WEBVTT 00:00:13.339 --> 00:00:16.039 Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected 00:00:16.039 --> 00:00:20.059 or to give online, go to connect .hcv .church 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:23.839 or give .hcv .church. If at any point during 00:00:23.839 --> 00:00:26.000 this message you feel called to make a change 00:00:26.000 --> 00:00:30.920 in your life, text CHANGEME to 9700. Thank you 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:32.979 and enjoy the message. Good morning, everyone. 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:40.880 Just wanted to make sure you're all awake. Not 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:44.200 that you weren't already. If you're joining us 00:00:44.200 --> 00:00:46.579 from home, thank you for welcoming us into your 00:00:46.579 --> 00:00:50.100 space and being a part of our community of faith. 00:00:50.240 --> 00:00:53.560 And here's the reality when we listen to a song 00:00:53.560 --> 00:00:59.840 like that. Life is hard. It's not easy. Life 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.420 is difficult. In fact, ever since Adam's sin, 00:01:03.579 --> 00:01:06.200 the world has been broken and everything on the 00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:11.540 planet is broken. Nothing works perfectly. Our 00:01:11.540 --> 00:01:14.159 bodies don't work perfectly. The economy is not 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:19.200 perfect. No relationship works perfectly. Your 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.640 marriage doesn't work perfectly. And life is 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.760 full of losses. We have defeats. We have disappointments. 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:29.480 And this is in heaven. That's why Jesus taught 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:32.480 us to pray, Father, your will be done on earth 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.439 as it is in heaven. Because in heaven, there's 00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:40.290 no defeats. There's no disappointments. But on 00:01:40.290 --> 00:01:42.709 earth, nothing works perfectly all the time. 00:01:42.790 --> 00:01:47.170 In fact, everything is broken. And the question, 00:01:47.349 --> 00:01:50.250 how do we rise above the inevitable losses that 00:01:50.250 --> 00:01:53.230 we're going to experience in this life? And to 00:01:53.230 --> 00:01:55.590 answer that, I have to ask you another question. 00:01:56.489 --> 00:02:00.370 So by a show of hands, how many of you want to 00:02:00.370 --> 00:02:03.409 be blessed in the future? By a show of hands. 00:02:04.189 --> 00:02:08.409 Pretty much unanimous. Of course, we all want 00:02:08.409 --> 00:02:12.900 to be blessed. We all want God to bless our future. 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:17.439 But listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5, 4. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.919 God blesses those who mourn for they will be 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:26.900 comforted. John, do I need to do something or 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:44.659 am I, is it me or? Yeah, I think so. Well, Holy 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:51.379 Spirit, come. God, we just give this technical 00:02:51.379 --> 00:02:56.560 side of life over to you. And God, we just silence 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:03.460 any distraction, any confusion. And we just ask 00:03:03.460 --> 00:03:06.300 that you move in this place, God. Move amongst 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:10.120 us. Change us, God. Make us more like your son. 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:14.219 So again, Matthew 5, 4, God blesses those who 00:03:14.219 --> 00:03:18.919 mourn, for they will be comforted. Who gets comforted? 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:23.080 They. And who are they? Those who have the courage 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:26.280 to mourn. Basically, what is Jesus saying to 00:03:26.280 --> 00:03:31.939 us? Cover -ups don't get comforted. If I cover 00:03:31.939 --> 00:03:34.300 up the pain, if I ignore the pain, if I deny 00:03:34.300 --> 00:03:38.979 the pain and pretend it doesn't exist, If I'm 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:42.860 too afraid of my emotions, then I don't get comforted. 00:03:43.319 --> 00:03:46.979 And if I don't get comforted, I don't get blessed. 00:03:48.139 --> 00:03:52.460 And all of us wanted to get blessed. Blessed 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:56.639 are those who mourn. So if we want to receive 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:59.659 God's blessing, we have to learn how to grieve. 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:02.580 And today we're going to be discussing how to 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:06.639 handle the losses in life and how God blesses 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:10.020 a broken heart. Now, I don't know what you're 00:04:10.020 --> 00:04:11.979 going through right now, and I hope and pray, 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:13.580 in fact, that you're experiencing a relative 00:04:13.580 --> 00:04:17.759 easy life. But chances are, if it's anything 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:21.699 like mine, you're not. You may be here this morning 00:04:21.699 --> 00:04:25.139 and experiencing conflict, chaos. Maybe it's 00:04:25.139 --> 00:04:29.079 a bad health report. You lost your job. Maybe 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:31.100 there was a fight with your husband, your girlfriend, 00:04:31.259 --> 00:04:33.839 your boyfriend, or your wife. The money isn't 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:36.879 there. There's not enough to pay the bills. And 00:04:36.879 --> 00:04:40.800 you're currently living under this tension. For 00:04:40.800 --> 00:04:42.699 some of you, you've experienced a loss in life, 00:04:42.939 --> 00:04:45.639 an unexpected death in the family, and you're 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:49.819 feeling these waves of grief within you. And 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:51.740 many of you know that we're in this series called 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:55.319 Inked as we work our way through the month of 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:57.620 May. And I want to bring to you an encouraging 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:02.079 talk on how to be blessed in a broken world. 00:05:02.810 --> 00:05:05.389 How to be blessed in a broken world, which leads 00:05:05.389 --> 00:05:07.930 us to our first thought. See, God doesn't expect 00:05:07.930 --> 00:05:11.189 us to be happy all the time. This is a fact of 00:05:11.189 --> 00:05:15.569 life. God doesn't, everyone say doesn't, expect 00:05:15.569 --> 00:05:17.529 us to be happy all the time. There you go, you're 00:05:17.529 --> 00:05:21.889 free, you can go home. See, there's this myth 00:05:21.889 --> 00:05:24.949 that if you're following Jesus, that if you love 00:05:24.949 --> 00:05:27.449 Jesus, that you should always be smiling, always 00:05:27.449 --> 00:05:30.199 be happy, and always be cheerful. That we should 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.180 be skipping through the fields, picking flowers, 00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:35.660 and talking about peace and love. But this simply 00:05:35.660 --> 00:05:39.139 is not true. In fact, the Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 00:05:39.139 --> 00:05:43.899 chapter 3, there's a time for everything. A season 00:05:43.899 --> 00:05:47.540 for every activity under heaven. In other words, 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:51.259 life is a series of opposites. Then in verse 00:05:51.259 --> 00:05:55.120 4 we read, a time to cry, a time to laugh, a 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.540 time to grieve, and a time to dance. See, the 00:05:59.540 --> 00:06:03.420 Bible tells us that sometimes weeping is appropriate. 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:06.540 Sometimes mourning is appropriate. Sometimes 00:06:06.540 --> 00:06:10.160 grieving is appropriate because truth is our 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:12.779 world is filled with a lot of sadness, a lot 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:15.839 of brokenness. All we have to do is pause for 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:18.100 five minutes and read the news. And we're going 00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:20.240 to quickly learn about children being kidnapped, 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:25.160 fires raging, murders in the city, wars, tornadoes. 00:06:25.339 --> 00:06:28.259 I mean, there's a lot of pain on this planet. 00:06:28.939 --> 00:06:31.759 And sometimes the only appropriate logical response 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:37.680 to life is grief. God doesn't expect us to simply 00:06:37.680 --> 00:06:41.779 grin and bear it, to stuff our emotions and smile 00:06:41.779 --> 00:06:45.720 in the middle of all the storms. And again, Jesus 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:49.399 tells in Matthew 5, 4, God blesses those who 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:53.540 mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:56.769 us when we grieve. Why? Because a lot of people 00:06:56.769 --> 00:07:00.750 believe that grief is only for funerals. Right? 00:07:00.790 --> 00:07:02.889 If you lose a loved one or someone close to you, 00:07:02.910 --> 00:07:06.250 then you grieve. But let's be honest. There's 00:07:06.250 --> 00:07:09.569 a lot of losses in life. We can lose our health. 00:07:09.730 --> 00:07:12.689 We can lose our job. We can lose our money. We 00:07:12.689 --> 00:07:15.050 can lose our reputation. We can lose our energy. 00:07:15.629 --> 00:07:18.790 We can lose a dream. There's all kind of losses 00:07:18.790 --> 00:07:21.689 in life. And God says the only appropriate response. 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:27.029 To the losses in life is. Stop faking it. Face 00:07:27.029 --> 00:07:31.629 it. Don't walk around grinning and pretending. 00:07:31.670 --> 00:07:36.029 But actually begin to grieve. The Bible tells 00:07:36.029 --> 00:07:39.870 us to mourn our losses. Which is bad things that 00:07:39.870 --> 00:07:42.370 have happened to us. The Bible tells us to mourn 00:07:42.370 --> 00:07:45.149 our disappointments. Which are good things that 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:48.230 didn't happen to us. The Bible says we're to 00:07:48.230 --> 00:07:53.459 mourn our sins. I'm to grieve my sins. The Bible 00:07:53.459 --> 00:07:55.540 says we're to grieve and mourn over the suffering 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:58.279 that's in this world. The Bible says that we're 00:07:58.279 --> 00:08:01.120 to grieve over friends and family who don't know 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:06.740 Jesus and are spiritually lost. God desires that 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:10.399 we grieve and we work through the pain of life, 00:08:10.459 --> 00:08:13.079 which leads us to our first tattoo. Let's take 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:18.300 a look. Sarah writes, Throughout my childhood, 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:21.220 I rarely attended church. It's not that I was 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:23.180 a non -believer because I definitely believed 00:08:23.180 --> 00:08:26.579 in God, Jesus, heaven, and hell. I just wasn't 00:08:26.579 --> 00:08:29.519 a practicing Christian. During college, my father, 00:08:29.540 --> 00:08:32.340 with whom I have a tumultuous relationship, introduced 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:35.440 me to the church he was attending. I enjoyed 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:38.779 going to church and was baptized in 1998 when 00:08:38.779 --> 00:08:41.629 I was 19 years old. I felt the Holy Spirit move 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:44.049 through me and would find myself excited to go 00:08:44.049 --> 00:08:46.629 back so I could continue to experience it again 00:08:46.629 --> 00:08:49.710 and again. Over time, though, I began to move 00:08:49.710 --> 00:08:52.429 away from actively attending church because of 00:08:52.429 --> 00:08:56.350 my father's and church's hypocrisy. Moved forward 00:08:56.350 --> 00:09:00.750 23 years to April 19, 2021, and my life as I 00:09:00.750 --> 00:09:03.629 had known it to be, the dreams I had for my future, 00:09:03.769 --> 00:09:06.649 and my faith in God was rocked to its very core 00:09:06.649 --> 00:09:09.450 with my youngest son, Aiden. died from suicide 00:09:09.450 --> 00:09:13.690 at the very young age of 15. We had no idea he 00:09:13.690 --> 00:09:15.570 was struggling with his mental health to the 00:09:15.570 --> 00:09:19.190 depths and degrees he was and to feel, believe 00:09:19.190 --> 00:09:21.389 that ending his life was a better option than 00:09:21.389 --> 00:09:24.590 remaining here on earth. He had no idea that 00:09:24.590 --> 00:09:26.710 he wouldn't have to fight alone, that his dad 00:09:26.710 --> 00:09:28.889 and I would have stood in front of him and taken 00:09:28.889 --> 00:09:31.590 the hits he was being forced to take from his 00:09:31.590 --> 00:09:36.090 relentless bullies. Losing Aiden left me shattered. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.240 No parent should ever go through the death of 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:41.639 their child. I couldn't understand, couldn't 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:44.860 fathom how God would allow such a tragedy to 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:48.259 happen. I've kept questioning him. Haven't endured 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:50.779 enough in my life with all the abuse I was forced 00:09:50.779 --> 00:09:54.039 to grow up with. What more did I need to prove 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:56.860 to you? Why wasn't enough for my child to keep 00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:59.710 him from choosing to die? Why would God give 00:09:59.710 --> 00:10:02.070 me such an amazingly wonderful, empathetic, sensitive, 00:10:02.230 --> 00:10:04.649 intelligent, hardworking, athletic, friend to 00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:07.629 all, inquisitive, passionate, full of life child 00:10:07.629 --> 00:10:11.049 only to take him away from me too soon? Rather 00:10:11.049 --> 00:10:13.509 than turning towards God, I turned away from 00:10:13.509 --> 00:10:16.450 him. I blamed him for my suffering, for Aidan's 00:10:16.450 --> 00:10:18.769 suffering, for my oldest son's grief, for my 00:10:18.769 --> 00:10:21.909 husband's feelings of guilt. I thought if God 00:10:21.909 --> 00:10:23.690 was real, there's no way he would have allowed 00:10:23.690 --> 00:10:27.299 my life to be decimated. Move forward again this 00:10:27.299 --> 00:10:30.399 time to October 2024, when some of our greatest 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:32.480 friends invited us to their church they'd been 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:36.039 sharing amazing stories about for months. The 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:38.399 first Sunday we attended, I was guarded. I wasn't 00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.480 sure I could trust a church or God ever again. 00:10:41.700 --> 00:10:44.940 I would classify our first service as unremarkable 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:47.919 for me. I didn't feel the Holy Spirit in any 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:51.700 way that I had wished or hoped for. During our 00:10:51.700 --> 00:10:54.600 second visit, the Holy Spirit took up residence 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:57.830 in my soul. I literally felt it wash over me 00:10:57.830 --> 00:10:59.929 and the love that poured down my cheeks wasn't 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:02.830 something I had felt in over three years since 00:11:02.830 --> 00:11:06.710 Aiden's death. I hadn't felt a love like that 00:11:06.710 --> 00:11:11.009 in a long time. Since that time, I've only missed 00:11:11.009 --> 00:11:14.230 one service. And the messages I know have been 00:11:14.230 --> 00:11:16.250 placed on my heart have been God's way of reminding 00:11:16.250 --> 00:11:19.029 me that he is here. And in fact, he has always 00:11:19.029 --> 00:11:21.710 been here, even when I wasn't open to receiving 00:11:21.710 --> 00:11:26.019 him and his gifts. It's through God's love. That 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:28.399 I hope and I believe he will help and lead me 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:30.840 out of the darkness I've been drowning in for 00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:36.399 almost four years. Friends, God doesn't expect 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:41.220 us to be happy all the time. Which leads us to 00:11:41.220 --> 00:11:44.899 our next thought. See, grief is essential to 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:47.879 our health. Grief is essential to our health. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.700 Grief is essential to our emotional health, our 00:11:51.700 --> 00:11:54.590 spiritual health, our physical health. And our 00:11:54.590 --> 00:11:57.470 mental health. In fact, if we never grieve or 00:11:57.470 --> 00:12:00.090 are sad about anything, it means one of two things. 00:12:00.409 --> 00:12:03.690 One, we're out of touch with reality because 00:12:03.690 --> 00:12:06.230 there's a lot of things that be said about in 00:12:06.230 --> 00:12:09.350 this world. Or two, we're out of touch with our 00:12:09.350 --> 00:12:11.990 own emotions and we're living in denial. Because 00:12:11.990 --> 00:12:16.309 when we love, we experience sad things. That 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:21.309 makes us grieve. Grief is a painful emotion, 00:12:21.509 --> 00:12:23.879 but listen. I want to encourage you, it's a healthy 00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:28.200 emotion. Grief, in fact, is God's gift. It's 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:31.059 his tool that he gives us to get through the 00:12:31.059 --> 00:12:34.279 transitions in this life. We must remember there 00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:38.379 is no growth in our life without change. We can't 00:12:38.379 --> 00:12:40.559 grow without change, and there's no change without 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:45.700 loss because we lose some of the old when we 00:12:45.700 --> 00:12:48.679 experience the new. And to go through life without 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.200 grieving is like a mother who says, I want to 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:57.460 have a baby without the pain of labor. See, there 00:12:57.460 --> 00:13:00.620 are two unhealthy actions, two losses that we 00:13:00.620 --> 00:13:03.740 experience in life. One is repression and the 00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:08.639 other is suppression. Repression is when I unconsciously 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:11.639 try to block painful thoughts out of my mind. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:15.860 That's repression. Suppression is when I consciously 00:13:15.860 --> 00:13:20.389 try to block the pain out of my mind. And in 00:13:20.389 --> 00:13:22.330 both of these circumstances, they're denials. 00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:25.929 When we go through difficult times and our heart 00:13:25.929 --> 00:13:29.350 is hurting, God doesn't want us to suppress it 00:13:29.350 --> 00:13:32.710 and God doesn't want us to repress it. In fact, 00:13:32.730 --> 00:13:35.970 God wants us to express it, to get it out to 00:13:35.970 --> 00:13:39.809 friends and to confess it to him. He wants us 00:13:39.809 --> 00:13:44.730 to let it out. And if we don't let it out, then 00:13:44.730 --> 00:13:47.769 we're going to act it out. If we don't let it 00:13:47.769 --> 00:13:49.649 out in healthy ways, we're going to act it out 00:13:49.649 --> 00:13:53.769 in very unhealthy ways. And see, some of us were 00:13:53.769 --> 00:13:56.909 hurt many years ago while growing up. Maybe you 00:13:56.909 --> 00:13:59.809 experienced a divorce, abuse, negative words 00:13:59.809 --> 00:14:03.950 spoken over you. It was painful. And as a child, 00:14:04.009 --> 00:14:06.669 you didn't know how to grieve healthy. So as 00:14:06.669 --> 00:14:09.669 children, what do we do? We stuff it. We push 00:14:09.669 --> 00:14:12.529 it down. We never grieve that hurt, that pain, 00:14:12.529 --> 00:14:16.559 or that trauma. But if we want to move forward, 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:19.740 we have to go back. You have to grieve over it. 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:22.460 Because if we don't grieve the losses in life, 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:24.220 and you know what's going to happen? You get 00:14:24.220 --> 00:14:28.559 stuck in that stage. And you don't move forward. 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:33.879 I'm going to say that again. When we don't go 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.960 through grief, when pain happens in our life, 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:40.299 and we simply stuff it, then we get emotionally 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:43.009 stuck at that stage of life. And we spend the 00:14:43.009 --> 00:14:46.529 rest of our life reacting to something that happened 00:14:46.529 --> 00:14:50.529 years ago. We take it out on the people that 00:14:50.529 --> 00:14:53.470 are around us right now and simply say that it's 00:14:53.470 --> 00:14:58.769 just not fair. It's unhealthy to stuff it. If 00:14:58.769 --> 00:15:02.210 we don't talk it out, then we take it out on 00:15:02.210 --> 00:15:05.250 our own body, on our own emotions, and on other 00:15:05.250 --> 00:15:09.389 people. When we swallow unhealthy emotions, you 00:15:09.389 --> 00:15:11.429 know what happens to our bodies? They get sick. 00:15:12.269 --> 00:15:16.429 David says it this way in Psalm 32, 3. When I 00:15:16.429 --> 00:15:20.509 refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away 00:15:20.509 --> 00:15:25.809 and I groaned all day long. And see, when we 00:15:25.809 --> 00:15:29.309 experience a loss in life, maybe it's a job, 00:15:29.330 --> 00:15:32.970 a loved one, a marriage, a relationship, you 00:15:32.970 --> 00:15:36.870 can either mourn or you can moan and you can 00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:43.250 complain. Moaning is negative. What is mourning? 00:15:43.370 --> 00:15:46.389 Mourning is positive. That's when we're blessed. 00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.450 Listen to Psalm 39 too. But as I stood there 00:15:49.450 --> 00:15:51.750 in silence, not even speaking of good things, 00:15:51.889 --> 00:15:56.370 the turmoil within me grew worse. The negativity, 00:15:56.409 --> 00:15:59.110 the trouble that we experience in this life, 00:15:59.309 --> 00:16:03.330 it's not always our choice. Sometimes it happens 00:16:03.330 --> 00:16:07.950 to us, but grief is a choice. When we choose 00:16:07.950 --> 00:16:10.149 to get it out, when we choose to let it out, 00:16:12.110 --> 00:16:14.789 We have to choose to experience the sad emotions. 00:16:15.309 --> 00:16:20.610 And none of us like to be sad. But not everything 00:16:20.610 --> 00:16:24.450 that's helpful feels good. Not everything that's 00:16:24.450 --> 00:16:27.029 healthy feels good. I hear it from you all the 00:16:27.029 --> 00:16:29.710 time. I can't walk. I can't run. I can't exercise. 00:16:29.750 --> 00:16:33.610 It hurts too bad. Of course it does. It's called 00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:38.179 getting healthy. But if we don't mourn the losses 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:40.539 of life, we get stuck at that stage of life and 00:16:40.539 --> 00:16:43.139 we don't experience Jesus' promise in Matthew 00:16:43.139 --> 00:16:46.440 5. God blesses those who mourn for they will 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:50.120 be comforted. And I want God to bless your life 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.659 in spite of all the bad things that have happened 00:16:52.659 --> 00:16:54.879 and in spite of all the bad things that are going 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.820 to happen because more are going to come. And 00:16:57.820 --> 00:17:00.100 in order for God to bless our life, we have to 00:17:00.100 --> 00:17:03.379 mourn because it's then that God comforts us. 00:17:04.359 --> 00:17:06.759 Right? Listen, we don't just get over grief, 00:17:06.859 --> 00:17:09.440 which leads us to our third thought. God encourages 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:13.799 us to walk through our grief. One of the most 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:18.000 famous passages in the Bible, Psalm 23. The Lord 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:21.539 is my shepherd. I have all that I need. He lets 00:17:21.539 --> 00:17:23.720 me rest in green meadows. He leads me beside 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.940 peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides 00:17:27.940 --> 00:17:30.380 me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. 00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.579 When I walk through the darkest valley, I will 00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:39.920 not be afraid. For you are close beside me. Your 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:45.220 rod and your staff protect and comfort me. Here's 00:17:45.220 --> 00:17:48.500 the reality, church. We can't go over grief. 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.200 We can't go under grief. We can't go around grief. 00:17:52.619 --> 00:17:57.500 We have to walk right through it. And if we're 00:17:57.500 --> 00:18:00.099 afraid to express our emotions and refuse to 00:18:00.099 --> 00:18:02.799 go through grief, Then you're going to get stuck. 00:18:03.420 --> 00:18:05.680 And you're going to be unhappy. And you're going 00:18:05.680 --> 00:18:08.900 to be miserable. But God wants to walk through 00:18:08.900 --> 00:18:12.400 our grief and our pain with us. Notice what it 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:15.980 said. He comforts us. He draws us close. Psalm 00:18:15.980 --> 00:18:19.660 34, 18 says, the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. 00:18:20.059 --> 00:18:24.480 He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. And 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:28.440 quite often when we grieve, if you're anything 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:30.400 like me, you feel like God's a million miles 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:34.079 away. When in reality, when we're grieving, we 00:18:34.079 --> 00:18:40.000 just learn that he's never been closer. See, 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.140 what we feel and what is real are not always 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:47.940 the same thing. Not everything that we feel is 00:18:47.940 --> 00:18:50.500 real and not everything that's real do we actually 00:18:50.500 --> 00:18:53.740 feel. And the Bible says God is close to the 00:18:53.740 --> 00:18:56.500 brokenhearted. He pays attention to us. He's 00:18:56.500 --> 00:18:59.119 not distant. He's not far off. He hasn't forgotten 00:18:59.119 --> 00:19:04.319 us. Hebrews 13, 5, for God has said, I will never 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:08.819 fail you. I will never abandon you. And that 00:19:08.819 --> 00:19:11.759 means even in our worst pain, our suffering, 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:14.799 our anger, and our most embarrassing moments, 00:19:14.900 --> 00:19:18.799 our failures and our doubts, God will never abandon 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:23.960 us. He never leaves us. And in fact, God grieves 00:19:23.960 --> 00:19:27.279 with us. See, the reason we have the ability 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:29.480 to grieve is because we're made in God's image. 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:33.579 The only reason we have any emotion at all is 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:37.700 because God is an emotional God. God is a suffering 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:40.140 God and God is a sympathetic God. How do I know 00:19:40.140 --> 00:19:44.539 that? Well, Isaiah 53 tells us he, meaning Jesus, 00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:49.740 was despised and rejected. A man of sorrows acquainted 00:19:49.740 --> 00:19:53.960 with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him 00:19:53.960 --> 00:19:56.640 and looked the other way. He was despised and 00:19:56.640 --> 00:20:01.019 we did not care. See, when we come, to Jesus 00:20:01.019 --> 00:20:04.519 with our pain, he relates to it. He understands 00:20:04.519 --> 00:20:09.039 it because he lived it. He walked it out. Grief 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:12.700 is an evidence of love. The more we love, the 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:15.140 more we are going to grieve about things because 00:20:15.140 --> 00:20:19.259 we're going to lose them. The more we love, the 00:20:19.259 --> 00:20:22.319 more we're going to understand grief. And I want 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.000 to encourage you, sadness is not weakness. Jesus 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.200 was the strongest man that ever lived. And we 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:34.700 know that Jesus wept. For a man or a woman to 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:37.759 show emotion is not a sign of weakness. It's 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:41.420 actually a sign of strength. And is it okay if 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:46.920 I speak to you men a minute? Weak men are scared 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:51.599 of their emotions. Weak men are afraid of tears. 00:20:53.000 --> 00:20:57.920 A strong man shows emotion just like Jesus. Which 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.900 leads us to our next tattoo. Let's take a look. 00:21:01.539 --> 00:21:05.039 Madison writes this. I've been through a lot 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:09.319 in life, from chronic illness to losing my father 00:21:09.319 --> 00:21:12.779 to cancer. Despite these hardships, God has been 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:15.759 there for me through it all and teaches me new 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:19.599 things every single day. We can find salvation 00:21:19.599 --> 00:21:22.359 through Jesus and the Bible, which is good news 00:21:22.359 --> 00:21:26.440 for us all. Having this tattoo reminds me daily 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:30.140 of my purpose in life and that God is there for 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:36.799 me on both the good and the bad days. See, God, 00:21:36.819 --> 00:21:40.519 he uses our grief and our pain to help us grow, 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.460 to help us change, to help us become more like 00:21:43.460 --> 00:21:46.359 Jesus. Listen to 2 Corinthians 4, 17 through 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:50.430 18. For our present troubles are small and won't 00:21:50.430 --> 00:21:53.849 last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory 00:21:53.849 --> 00:21:56.410 that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. 00:21:57.009 --> 00:21:59.690 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now. 00:21:59.789 --> 00:22:03.009 Rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot 00:22:03.009 --> 00:22:06.410 be seen. For the things we see now will soon 00:22:06.410 --> 00:22:11.150 be gone. But the things we cannot see will last 00:22:11.150 --> 00:22:15.730 forever. See, the pain that we may be going through 00:22:15.730 --> 00:22:17.960 right now, It's just preparing us for heaven. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.539 Right? Our present troubles are preparing us 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:24.539 for an eternal glory that will make all these 00:22:24.539 --> 00:22:28.480 troubles here on earth seem like nothing. And 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:31.599 we must realize God is more interested in our 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:35.859 character development than our comfort. Because 00:22:35.859 --> 00:22:39.059 we're going to experience comfort for billions 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:42.519 and billions of years in heaven as we worship 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.710 in God's kingdom. And see, what we're walking 00:22:45.710 --> 00:22:48.869 through now is the get ready stage. This is the 00:22:48.869 --> 00:22:52.269 learning stage. This life is not all there is. 00:22:53.029 --> 00:22:55.650 We are living for so much more. And when we take 00:22:55.650 --> 00:22:58.970 that into perspective, that's what we celebrate. 00:22:59.230 --> 00:23:01.269 Because the amount of time we're going to spend 00:23:01.269 --> 00:23:05.289 here on earth is basically nothing. We get 80 00:23:05.289 --> 00:23:10.210 or 90 years at most. Some 100, very few. But 00:23:10.210 --> 00:23:13.130 that's nothing in comparison to God's kingdom. 00:23:13.690 --> 00:23:17.150 To eternity. And we have the hope of heaven, 00:23:17.210 --> 00:23:21.869 church, living inside of us. We have to tap into 00:23:21.869 --> 00:23:24.650 that source when we're walking through those 00:23:24.650 --> 00:23:26.670 dark valleys, which leads us to our final thought. 00:23:27.309 --> 00:23:32.170 There is purpose in our pain. See, God uses our 00:23:32.170 --> 00:23:35.849 pain, believe it or not, to help others. And 00:23:35.849 --> 00:23:38.710 this is the most important part of grief. I mean, 00:23:38.730 --> 00:23:41.349 think about it. Who can better help a mom that 00:23:41.349 --> 00:23:43.799 is struggling with a special needs child Than 00:23:43.799 --> 00:23:47.000 another mother of a special needs child. Who 00:23:47.000 --> 00:23:49.900 can better help someone who has lost a son or 00:23:49.900 --> 00:23:52.900 a daughter to overdose. Than another mother or 00:23:52.900 --> 00:23:55.200 father who lost a daughter or a son to an overdose. 00:23:55.960 --> 00:23:59.180 Who can better help someone who has gone through 00:23:59.180 --> 00:24:01.700 the pain of an addiction. A marriage failure. 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:05.400 Abuse. Than somebody who actually walked through 00:24:05.400 --> 00:24:08.900 those experiences. See God does not want us to 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:12.019 waste our hurt and our pain. He wants us to embrace 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:15.759 them. to grieve them, 2 Corinthians 1, 3 -4. 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:19.299 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:22.460 Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source 00:24:22.460 --> 00:24:25.400 of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles 00:24:25.400 --> 00:24:29.960 so that we can comfort others. When they are 00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:32.660 troubled, we will be able to give them the same 00:24:32.660 --> 00:24:37.019 comfort God has given us. See, our greatest ministry 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:40.079 comes out of our deepest hurt and our deepest 00:24:40.079 --> 00:24:45.039 pain. And I want to encourage you, your friends, 00:24:45.220 --> 00:24:49.700 your coworkers, your classmates, the world is 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:52.819 watching how we handle adversity. That's what 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:55.319 they want to see. They don't care about our successes. 00:24:55.660 --> 00:24:58.759 They don't care how rich you are. They are watching 00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:01.000 how you handle adversity because everybody handles 00:25:01.000 --> 00:25:04.799 adversity different. And our suffering brings 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:09.380 us credibility with others. Every day, we either 00:25:09.380 --> 00:25:12.099 need to be comforted Or we need to be comforting 00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:16.039 others. And right now, we're either walking through 00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:22.420 pain or we need to help others. And maybe God 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:25.519 wants us to do both at the same time. Because 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:28.119 I'm going to encourage you, all of us are wounded 00:25:28.119 --> 00:25:32.039 healers. All of us. And as we recognize that 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:34.619 and move forward with that, that more and more 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:37.640 lives are transformed by the power of the Holy 00:25:37.640 --> 00:25:40.160 Spirit, which leads us to our four simple action 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:42.059 steps. I want to encourage you, church, start 00:25:42.059 --> 00:25:47.059 healing today. You can start the process right 00:25:47.059 --> 00:25:49.339 now this morning. And the first step is this. 00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:52.819 We have to list our losses. We have to list the 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:55.519 losses. God blesses those who mourn for they 00:25:55.519 --> 00:25:57.720 will be comforted. I want to encourage you. We 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:00.269 need to take an inventory of our lives. We need 00:26:00.269 --> 00:26:02.750 to examine it, and we need to begin to list the 00:26:02.750 --> 00:26:05.230 different losses that we've experienced. It could 00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:07.529 be the pain of rejection. It could be the pain 00:26:07.529 --> 00:26:09.829 of a loved one loss. It could be long -term illness. 00:26:10.190 --> 00:26:13.809 Maybe you lost a home or a job that you thought 00:26:13.809 --> 00:26:16.769 you would have for your entire life. Well, those 00:26:16.769 --> 00:26:20.589 losses that we do not or have not grieved, those 00:26:20.589 --> 00:26:24.569 losses that we've just pushed down and moved 00:26:24.569 --> 00:26:27.289 on with life. Well, I'll get another job. I'll 00:26:27.289 --> 00:26:31.069 take three days off and I'll grieve my father 00:26:31.069 --> 00:26:36.509 and then I'll just start working again. Some 00:26:36.509 --> 00:26:37.789 of you are thinking, well, I don't know if I 00:26:37.789 --> 00:26:40.750 grieved, Chris. Well, then ask God if there is 00:26:40.750 --> 00:26:44.329 pain associated with your losses. Because if 00:26:44.329 --> 00:26:46.569 there's pain associated with the losses, newsflash, 00:26:46.609 --> 00:26:52.250 you haven't grieved. It's kind of like a wound 00:26:52.250 --> 00:26:55.559 that's festering. I mean, many of you know if 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:57.599 you cut your arm or you cut your finger, the 00:26:57.599 --> 00:27:00.359 first thing we do, what is it? We clean it out. 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:03.740 We use soap and water. We wash it out. We flush 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:06.460 it with peroxide. Why? So it doesn't become infected. 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:10.779 But quite often in life, we don't take the time 00:27:10.779 --> 00:27:13.740 to grieve. We don't take the time to grieve the 00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:15.759 painful experiences that we've been through. 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:18.660 And we allow our spiritual and our emotional 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:22.000 wounds to fester and fester over and over and 00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:26.160 over. And why? Why do we allow spiritual and 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:27.680 emotional winds to fester? You want to know? 00:27:27.700 --> 00:27:32.240 It's one word, fear. We're afraid of the emotional 00:27:32.240 --> 00:27:35.859 toll it will take in walking it out. We're afraid 00:27:35.859 --> 00:27:39.279 to forgive because we are hurt too bad. We're 00:27:39.279 --> 00:27:42.640 afraid we'll never be healed. We are afraid that 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:47.019 others will judge us. God blesses those who mourn. 00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:52.480 God blesses and comforts when we grieve the losses 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.519 that we've experienced in this life. There's 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:57.859 nothing to fear, just freedom. I mean, there's 00:27:57.859 --> 00:28:04.779 a reason that 365 times in the Bible it is written, 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:10.119 fear not. Because every day of the year we have 00:28:10.119 --> 00:28:15.220 to get away from fear and move closer to Jesus 00:28:15.220 --> 00:28:17.700 so we can experience freedom. We have to walk 00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:20.700 through that pain. Number one, list your losses. 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:24.980 Number two, lament. You have to have the courage 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:27.420 to lament. Now, some of you have no idea what 00:28:27.420 --> 00:28:30.319 that even means. Lament, it's a big Bible word. 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:33.099 It's one that's not used much in today's culture. 00:28:33.980 --> 00:28:37.319 Lamenting is a kind of action we must do for 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:39.799 us to be healthy emotionally and spiritually. 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:43.559 The definition of lament is this, a passionate 00:28:43.559 --> 00:28:48.289 expression of grief to God. That's lament. I 00:28:48.289 --> 00:28:52.049 cry out to God. I shout to God. I may weep or 00:28:52.049 --> 00:28:54.910 yell at God. It's a passionate expression of 00:28:54.910 --> 00:28:59.210 grief to God. Lamenting is actually an act of 00:28:59.210 --> 00:29:02.769 worship. And you're like, what? So you're telling 00:29:02.769 --> 00:29:05.309 me, Chris, if I'm yelling at God, it's an act 00:29:05.309 --> 00:29:10.049 of worship. Yeah. Including arguing with God 00:29:10.049 --> 00:29:14.039 and complaining to God. Both are forms of lamenting. 00:29:14.039 --> 00:29:19.319 Now notice, I did not say, I did not say complain 00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:25.660 about God. That's a sin. I said complain to God. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.359 I wanted to make sure I got that right because 00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:30.279 I know somewhere in social media world, if I 00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:33.480 got taken out of context, oh, see, he doesn't 00:29:33.480 --> 00:29:35.940 know his Bible. He doesn't understand. He's teaching 00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:41.539 heresy. Complain to God because he can handle 00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:45.720 it. See, God can handle our rage, our resentment, 00:29:45.900 --> 00:29:48.400 our regrets, our anger, our complaining, and 00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:51.559 our accusations. And God can handle our pain 00:29:51.559 --> 00:29:54.119 because he already knows us. He already knows 00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:56.400 what's in our heart. He's waiting for us. He's 00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:00.000 like, okay, Susie, release it back to me. Get 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.579 it off your chest so you can experience freedom. 00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:08.410 I mean, the Bible is full of emotion. Raw emotions 00:30:08.410 --> 00:30:11.109 that are expressed to him by real people that 00:30:11.109 --> 00:30:14.490 are struggling. There's 150 psalms in the Bible. 00:30:15.049 --> 00:30:18.890 65 of those psalms are psalms of lament. I mean, 00:30:18.910 --> 00:30:21.269 David writes this in Psalm 22. My God, my God, 00:30:21.329 --> 00:30:25.009 why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far 00:30:25.009 --> 00:30:27.190 away when I've grown for help? Every day I call 00:30:27.190 --> 00:30:29.490 to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every 00:30:29.490 --> 00:30:31.509 night I lift up my voice and find no relief. 00:30:34.789 --> 00:30:37.700 Haman writes this in Psalm 88. You have taken 00:30:37.700 --> 00:30:41.200 away my companions and loved ones. Darkness is 00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:45.000 my closest friend. Darkness was his own. I mean, 00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.420 that man was struggling. Every emotion known 00:30:49.420 --> 00:30:52.880 to man is recorded in the book of Psalms. And 00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:54.619 that's why it's so important to read the book 00:30:54.619 --> 00:30:57.559 of Psalms. But listen, don't just read the book 00:30:57.559 --> 00:31:00.410 of Psalms. I want to encourage you. Start reading 00:31:00.410 --> 00:31:03.089 the book of Psalms every single day. And as you 00:31:03.089 --> 00:31:05.630 read them, begin highlighting the different emotions 00:31:05.630 --> 00:31:08.990 that you see in those Psalms. And then that way, 00:31:09.069 --> 00:31:11.009 when you're struggling with those emotions in 00:31:11.009 --> 00:31:13.170 the future, what do you do? You go back and you 00:31:13.170 --> 00:31:18.470 read. And you're encouraged. You're lamenting. 00:31:19.430 --> 00:31:21.769 Because it's so important for us to lament back 00:31:21.769 --> 00:31:24.150 to God, which leads us to our third step. Why 00:31:24.150 --> 00:31:29.220 not ask Jesus to heal your heart? You know why 00:31:29.220 --> 00:31:31.059 a lot of people notice Jesus to heal their heart? 00:31:31.819 --> 00:31:34.319 Because they like the pain. Because they think 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:36.579 that's their identity. And they think that they're 00:31:36.579 --> 00:31:38.359 burdened with that for the rest of their life. 00:31:38.400 --> 00:31:42.299 To which I say, I disagree. Luke 4, 18. The spirit 00:31:42.299 --> 00:31:44.599 of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed 00:31:44.599 --> 00:31:47.720 me to preach the gospel to the poor. Now notice, 00:31:47.759 --> 00:31:52.519 this is Jesus' mission here on earth. He has 00:31:52.519 --> 00:31:55.160 sent me to heal the brokenhearted. There it is. 00:31:58.059 --> 00:31:59.960 God doesn't want you to walk around and through 00:31:59.960 --> 00:32:04.099 life with a broken heart, grieving, upset, angry. 00:32:05.240 --> 00:32:07.900 He wants to set you free. He wants to proclaim 00:32:07.900 --> 00:32:09.940 liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to 00:32:09.940 --> 00:32:12.559 the blind, and set at liberty those who are oppressed. 00:32:14.259 --> 00:32:17.839 Jesus is understanding. He is close to us, and 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:20.720 he desires us to be free. And when we bring our 00:32:20.720 --> 00:32:22.920 losses to Jesus, what's he do? He understands 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:25.920 and he relates. We just learned. From the prophecy 00:32:25.920 --> 00:32:29.859 in Isaiah that he was a man of deep sorrow. It's 00:32:29.859 --> 00:32:33.220 what he came to do. As we walk through the valley 00:32:33.220 --> 00:32:35.480 of the shadow of death, we look to Jesus because 00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:40.559 he draws near to us. You know one thing I learned 00:32:40.559 --> 00:32:42.960 this week in preparing for this talk? I learned 00:32:42.960 --> 00:32:46.539 something about shadows. Because remember, we 00:32:46.539 --> 00:32:50.559 walk through the valley of the shadow of death. 00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:53.500 Do you realize wherever there's a shadow, there's 00:32:53.500 --> 00:32:57.680 a light? And as we walk through the valley of 00:32:57.680 --> 00:32:59.940 the shadow of the death, the grief, the pain, 00:32:59.980 --> 00:33:03.700 the suffering, God is encouraging us, turn your 00:33:03.700 --> 00:33:06.380 backs away from the scary, intimidating shadows 00:33:06.380 --> 00:33:10.539 and turn toward the light. Because the light 00:33:10.539 --> 00:33:14.519 is brighter than the darkness. Stop looking at 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:18.519 the shadows and look to the light. And let's 00:33:18.519 --> 00:33:21.460 take a look at our next tattoo. Kelly writes, 00:33:22.170 --> 00:33:25.009 I began my walk of faith just under four years 00:33:25.009 --> 00:33:27.890 ago. Jesus was finally able to reach me during 00:33:27.890 --> 00:33:30.910 my time spent in my garden, which is an entire 00:33:30.910 --> 00:33:33.670 testimony of its own. As I've grown in my faith 00:33:33.670 --> 00:33:35.789 and spent time in my garden with Jesus, I found 00:33:35.789 --> 00:33:37.710 myself listening to praise and worship music. 00:33:38.069 --> 00:33:41.369 The juxtaposition of how dead I had felt spiritually, 00:33:41.670 --> 00:33:43.809 physically, and emotionally, and then how alive 00:33:43.809 --> 00:33:46.190 and absolutely blooming and thriving in my faith, 00:33:46.210 --> 00:33:48.589 especially been worshiping with music, truly 00:33:48.589 --> 00:33:52.259 changed my life. I wanted that captured as not 00:33:52.259 --> 00:33:54.720 only a reminder for myself of where I'd been 00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:57.019 in my journey, but when someone asked me about 00:33:57.019 --> 00:33:58.960 my tattoos, I got the incredible opportunity 00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:02.859 of sharing my testimony. Not what you would expect 00:34:02.859 --> 00:34:05.359 when asking about a very grateful, dead -looking 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:11.679 piece of art. Evangelism through tattoos, which 00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:15.420 leads us, church, to our final step. Not only, 00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:18.659 right? Do we list our losses? Not only do we 00:34:18.659 --> 00:34:20.920 lament, not only do we ask Jesus to heal us, 00:34:21.019 --> 00:34:24.400 we worship. We have to realize that in God's 00:34:24.400 --> 00:34:27.119 kingdom, in heaven, we will be worshiping Jesus 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:30.539 for all of eternity. This life is just what? 00:34:30.599 --> 00:34:32.480 It's just the opening act, and there's so much 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:35.079 more. Look at Revelation 21 .4. He will wipe 00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:36.699 every tear from their eye. There will be no more 00:34:36.699 --> 00:34:39.239 death or mourning or crying or pain. The old 00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:43.289 things are gone forever. The pain, the suffering, 00:34:43.369 --> 00:34:45.769 the loss that we experience in this life. What 00:34:45.769 --> 00:34:48.469 is it, church? It's temporary. In the next, we 00:34:48.469 --> 00:34:51.550 will be free. And we need to point people to 00:34:51.550 --> 00:34:54.809 that reality, that hope that we all have. Look 00:34:54.809 --> 00:34:58.690 at our final tattoo. Kelly again writes, hard 00:34:58.690 --> 00:35:03.449 fall. Hallelujah. This song speaks to the battles 00:35:03.449 --> 00:35:06.769 I face and the courage to fight for faith through 00:35:06.769 --> 00:35:09.590 those difficulties and the praise that comes 00:35:09.590 --> 00:35:19.230 in the midst of. Will you stand with me? I'm 00:35:19.230 --> 00:35:20.710 going to invite you. Now listen, I'm going to 00:35:20.710 --> 00:35:22.949 invite the Holy Spirit to come. I felt like we 00:35:22.949 --> 00:35:25.989 needed to enter a time of prayer. And this is 00:35:25.989 --> 00:35:29.829 how I want to do it. As I was praying this week, 00:35:29.889 --> 00:35:33.349 I knew this talk was going to be a challenging 00:35:33.349 --> 00:35:39.820 one. Because it's real. We all struggle. We all 00:35:39.820 --> 00:35:45.139 go through loss. We all need to grieve. So I'm 00:35:45.139 --> 00:35:47.539 going to ask you to be bold. If you're here this 00:35:47.539 --> 00:35:51.219 morning and you're struggling, and it could be 00:35:51.219 --> 00:35:53.480 any type of loss. It doesn't mean that someone 00:35:53.480 --> 00:35:56.079 died. It could be loss of a job. It could be 00:35:56.079 --> 00:35:59.940 loss of a husband. It could be anything. I want 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:03.159 to invite you to sit down. Just sit down right 00:36:03.159 --> 00:36:11.630 where you are. Sit. Come, Holy Spirit. You're 00:36:11.630 --> 00:36:20.730 grieving. Just sit. Now, if you're around someone 00:36:20.730 --> 00:36:24.949 that's sitting, they're the ones that you're 00:36:24.949 --> 00:36:28.050 called to help. They're the ones that you're 00:36:28.050 --> 00:36:30.949 called to stand in the gap for. So if you could 00:36:30.949 --> 00:36:35.010 get around, get some hands on shoulders. There 00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:40.769 you go. Agree with them. Grieve with them. Holy 00:36:40.769 --> 00:36:47.530 Spirit, come. God, you know the pain. You know 00:36:47.530 --> 00:36:50.730 the heartache. You know what's going on in each 00:36:50.730 --> 00:36:53.590 and every one of these individuals that have 00:36:53.590 --> 00:36:59.110 sat. We just ask God, we cry out, God, for your 00:36:59.110 --> 00:37:02.650 mercy to come. Your peace to be released. Your 00:37:02.650 --> 00:37:07.980 love to wash down over them, God. God, we just 00:37:07.980 --> 00:37:10.780 ask that they see, they understand, God, that 00:37:10.780 --> 00:37:12.599 the pain in the midst of the pain, though it's 00:37:12.599 --> 00:37:15.820 hard, they're going to come out on the other 00:37:15.820 --> 00:37:18.840 side better. That you are close to them. Draw 00:37:18.840 --> 00:37:23.460 close to them, Jesus. Surround them, God. Holy 00:37:23.460 --> 00:37:28.059 Spirit, well up within them. We just pray for 00:37:28.059 --> 00:37:32.940 freedom today, God. We pray for a release. We 00:37:32.940 --> 00:37:37.690 pray for a release of the pain. The anguish of 00:37:37.690 --> 00:37:42.150 the turmoil. We just pray for purpose. Meaning. 00:37:42.849 --> 00:37:52.429 Love. To be released. Come Holy Spirit. Change 00:37:52.429 --> 00:37:59.369 us God. Move in this place. In Jesus name. I 00:37:59.369 --> 00:38:01.710 just want to close. You know that we pray a simple 00:38:01.710 --> 00:38:04.869 prayer here. Every single Sunday. And listen. 00:38:06.989 --> 00:38:11.170 We're all going to spend either eternity with 00:38:11.170 --> 00:38:15.250 Jesus or without him. And there's no better way 00:38:15.250 --> 00:38:17.829 to deal with pain and heartache than allowing 00:38:17.829 --> 00:38:21.989 Jesus to set you free. So search your heart. 00:38:22.070 --> 00:38:23.989 If you're far from God, if you've walked away 00:38:23.989 --> 00:38:25.829 from God, if you've never had that relationship, 00:38:26.030 --> 00:38:28.130 we're all going to pray with you because we believe 00:38:28.130 --> 00:38:30.889 God wants to set you free. Let's pray. Jesus, 00:38:31.090 --> 00:38:36.170 I'm broken. I'm full of doubt, shame, regret. 00:38:37.710 --> 00:38:42.369 sin. Change me. I believe you're God's son. I 00:38:42.369 --> 00:38:47.789 believe you died for me. Set me free. Fill me 00:38:47.789 --> 00:38:51.989 with your spirit. Help me, God, to give back 00:38:51.989 --> 00:38:57.550 and to serve others. In Jesus' name, amen. So 00:38:57.550 --> 00:38:59.369 if you prayed that prayer, let me know. So I'd 00:38:59.369 --> 00:39:01.150 encourage you to get baptized and give you some 00:39:01.150 --> 00:39:04.820 next steps. Next week, we continue our Inc. series. 00:39:04.940 --> 00:39:07.199 And listen, it's going to be another challenging 00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:11.639 Sunday of testimonies as I focus on forgiveness. 00:39:13.179 --> 00:39:15.840 Forgiving others for pain that we've experienced. 00:39:15.960 --> 00:39:18.460 It looks like I'm going to this door. I'm going 00:39:18.460 --> 00:39:20.559 right, so that door won't open until I get there. 00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.659 I love you. Have a great week. Thank you for 00:39:23.659 --> 00:39:26.380 joining us online. We look forward to connecting 00:39:26.380 --> 00:39:35.840 with you again next week. Working out.