SPEAKER_01: So today is Family Sunday.
SPEAKER_01: Family Sunday?
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: Can I have all the kids?
SPEAKER_01: Can all the kids wave at me?
SPEAKER_01: Wave at me?
SPEAKER_01: All the kids?
SPEAKER_01: Okay, right, that's right.
SPEAKER_01: All the kids at heart, would you wave at me?
SPEAKER_01: I I just want to talk to all the kids for just a second.
SPEAKER_01: I want you to know this.
SPEAKER_01: That God loves you.
SPEAKER_01: He does.
SPEAKER_01: And God values you.
SPEAKER_01: And you are so important to God that he gave his son Jesus to come and die for you.
SPEAKER_01: And I also want you to know that as a church, we love you.
SPEAKER_01: And we believe in you.
SPEAKER_01: So we do one more time.
SPEAKER_01: We welcome all the kids to church this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: That's right.
SPEAKER_01: Kids, your job is to keep mom and dad awake.
SPEAKER_01: Keep mom and dad awake, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Keep mom and dad awake.
SPEAKER_01: One other thing.
SPEAKER_01: If you are new with us, we have something called the three-week challenge that people take every single week.
SPEAKER_01: We don't think you get the full FCC experience in less than three Sundays.
SPEAKER_01: So if you'll come three times, they don't even have to be in a row.
SPEAKER_01: We would love to give you a hoodie or a t-shirt at the next steps and info table in the lobby.
SPEAKER_01: You can even let us know you're taking the challenge by tapping the tap tag in the seat back in front of you.
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's get into the message this morning.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be in 2 Timothy chapter number four, 2 Timothy chapter 4, and we are in week two of a series entitled How are Healing from Life's Hurts?
SPEAKER_01: I'm getting ahead of myself already.
SPEAKER_01: Healing from Life's Hurts.
SPEAKER_01: And one of the greatest blessings in the church is that it's made up of people.
SPEAKER_01: While at the same time, one of the greatest challenges in the church can be that it's made up of people.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: People can be awesome, they can encourage you.
SPEAKER_01: Except for the Raiders fans, they're not very encouraging.
SPEAKER_01: People can encourage you.
SPEAKER_01: People can pray for you, they can carry your burdens.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, so many times I come in here and you guys are just so encouraging.
SPEAKER_01: But there are other times.
SPEAKER_01: Other times.
SPEAKER_01: Where people can, man, they just say the wrong thing at the wrong time.
SPEAKER_01: There are other times where where people can hurt us, where people can wound us.
SPEAKER_01: And when it happens in the church, it's almost like magnified because the church is supposed to be a place of healing.
SPEAKER_01: And when we experience a hurt, it just makes it even worse.
SPEAKER_01: And today in part two of this series, Healing from Life's Hurts, we're gonna talk about healing from church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: Healing from church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna talk today about what is genuine church hurt versus something that isn't genuine church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: And when we experience genuine church hurt, how do we actually heal from this?
SPEAKER_01: Now here's the reality of genuine church hurt is that church hurt will either drive you from Jesus or drive you to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It'll either strengthen your faith or it will weaken your faith.
SPEAKER_01: I I experienced some some church hurt when I was in college.
SPEAKER_01: The college I went to was very closely connected with the local church, and leaders in the college were also leaders in the church.
SPEAKER_01: I had a job where I worked 10 hours a week in the college.
SPEAKER_01: My job was to recruit high school students to come to the college.
SPEAKER_01: And there was a couple weeks before I was graduating, I was like 20, 21 years old.
SPEAKER_01: And my boss, who is a leader in the church, he called me into his office and he said, I want to talk to you.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Cool, I'm graduating a couple weeks.
SPEAKER_01: He's gonna encourage me, he's gonna give me some wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I need all the wisdom I can get.
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, maybe if I'm super fortunate, maybe maybe he'll give me like a gift card to like the campus coffee shop.
SPEAKER_01: That would be great, right?
SPEAKER_01: But I experienced something completely different.
SPEAKER_01: I stepped into his office and he said, sit down.
SPEAKER_01: Share, uh-oh.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, You've been lazy, you're not working hard.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what has been going on with you.
SPEAKER_01: And he went on to say things that were factually incorrect.
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, sir, I'm not sure.
SPEAKER_01: Like, if you have like the wrong person here, and and that kind of got him a little more, you know, a little more excited.
SPEAKER_01: Now, to make matters worse, his window, his his office had two large windows, which is wonderful if you're getting employee of the month.
SPEAKER_01: Not so wonderful if you're getting publicly executed.
SPEAKER_01: I said, sir, I don't really know if like, you know, you got the wrong guy.
SPEAKER_01: And he was like, Oh, really?
SPEAKER_01: He was like, Well, I'm gonna call the dean's office right now.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna find out your attendance record because I'm sure you've been lazy all semester.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Whew.
SPEAKER_01: I was like, now we're having a court trial to pull out the evidence here.
SPEAKER_01: And he calls the dean's office and he says, I want the attendance record for Nate Stone Street.
SPEAKER_01: And the dean's office, and then he puts it on speaker so I can hear.
SPEAKER_01: He says, They say, uh, Nate Stone Street's like, yes, so they take a moment and they pull up the records or whatever.
SPEAKER_01: They said he has had 180 classes this semester.
SPEAKER_01: He has one unexcused absence out of 180, and he has been late, tardy for class five times out of 180.
SPEAKER_01: Now, at that moment, I'm like, that's pretty good for a college dude.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, okay, the apology's coming.
SPEAKER_01: The apology's coming, the apology's coming.
SPEAKER_01: Nope.
SPEAKER_01: He doubled down, he disregarded the facts, he gets up out of his seat, he pulls out the preacher pointer finger, he leans over the desk, and he says, he starts to yell, see, I told you you've been late five times.
SPEAKER_01: It shows how lazy you are, and you think you're gonna be a pastor, you think you're gonna be in ministry, there's no way.
SPEAKER_01: And in that moment, I felt about that big.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody could hear.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody could look in the office and see him yelling at me, and this was a Christ follower I respected.
SPEAKER_01: This was a spiritual leader in my life, this was somebody that was supposed to help me grow spiritually, and I learned something at that moment, and it's this.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the people who represent God do a poor job of representing him.
SPEAKER_01: I don't even have to tell you this.
SPEAKER_01: All you gotta do is go through your social media feed, and every other day we're hearing something about this church leader, this pastor, this whatever, right?
SPEAKER_01: And the question for us this morning isn't whether somebody will disappoint us because sometimes people disappoint us or we have unmet expectations at times, or whether sometimes we experience genuine church hurt, which we'll get into that in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: The question is is defining that.
SPEAKER_01: The question is what will we do after that happens?
SPEAKER_01: What will we do in the after?
SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes people are gonna do dumb stuff and things they shouldn't do, and hurtful things and wrong things, and it's terrible and it's bad.
SPEAKER_01: But the question is, what will we do in the after?
SPEAKER_01: Because what we do in the after determines if we will still allow the kingdom of God to go forward through us.
SPEAKER_01: What we do in the after will determine if we will still make a difference in our lives for God.
SPEAKER_01: What will happen in the after will determine if we actually will experience healing, or if we'll just stay bitter, or if we'll say, Well, I'm never gonna be involved in this again when God wants to use you in great and mighty ways.
SPEAKER_01: But it only happens based on the decisions that we make in the after.
SPEAKER_01: And today, what we're gonna see is we're gonna see one of the greatest Christ followers to ever walk the face of the planet, his name was the Apostle Paul.
SPEAKER_01: We are gonna see the specific church hurt that he experienced.
SPEAKER_01: Because he experienced church hurt, and we're gonna experience and see what the apostle Paul did in the after.
SPEAKER_01: And the way you can heal from hurt is if you'll do in the after what the apostle Paul did in the after.
SPEAKER_01: So let's pick it up in 2 Timothy chapter 4.
SPEAKER_01: If you're ready for it, would you say amen?
SPEAKER_01: 2 Timothy chapter number 4, verse number 9.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is writing to Timothy.
SPEAKER_01: Timothy is his apprentice, Timothy's his uh Timothy his is his protege, and Paula has been teaching Timothy about the ministry.
SPEAKER_01: And first and 2 Timothy are all about the church, all about uh how pastors should handle themselves.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul is at the end of his life, he's about to die, and this is what he says to Timothy.
SPEAKER_01: He says, I want you to make every effort to come to me soon.
SPEAKER_01: Because Demas has deserted me.
SPEAKER_01: Since he loved this present world.
SPEAKER_01: You see, Demas was one of Paul's closest friends.
SPEAKER_01: Demas was in the same growth group as Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Demas was on the same served team as Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Demas, Demas, he he wasn't the guy that you see at church every now and again.
SPEAKER_01: And you you like you forgot their name.
SPEAKER_01: So you just say, hey, brother.
SPEAKER_01: That was that wasn't Demas.
SPEAKER_01: Demas wasn't the guy that uh that Paul kind of randomly had seen.
SPEAKER_01: It says, in fact, in in Phonemon 1, verse 24, it says, Demas and Luke, Paul writes this, Demas and Luke, my can we get the next slide up?
SPEAKER_01: Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.
SPEAKER_01: Demas was this guy, Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Demas was his ride or die.
SPEAKER_01: And Demas had left him.
SPEAKER_01: Look what the go back to the text.
SPEAKER_01: If we can go back to verse number 10, it says that Demas had left him since he loved this present world.
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't that Demas, it wasn't that Demas was like, um, well, I had this other opportunity and I can still serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: Demas says, actually, Paul, we used to travel together, we used to serve together, we were boys, but the world is more attractive than following Christ, and I am out.
SPEAKER_01: I can't do this anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not doing it.
SPEAKER_01: And here's something that I think we all know, but I think it's worth noting is that people will disappoint you.
SPEAKER_01: I think we all know that.
SPEAKER_01: But when we talk about genuine church hurt, we're not just talking about somebody disappointing us.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what we're talking about: somebody abandoning us, somebody betraying us, somebody manipulating us, somebody abusing us, somebody using their authority in a church to use you, manipulate you, do something for their own benefit, to hurt you.
SPEAKER_01: That is what genuine church hurt is.
SPEAKER_01: When we've been abandoned, when a church leader, when this person in the church did something to you to use you.
SPEAKER_01: Now, there are other times when we have unmet expectations.
SPEAKER_01: Or there are times when somebody disappoints us.
SPEAKER_01: And that is different from actually experiencing genuine church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you an example.
SPEAKER_01: I have a pastor friend, and there was a family that had not visited, had not been to the church for a couple weeks, and the pastor was just concerned about him.
SPEAKER_01: So he just reaches out and is like, hey, how are things going?
SPEAKER_01: We miss you.
SPEAKER_01: And the family goes, We're not doing very good.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Really?
SPEAKER_01: What's going on?
SPEAKER_01: They said, Well, Pastor, you're mad at us, and we know it.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't think we're ever going back to your church again.
SPEAKER_01: And the pastor, the pastor says, he like racks his brain.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Man, am I am I mad at this person?
SPEAKER_01: Like, he's like, actually, like, I'm not mad at you.
SPEAKER_01: Like, would you help me understand what makes you think that I'm mad at you?
SPEAKER_01: They said, Pastor, I'm glad you asked.
SPEAKER_01: Two weeks ago, we were in service, and there were people that were sitting in the row in front of us.
SPEAKER_01: And you went up and you shook their hand, but you did not shake our hand.
SPEAKER_01: And after you shook their hand, you went up to the front and you had to preach whatever you want to do, but you didn't shake our hand, and that shows that you're mad at us, and because you are mad at us, you have hurt us, and we don't think we're ever going back to the church again.
SPEAKER_01: Because you didn't shake our hand.
SPEAKER_01: How many would understand?
SPEAKER_01: That's not church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: It's almost laughable, right?
SPEAKER_01: In fact, how many would even say if somebody confuses somebody not shaking their hand for church hurt, what that really is, is that's just immaturity.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes people mistakenly confuse their own spiritual immaturity with genuine church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: And and here's why this is so problematic is because when we label our disappointments or spiritual immaturity as a church hurt, we unintentionally minimize the pain of people who have experienced real betrayal, real abuse, real manipulation, or real abandonment.
SPEAKER_01: There's a difference between having unmet expectations or being disappointed versus having genuine church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: And when I'm when I when I say, man, I'll understand, I'll understand.
SPEAKER_01: I emailed Mason a song for us to sing three Sundays in a row, and he we didn't sing it on the worship team.
SPEAKER_01: I'm hurt.
SPEAKER_01: The church doesn't care about me, so I'm leaving.
SPEAKER_01: When we do that, this is what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: This is what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01: We are unintentionally minimizing the people who actually have been genuinely church hurt.
SPEAKER_00: When we think, when we think, when we're like, man, I don't understand.
SPEAKER_00: I showed up for the 11-15 service and there was no parking.
SPEAKER_00: That church doesn't care about me.
SPEAKER_00: There's no parking anywhere.
SPEAKER_00: I had to park down the street.
SPEAKER_00: I don't like that people are coming to church and hearing the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I don't like that the church is so full that we're running out of parking.
SPEAKER_00: Pastor Nate, you need to tell somebody to leave.
SPEAKER_00: I'm hurt.
SPEAKER_01: I'll tell you somebody that needs to leave.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: Just kidding.
SPEAKER_01: And what could happen, what could happen, what could happen is we can have unmet expectations or disappointments, or honestly, just our own immaturity.
SPEAKER_01: And it can be confused with genuine church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: Paul was genuinely church hurt because somebody that served with him literally abandoned him.
SPEAKER_01: Somebody that's like, I'm gonna be with you.
SPEAKER_01: We're in this together.
SPEAKER_01: We that they prayed together, they served together, they made Jesus known together, and and Demon says, actually, Paul, I'm not doing that anymore.
SPEAKER_01: I'm leaving for the world.
SPEAKER_01: That is genuine church hurt.
SPEAKER_01: But there were people that didn't forsake Paul.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, it says in verse number 11, it says, only Luke is with me.
SPEAKER_01: Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's what's interesting about him saying, Bring Mark.
SPEAKER_01: You would think that Paul would never want Mark to come with him.
SPEAKER_01: Here's why.
SPEAKER_01: In Acts chapter 15, the scripture says there was a sharp disagreement between Paul and Mark, and it was such a sharp disagreement that they ended up going separate ways.
SPEAKER_01: The scripture doesn't say clearly what it what it was, what the sharp disagreement was.
SPEAKER_01: Personally, I think one was a Niners fan, one was a Raiders fan, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Or maybe one was a Giants fan, one was a Dodgers fan, which is even worse, okay?
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: There was some type of a sharp disagreement.
SPEAKER_01: And here in 2 Timothy chapter 4, now the apostle Paul says this bring Mark with me.
SPEAKER_01: Like, bring him to me.
SPEAKER_01: You know what this shows?
SPEAKER_01: This shows that Paul was humble and Mark was humble, and they were humble enough to reconcile their differences.
SPEAKER_01: And now at the end of Paul's life, of all the people that he wants to come with him, he says, Hey, I want I want you to bring Mark with you because Mark is useful to me in the ministry.
SPEAKER_01: He says in verse 12, Paul writes, I've sent Tychicus to Ephesus.
SPEAKER_01: When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troaz with Carpis, a cloak.
SPEAKER_01: It's a big thick wool garment that you can use for a blanket or a coat.
SPEAKER_01: Bring that.
SPEAKER_01: Paul here is in prison.
SPEAKER_01: In these prisons, they did not have any heating, they did not have any Wi-Fi.
SPEAKER_01: It was not a good situation.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, hey, bring something to keep me warm.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments.
SPEAKER_01: The scrolls were books.
SPEAKER_01: And these were probably parts of the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul did in his life is like, hey, bring the books.
SPEAKER_01: I still want to learn.
SPEAKER_01: I still want to grow.
SPEAKER_01: In verse 14, he says, Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me.
SPEAKER_01: The Lord will repay him according to his works.
SPEAKER_01: Watch out for him yourself, because he strongly opposed our words.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, This guy named Alexander, the coppersmith, this guy's like a copperhead rattlesnake.
SPEAKER_01: This guy opposed the message of the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: This, because that's what this is what Paul's doing.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's going around making Jesus known, sharing about the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that belief in Jesus is the only way to salvation.
SPEAKER_01: It's the only way to God.
SPEAKER_01: It's only through Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Alexander, here's this message.
SPEAKER_01: Alexander is opposing the apostle Paul in everything that he's doing.
SPEAKER_01: He's saying, No, Paul, you're wrong.
SPEAKER_01: The gospel's not the only way to God.
SPEAKER_01: There are multiple ways to God.
SPEAKER_01: Paul, we don't like what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01: Paul writes to Timothy, he says, Alexander the coppersmith is opposing me.
SPEAKER_01: He has opposed me and he says, Watch out for him.
SPEAKER_01: And then in verse 16, Paul talks about another church hurt that he experienced.
SPEAKER_01: So he's had Demas, one of his boys, abandon him.
SPEAKER_01: Now in verse 16, he says, At my first defense, this is a public court trial.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is on trial.
SPEAKER_01: No one stood by me.
SPEAKER_01: Now one person stood by me.
SPEAKER_01: And look what it says.
SPEAKER_01: It says, but everyone, but everyone, but everyone deserted me.
SPEAKER_01: Can we say the words deserted me together?
SPEAKER_01: Ready?
SPEAKER_01: Desert me.
SPEAKER_01: One more time, 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, but here we go.
SPEAKER_01: Ready?
SPEAKER_01: Deserted me.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Paul says.
SPEAKER_01: I was at a place in my life where I was at a court trial.
SPEAKER_01: I'm being accused of things.
SPEAKER_01: My people, my church family, these people that were supposed to be with me and support me and pray for me.
SPEAKER_01: I would think at least a one or two or three or four.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Paul says.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, every one of them deserted me.
SPEAKER_01: There was nobody, Paul.
SPEAKER_01: Like nobody texted you.
SPEAKER_01: Nobody revered deserted him.
SPEAKER_01: And now Paul has to decide.
SPEAKER_01: Demas has forsaken him.
SPEAKER_01: Everyone has deserted him when he needs him most.
SPEAKER_01: Now Paul has to decide what is he going to do in the after?
SPEAKER_01: What's he gonna do after everybody deserted him?
SPEAKER_01: What's he gonna do after he was forgotten about and abandoned?
SPEAKER_01: And look what Paul chooses to do in the after.
SPEAKER_01: It's something.
SPEAKER_01: That's not very easy to do.
SPEAKER_01: He says this.
SPEAKER_01: He says, May it not be counted against them.
SPEAKER_01: You know what Paul chose to do in the after?
SPEAKER_01: Paul chose to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Watch this.
SPEAKER_01: Paul chose grace over grudges.
SPEAKER_01: How many of you know choosing grace over grudges is hard to do?
SPEAKER_01: How many of you are like me?
SPEAKER_01: It's way easier to choose grudges over grace.
SPEAKER_01: Because what I think is I'm like, they don't deserve grace.
SPEAKER_01: Which then I'm like, wait, isn't that what grace is?
SPEAKER_01: Getting what you don't deserve?
SPEAKER_01: What I think is I'm like, it almost feels like if I extend grace, I'm letting them off the hook for what they did.
SPEAKER_01: How could I extend grace?
SPEAKER_01: No, it's also interesting.
SPEAKER_01: Paul didn't deny what happened to him.
SPEAKER_01: Paul wasn't like, oh, it's okay, everything's fine.
SPEAKER_01: No, Paul very clearly says, he says, they abandoned me, they deserted me.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul acknowledged what had happened to him, and then he chose to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: Friend, we will never be able to heal from church hurt if we don't choose to forgive.
SPEAKER_01: It has to be a decision of the will.
SPEAKER_01: Our emotions are gonna replay things again and again and again and again, right?
SPEAKER_01: My mind's gonna replay things again and again and again and again.
SPEAKER_01: It takes a decision of the will to choose to forgive even though they don't deserve.
SPEAKER_01: To choose to forgive in the after of our hurts.
SPEAKER_01: Now you think about that, and you're like, I like how could how could I how could I forgive?
SPEAKER_01: Like, Pastor Nate, do you realize what this person did to me in this place?
SPEAKER_01: Do you realize how it's manipulated, how it was abused?
SPEAKER_01: Do you realize that?
SPEAKER_01: And I would say, I don't.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know what you've gone through.
SPEAKER_01: I don't act like I do.
SPEAKER_01: But as a follower of Jesus, our ability to forgive, our ability to forgive is not based on what has been done to us, but it's based on what Christ has done for us.
SPEAKER_01: So in the gospel, like we say here, the gospel doesn't just save us, it shapes us, strengthens us, and guides us.
SPEAKER_01: So in the gospel, I have been forgiven by God if my faith is in Christ, that gives me the power to forgive other people.
SPEAKER_01: In the gospel, God has extended grace to me.
SPEAKER_01: So here's what that does: that gives me the ability to extend grace to other people.
SPEAKER_01: And friend, no matter what's happened to you, and I can't even, in a room like this, balcony online, I can't even imagine the unthinkable things that have happened to you.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't minimize it, and I don't say it's okay.
SPEAKER_01: What I do say is as a follower of Jesus, we will never heal until we choose grace over grudges.
SPEAKER_01: Grace over grudges in the after.
SPEAKER_01: Because in the after, if we choose grudges over grace, we will never heal.
SPEAKER_01: In the after, if we choose grudges over grace, we will be bitter.
SPEAKER_01: In the after, if we choose grudges over grace, we will not be able to be used for the kingdom of God like God wants to use us.
SPEAKER_01: In the after, if we choose grudges over grace, we will never discover that God can strengthen us even in the after.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's what happened in verse 17.
SPEAKER_01: Look what it says.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says, But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that I might fully preach the word, and all the Gentiles might hear it.
SPEAKER_01: So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
SPEAKER_01: Paul is writing about the after.
SPEAKER_01: He's like, Yep, I've been hurt.
SPEAKER_01: Demons forsook me.
SPEAKER_01: All those Jesus followers that said they were gonna be with me.
SPEAKER_01: Like they I was on trial.
SPEAKER_01: Like, can y'all just like maybe stand outside, like, pray, do something?
SPEAKER_01: They were all deserting me.
SPEAKER_01: And in the after, this is what this is what happened, and this is so powerful, guys.
SPEAKER_01: Don't miss this, don't miss this.
SPEAKER_00: In the after, the Lord stood with him, the Lord strengthened him, the Lord didn't forsake him, the Lord was still here, and then this is what Paul says because of this.
SPEAKER_00: So now that I fully now I'm still preaching the word, I'm still doing what God wants me to do.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what Paul did, and this is what I encourage us to do is to stay faithful in the after.
SPEAKER_01: Is to stay faithful in the after.
SPEAKER_01: Paul says the the hurt that I experienced didn't drive me from Jesus, it it drove me to Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: It made me more dependent on him.
SPEAKER_01: It allowed me to find my strength in him more than anything else.
SPEAKER_01: And because of this, I use my gifts and skills and passions to make Jesus known to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_01: And something that's that can be dangerous about church hurt is that church hurt can be one of the greatest tools the enemy uses to get you from fulfilling the purpose that God has for you.
SPEAKER_01: We can experience genuine hurt in the church, and in the after, this is what we do.
SPEAKER_01: We might even say, I'm gonna choose grace over grudges.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna forgive.
SPEAKER_01: But what I'm also gonna do is I'm gonna sit on the sideline and I can never really engage in making Jesus known again.
SPEAKER_01: I can never really engage in using my gifts and my skills and my passions in the local church because this happened to me over here.
SPEAKER_01: Now, sometimes in a season of church hurt, genuine church hurt, we need to go to a different church.
SPEAKER_01: But we don't need to give up on the church because the church is designed for our spiritual growth.
SPEAKER_01: And the church is how God has uh God's design to move his gospel forward.
SPEAKER_01: And some of us in the room right now, we're living in the after, and maybe we're disillusioned, and maybe we have all these questions, and maybe we're not sure what to do.
SPEAKER_01: Can I just say stay faithful in the after because God has something for you in the after?
SPEAKER_01: And in the after can be your greatest source of ministry and strength.
SPEAKER_01: And God can use you in greater ways in the future than he's ever used you before.
SPEAKER_01: And what the enemy wants to do is he wants to use this church hurt to say, I am done, I can never do this again.
SPEAKER_01: And as your friend, I stand up here and I could say, I get it.
SPEAKER_01: But the apostle Paul would tell you, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, in the after is when some of my greatest ministry happened.
SPEAKER_01: If you will choose to stay faithful.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna ask the worship team to come up here and I'm gonna end uh end with two questions this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the questions I want to end with this morning.
SPEAKER_01: Here's the first question Is will you choose to be the person that extends grace and forgiveness instead of holding grudges?
SPEAKER_01: Maybe in your life right now, maybe you would say, Hey, I don't have any grudges against anybody.
SPEAKER_01: That's great.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe you do.
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people are tough.
SPEAKER_01: But would you choose to say, I'm going, I'm going to extend grace and forgiveness.
SPEAKER_01: Here's my second question: is this is will you choose to be faithful in the after?
SPEAKER_01: Will you choose to say, I'm I'm gonna be faithful no matter what happens?
SPEAKER_01: In a moment, we're gonna sing a song of worship to the Lord, and our prayer team is gonna be available.
SPEAKER_01: And I invite you to come forward and pray.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe God has spoken to your heart through this message.
SPEAKER_01: Maybe there's something else in your life, in your heart, that you just you just need prayer for.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna be open and available to pray with you.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna have a song of worship and praise to the Lord.