race that we're in called life is to stay connected
to the source, is to stay connected to the guide, is to stay connected to our leader.
And as I was preparing for this talk, I came across the story of a blind gold medal winning
marathoner named Henry Wanukke.
And in 2004, he won gold at the Paralympic Games in Athens with two new world record
times in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters.
In the very same year, he set the world record for a blind runner in the half marathon with
a time of one hour, 10 minutes and 26 seconds.
A year later, he set the marathon world record for a blind runner in Hamburg, Germany with
a time of two hours, 31 minutes and 31 seconds.
Incredible feat for a man that runs blind.
Now here's the trick.
Henry is only as good as his guide named Paul.
There's this guy named Paul that's Henry's guide and Paul is actually a better runner
than Henry, but he chooses to run alongside Henry going out before they run together to
lay out the course, to map out the course that avoids obstacles, that plans for turns.
And every time Henry runs, Paul is directly beside him throughout the race whispering
in his ear in order for him to be successful.
And it's not only his words, right?
Paul is actually attached to Henry through a small thread around the wrists so that if
it's loud around them, he can simply give a tug to the left or a tug to the right, right?
And Henry knows that he needs to change direction in order to be successful.
Dare I say that your faith, your relationship with Jesus works the exact same way.
We are running this race called life.
And if you're in a relationship with Jesus, the way to win it and the way to be successful
is to stay connected to the guide, right?
We need to stay connected to God.
We need to allow him to speak to us, to lead us and to assist us along the way, especially,
especially when we're experiencing a shaking of our faith.
All right?
Think about why this letter was written.
This letter was written to Jewish believers, right?
It was experiencing persecution, pain, suffering, trials, they were being put in prison, they
were being murdered.
And the author was trying to encourage them through this letter.
So not only does God speak to us through the Bible, not only does God speak to us through
his spirit, God also speaks to us, our next thought, God speaks to us through the shaking.
See whenever there's a shaking of our faith, if we listen, God is speaking.
In fact, God will often shake the things we can see to get us to pay attention to the
things we can't see.
It's called a shaking.
And friends, we are living in the last days and I believe that God is shaking this world
in order to get people's attentions.
And you're like, well, Chris, do you have any scripture to back that up?
Well, happens that I do.
Hebrews chapter 12, verses 26 to 27.
When God spoke from Mount Sinai, his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another
promise.
Once again, I will shake not only the earth, but the heavens also.
This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed so that only unshakable things
will remain.
See God often is speaking when the world is shaking.
See God shakes the things of this world so that humanity can see and understand the difference
between things that are temporary, you know, the things that are just going to waste away
and the things that are what?
Eternal.
The things that are going to last forever.
God does the shaking to get our attention so that our ears will hear what God is saying
if, if church, we are listening.
All right.
And so many of us are so quick to forget 2020.
See there's four short years ago, there's this event that happened in 2020 and it was
called COVID and it was called shutdown.
And everyone during that time period was blaming the government.
They were pointing fingers at, oh, it's the government's fault.
Oh, it's China's fault.
And there are pointing fingers during that challenging time.
What if, what if God was trying to get our attention?
What if God was trying to get us to slow down and realize what was really important in life?
Because the last time I checked fast forward to 2024 by show of hands that I want everyone
to participate.
Fair enough.
I'm looking at all of you.
I want you all to participate.
If I was looking out at you and I said, Hey, I want to give you an eight month vacation
from your job.
Who wants it?
You don't want eight months off.
Dude, you know how long your beard would be.
Right?
Shoot.
If I was to ask you, you want eight months off, you'd be like, I want eight months off.
Right?
But what did we do during that time period?
A darn government, Trump's fault, Biden's fault, China's fault.
I can't believe they're making me stay home and do nothing.
It's ridiculous.
All we did was complain.
We complained and we had eight months of vacation time.
Now I'm not saying there's not ramifications from all of that, but what I am saying is
if we actually opened our eyes and understood what was happening, I understand we were going
through a shaking, but it made God, God was making us to just simply slow down and understand,
Hey, family's important.
Relationships are important.
Don't get so busy that you forget what's important in life.
And it's not until we go through a shaking, a lost job, a lost relationship, an illness,
a tragedy, right?
We don't really know what we believe and how strong our faith really is until we experience
a shaking.
All right.
And I thought back this week to 2019.
Now some of you have never heard this story before because you've never been to start
with why I actually do start with why the first Sunday of every month.
And I'm going to tell this story.
And you're like, wow, I never knew that.
Well, you could have heard this story three years ago if you would have come to start
with why, which I encourage you to do every week.
Right?
Yeah.
Everyone just nod.
Yeah.
Come to start with why you learn all about the church.
Well back in 2019, specifically December of 2019, we had already bought the property,
the building that you're sitting in right now didn't exist.
This would have been grass.
That's all this was was grass.
We were having church in South Hagerstown high school in their auditorium.
We're having a lot of fun, right?
We had roadies setting up and tearing down.
It was an incredible season for our church.
Well in 2019, in December of 2019, we were supposed to break ground on this building.
We were all excited and Christie and I got a phone call from our bank that was lending
us the money to build this beautiful facility.
And they said, Hey, we're not releasing the money.
We're not giving you any money.
In fact, you know why?
Because there's this thing called COVID that started and chances are in six months, you
won't be a church anymore.
You won't be around in six months.
A lot of churches are probably going to probably close because they can't meet.
They can't gather.
And you know what Chris did?
Chris looked at Christie and said, Christie, I need to spend $40,000.
And she looked back at me with fear in her eyes and said, Chris, you did just hear what
the bank said, right?
I said, look, either we spend money on that camera and that camera and that camera and
all that equipment in that back room right back there that none of you ever see.
And we broadcast our gatherings with worship and the message or we aren't going to be a
church anymore.
So we spent $40,000 in the early parts of January 2020.
Of course we got shut down and we started broadcasting all of our weekly gatherings
in front of nobody.
I was staring at a camera the whole time.
It was probably one of the most frustrating things I ever did.
In fact, go back to our first two attempts at broadcasting live.
They're the worst things you ever saw.
Actually don't go back because they were really bad.
The point the bank said to us, we want to see your giving statements for the first six
months of 2020.
If your giving stays the same or go up, we'll release the building funds.
So for six months we broadcast live.
We prayed really, really, really hard because our world was being shaken.
And at the end of May 2020, our giving almost doubled from the time we started in January.
That's a true story.
Our giving nearly doubled for those six months that we were broadcasting online.
And thank you because you're the ones that did it.
Thank you for giving and supporting the mission.
And then in May 2020, at the end of May 2020, we broke ground on this building.
And I had everyone telling me, that's the stupidest thing you could ever do.
You can't meet.
People aren't going to come back to church.
Everything's changing.
This is a dumb move.
You're wasting money.
But you know what I said?
God told us to build it.
So we broke ground.
And you know the cool thing about that time period, May 2020.
No one was working because there was no jobs.
And then suddenly we're building a $2 million facility.
So what did we do?
We provided jobs for local people looking to work.
And they began to work and build.
And in seven short months, this structure was completed.
And Easter of 2021, that's right.
After March of 2021, we reopened our doors and we had more than a thousand people at
our Easter service.
So for everyone told us that we were dumb and no one would come, I say, but God.
But God had a different plan.
So are you currently experiencing a shaking?
Are you currently experiencing a shaking?
My encouragement to you is this, God is speaking.
Set aside time to listen because God will shake the things we can see to open our eyes
to the things we can't see, which leads us to our final thoughts.
See Jesus is the key to an unshakable faith.
Listen to these words in Hebrews 12.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion.
Think about it.
He tells us to run to win.
Why?
Because Jesus is the champion who initiated and perfected our faith because of the joy
awaiting him.
He endured the cross, disregarding and shame.
Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne.
Think of all the hostility endured from sinful people.
Then you won't become weary and give up.
I'll think about the reason the lyrics were written to this song, Iris, that we just played
for you.
There was an angel that came down from heaven because he had fallen in love with a woman,
a savior that gave up the privileges of heaven in order to come down and reconnect a lost
humanity with its creator.
What did he do?
He endured the cross.
He disregarded his shame.
Think of the hostility he endured from us, from sinful people.
Why?
So that we won't become weary and give up.
Jesus offers us an unshakable faith.
Look at Hebrews 12, 28.
We are receiving a kingdom that is unshakable.
Let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe for our God is
a devouring fire.
And see the problem with so many people that feel or know or think they're in a relationship
with Jesus is what's on the inside.
So I have two containers here for you.
And what I'm going to do with these containers is I'm going to start shaking them.
Because when you shake containers, something happens.
Kathy, shake that thing for me.
Oh my gosh, did it pop open?
My bottle?
No, it was your cup.
No, shake it, shake it, shake it.
Here shake this for me.
Shake it.
Yeah, it's just your coffee.
Don't worry, we'll clean it up.
All right, Ronnie, give it back.
Come on, shake it, shake it.
Throw it back, throw it back.
There you go.
Shake it.
Shake the water.
Shake, shake, shake.
Give it back, give it back.
There you go.
We believe in audience participation, right?
So when we shake these containers, something's going to happen, true or false, right?
Which one do you want me to open first?
Do you have a choice?
Fuzz, why don't you come up here?
I'll open it on you.
Now, okay.
All right, so you want to open the soda first?
All right, here we go.
Everyone ready?
I'm just kidding.
I would never do it over our lights, John.
Don't worry.
Oh, I won't do it towards those pedal boards.
I'll do it right here.
Look what happened.
Oh my gosh.
Like this one, watch, watch, watch.
Oh, nothing.
What's the difference?
See?
What's the difference is what's on the inside.
One bottle has still calm, refreshing water.
And the last time I checked, we can read a Psalm about walking along a still calm stream.
The other, right, has high fructose corn syrup and sugar that rots out your teeth, gives
you diabetes and causes obesity.
So my question to you this morning is what's inside of you?
Do you have an unshakable faith?
Is your faith a little shaky?
Because whichever one is on the inside is going to come out in how you're living your
life.
Are you exploding all over people and vomiting all over people your garbage?
Or do people look at you as an example of what it means to follow Jesus, which leads
us to our action steps?
Huh?
Which leads us to our action steps, developing an unshakable faith.
Four simple steps, four simple steps in developing an unshakable faith from the author of the
book of Hebrews.
And the first is strip it off.
I love how the author says, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses in this
life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that
so easily trips us up.
Now that word weight comes from the Greek word, okos, which means a burden or something
so heavy it can slow down a runner.
Okay.
The word was particularly used in the athletic world to signify the actions of an athlete
who would deliberately strip himself down of excess weight before participating in a
competition.
The stripping process included getting rid of excess flesh through dieting and exercise.
Then on the day of the actual competition, the athlete would strip off all the clothes
that they were wearing.
So there was no weight slowing them down.
Back then the athletes ran nude and the author is referring to incorrect attitudes and actions
that keep people from progressing spiritually, even if it isn't sin.
It could be pursuits like ambition, your career.
It could be decorating.
It could be pickleball.
It could be the movies you're watching, too many of them, right?
It could be the music you're listening to.
It could be playing too many video games.
Or it could be an addiction or a habit or a sin that's overcoming you.
The point, strip it off.
What is God showing you and speaking to you this morning that says you need to strip it
off, which leads us to our next step, remain focused.
Notice the author says we do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates
and perfects our faith.
How do we keep our eyes on Jesus?
How do we remain focused?
Will we develop a prayer life?
The Bible challenges us that when we pray, we pray without ceasing.
That means we don't stop praying.
Yes, we have dedicated prayer time, but while you're driving in your car, headed down the
interstate, frustrated with people that drive slow in the left lane, which I still get,
we need to pray without ceasing because when you pass them on the inside, you don't want
to stare them down like you're going to run them over.
And all of you know what I'm talking about.
You need to be connected to community.
Listen, we need each other.
If you're listening online, we need each other.
We need to encourage one another, pray for one another, hug one another, embrace one
another.
We need to be connected to community.
We need to be reading or listening to the Bible.
Friends, it's a priority because God speaks to us through the Bible.
And finally, you need to be filled with the Spirit.
And some of you are like, well, Chris, wasn't I filled with the Spirit when I gave my life
to Jesus?
Yes, you were, but the Bible also spells out for us different fillings of our faith.
And I believe when I wake up every morning, I need to say, come Holy Spirit, fill me so
that I have the right attitude, actions, and outlook on life.
Friends, we are called to remain focused.
So we strip it off.
We remain focused.
We receive His love.
Look at Hebrews 12, five through seven.
And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as His children?
He said, my child, don't make light of the Lord's discipline and don't give up when He
corrects you.
For the Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.
As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as His own children.
Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by their father?
And that's why it's so important that we prayerfully pay attention and listen to God's love.
God loves you.
And guess what?
Our natural tendency is to drift towards what?
Holiness?
No.
Our natural tendency is to drift towards sin.
And if we continue to drift towards sin, God is going to correct us and challenge us to
change through shaking.
And we have to open our ears and receive it.
Some of you, you have to let other people love you.
Right?
You've been hurt by your past.
It could have been a marriage.
It could have been parents.
You're so damaged and hurt that you don't let other people love you.
They can't hug you.
They can't encourage you.
They can't send you a text message because you just are negative and hurt.
Get some ministry.
Forgive someone so that you can move forward.
You got to look for God's love all around you.
Right?
We live in one of the most beautiful areas in the United States of America.
We have mountains.
We have oceans.
We have a canal.
There's creation everywhere.
And so many of us are so busy.
We don't take advantage of it.
Your screen is not creation.
It's manmade.
Get off of it and go enjoy God's creation.
As a church, we're called to practice loving other people.
Right?
We have to love people that is around us.
That's what Jesus wants us to do.
Get busy practicing what we're called to preach.
That's what God wants for us.
Right?
So many of you, you're not serving.
You're not putting other people first.
I'm doing Start with Why today.
Okay?
I'm doing Start with Why today.
See me at the Welcome Hub directly after this.
I'm going to do Start with Why.
Tell you all about the church.
Because I want you plugged in serving.
Right?
Tonight at 4 o'clock, I'm going to encourage you.
4 o'clock, be back in these seats.
Okay?
Do you want anything important at 4 o'clock?
Some of you are like, well, Chris, I'm going to be on the river.
Dock your boat and come back at 4 o'clock and go back on the river at 530.
Guess what?
The river's not going anywhere.
All right?
Roger, that car will get finished tomorrow.
Okay?
Come back at 4 o'clock.
All right?
There's always an excuse that we make.
Come back at 4 o'clock.
You say, Chris, why would I come back at 4 o'clock?
Because Jess and I are going to share about our trip to Kenya.
And it was a life-changing trip that impacts you, not just us.
Because we believe God is now calling us and challenging our church to change the world.
We are called to serve and to bring others into the kingdom.
For example, this week I made a boo-boo.
Can I tell you about a mistake I made?
Okay.
So I drive a Jeep.
Right?
I drive a Jeep.
I love my Jeep.
I love taking the top down.
Well, there's this thing with Jeepers.
Oh, already brought me one.
Thanks.
There's this thing.
I like it.
There's this thing with those of us that drive Jeeps that they give out these ducks.
And it's called, you've been ducked.
I completely think it's totally cheesy.
Okay?
When I get a duck, I say, oh, thank you.
And then just throw it away.
Well, typically, no, I get it.
And then I give it to Phoenix.
And then he throws it on the ground and then Bear chews it up.
So that's kind of what happens with our ducks.
I don't like them laying across my dash because they roll everywhere.
And they're just a complete nuisance.
Right?
So I thought, well, wait a minute, maybe I can use ducks as a means to reach people for
Jesus.
Right?
So I started looking online for tie-dyed ducks.
Right?
Because I was going to put a thing around its throat saying, hey, come join our tie-dyed
community of faith on Sunday, 9 or 11 at Hub City Vineyard.
Not only have you been ducked, but you've been invited.
Right?
So, so I ordered them.
I ordered them.
And when they got here, check them out.
It's the biggest duck I've ever seen.
I felt like a complete moron.
I was like, how is that going to work?
But then I thought, I started talking to Rudy and the staff.
I said, wait a minute.
There's so many of us that drive Jeeps.
We just throw these ducks away.
I tell you what, you get this duck, you're not throwing it away.
You're keeping that duck.
Chirp off.
You're like, that's a cool duck.
So I'm going to wrap an invite around this duck's neck and I'm going to put them on
Jeeps, inviting people to come be a part of our community of faith.
The point?
What's the point?
I am receiving his love and I am giving it out and inviting others to do the same.
What are you doing?
How are you doing?
I surrender everything without you
You can't have me more