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Crystal Sparks' Podcast
Our one goal of this podcast is to grow your faith and help you accomplish your dreams and your goals.
Crystal Sparks' Podcast
191. [Philippians Study] Find Me Blameless
What if your everyday complaints were actually a form of blasphemy? In this powerful exploration of Philippians 2:15-18, we discover the radical call to become "blameless and harmless children of God" in a world that values self-defense and righteous anger.
The ancient Greek word "akareos" paints a striking picture of Christians as defenseless lambs without horns – completely vulnerable yet protected by the ultimate Shepherd. This counterintuitive approach challenges our natural instinct to defend our reputation, "clap back" at critics, or vindicate ourselves when wronged. Through personal stories and biblical insights, we see how taking the high road isn't weakness but profound spiritual strength.
The episode concludes with a powerful reminder that our entire Christian journey begins and ends with simple trust in God. Just as the Israelites forgot God's mighty works and focused on their inadequacies, we too can lose our effectiveness when we shift the spotlight from God's power to our limitations. When facing impossible situations, our testimony should remain unchanged: "I trust God."
My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!
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Welcome to another part of my Philippians study that I have been doing with our staff at Staff Chapel. If you haven't listened to the other parts, you might want to go back deeper into my podcast, check out those episodes and catch yourself up to join where we're at today. Check out those episodes and catch yourself up to join where we're at today. So okay, so we're in Philippians 2, 15 through 18. We'll read this section first. It says let's go ahead and go 14. It says do all things without complaining and disputing. Remember how, last time we talked about how Christosom says that grumbling is terrible and that it's akin to blasphemy. So literally, when we're complaining, it's the same as being a blasphemer, which is saying God doesn't exist. And if we carry that kind of weight, that kind of perspective of when we're complaining about service times, when we're complaining about traffic, when we're complaining about our kids, about our spouses, complaining about I have nothing to wear. Complaining about what we have to eat, complaining about our seat, complaining about just fill in the blank, chris Austin would say it's the same as being a blasphemer. I don't want to be a blasphemer. And so do everything without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God, without fault, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain. Rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain, yes, and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. For the same reason, you also be glad and rejoice with me. Okay, so we've got a lot happening here. Verse 15, he says that you may become blameless.
Speaker 1:Blameless, spurgeon says here. He says heathens thought that Christians the worst have been, but were compelled to confess them to be the best have been, even though they were Christians. You know. Blameless literally meaning like we shouldn't give people ammunition of why they hate Christians. Like it's actually hate Christians, like it's actually the opposite. Like we should live a life that's set apart, that's different, and so don't arm somebody with more reasons to hate you. Like take the high road. We should always be taking the high roads. Like there shouldn't be, it shouldn't be easy to find reasons to be against Pastor Tylan, like it should be actually that we find him blameless, and so our goal is to live our life in that way.
Speaker 1:The word blameless here could also be harmless, and the Greek word is akareos, and it's the picture. The word picture would have been like a lamb that doesn't have horns or the ability to defend itself, and so, quite literally, like a defenseless lamb. That's what we're called to be. Is that we're completely defenseless? And if we're a completely defenseless lamb, who's our defense then? The shepherd, right? So I'll just say this just because you can defend yourself doesn't mean you should. Just because you're clapping back at somebody doesn't mean you should. Just because you can post something catty or send a text message about somebody else and gossip about them, doesn't mean you should, are we okay? Matthew 10, 16, jesus says behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless that word akareos as doves. And so this is literally God. Jesus is describing it the same way.
Speaker 1:So, guys, here's the thing is, I'm not surprised when the world acts like the world, but I am surprised when you stop acting like a Christian. And just because somebody does something wrong doesn't mean that you get to like defend yourself and start spreading nasty things about people or saying nasty things about people. We take the high road, just like in full vulnerability. There's a lady that she has this whole story she's crafted about me and popped off at the Easter callback team. And that's fine, that's totally fine. She has a story that she's written about me and to her. I hurt her feelings and that's real, that's valid. But we are going to take the high road and we're going to do everything we can to make it right with her. Now she does not want to do anything right. She's still full of like vile and anger. But I'm taking the high road.
Speaker 1:And so, again, I'm not surprised when the world acts like the world. I am disappointed when Christians start acting like the world and I could just as easily pull out an arsenal and start defending myself. That's not the goal. Husbands, wives, like. The goal isn't that You're at home beefing with each other and if your marriage looks like just as toxic as the world, if you wouldn't get on stage and talk to each other the way that you talk to each other at home, what the freak are we doing, emily, if somebody recorded your dorm conversations and played them over the speakers, would you be embarrassed or would you be blameless? If somebody KK like recorded how you talked about the Easter set and how everything went and it got played back to your team, would it be blameless? Are we good, like our words? He's saying hey guys, like I'm sending you out into the world and there's going to be wolves out there, but as you're amongst wolves, don't start acting like a wolf, you're a dove. He's picking in both of these. When Jesus is talking about and Paul is talking about it's the most defenseless two animals there is. And Paul is talking about it. It's the most defenseless two animals there is.
Speaker 1:And I remember there was a time my dad like he, my biological dad he like did this whole campaign against me, which is like so comical, and he was posting all these Facebook posts about me. He even wrote a book about me like, which is so interesting I'm still curious how many it sold, just out of curiosity and it's like his story of my childhood and how he's like the Messiah basically, and like that he raised me in all things godliness, and I think that's great, like I love that. That's his story. I love that. That's his perspective.
Speaker 1:And my sister kept going aren't you going to stand up for yourself? Like he's posting all these things and like doing all these things, I'm like I don't have to defend myself, because if I'm defending myself, god isn't gonna defend me. And all these people are like jumping on board with him and they're like, oh my gosh, I never knew this. Like she's such a liar, she scripted you so wrong. And I'm like, okay, that's fine. Like I never commented on a single post. He kept sending me messages. He kept doing these things. Are y'all following me? Like either I'm defending me or I'm going to let God defend me.
Speaker 1:There's people that are writing a story about you, and the story that they're writing about you is none of your business. You just keep being harmless as a dove, harmless as a sheep without horns. You just keep doing the last thing that God's called you to do, because either I'm defending myself or God's defending myself. And it's like one church people are the most scrappy people, because if they start scrapping about the church one church people they want to roll up their sleeves and get in there and start throwing punches and like here's the thing, guys, you don't have to defend us. God will defend us. Like, just let people say whatever they want.
Speaker 1:I think it takes more strength to do that than to clap back. Are we good? And at some point in your journey you're going to have to learn this. And Paul's saying hey guys, you're going to become blameless and harmless. Like do I do more harm in rooms that I go into or am I building up? Am I destroying what God's building? And a lot of times we're destroying it with our words, with our actions.
Speaker 1:But I want to be harmless children of God, without fault, in the midst of crooked and perverse generation. Yeah, the world is bad, but it doesn't give me permission to act like them. And it's like sometimes the Lord's literally me. Like, if social media is causing you to clap back, then you need to get off social media. Like, if social media is changing how I see marriage and my function as a woman in the world, as a Christian, then I need to get off social media. Like the world is crooked and perverse. It doesn't give you permission to live with the same crooked and perversity that they have. Is this okay?
Speaker 1:All right, holding fast to the word of life. So what am I holding on to? I'm holding on to the logo, zoe, like I'm holding on to what God says, like God's word is my standard. The standard is not the word, the world. The standard is the word. So I hold fast to what the word of God says. The word of God says that I'm not going to be a gossiper. The word of God says that I'm a peacemaker. The word of God says that I'm the one who goes first in forgiveness. That's what the word of God says. And so I'm not a bridge burner. I'm not. I'm not. I don't keep score on people. We good Hold fast to the word of life. So that I may rejoice, we've got a joy count in 16. We're at joy count number five, that I may rejoice, in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.
Speaker 1:You are Paul, you are Paul. How do you think that you might run in vain? Because his race has determined how well people run around him. And guys, let me just tell you, this race that we're called to, it's a corporate sport. So if Rance doesn't get across the finish line, I'm not getting across the finish line. If Shaq doesn't get across the finish line, I'm running in vain. If Ashley doesn't do what God's called her to do.
Speaker 1:I'm running in vain, and a lot of times this is what we start doing. Well, I'm just doing my thing and I don't care about anybody else, like it doesn't matter what anybody else is doing, I'm doing my thing. No, there is no solo race. This is a race where we're all together and Paul says listen, if you don't walk in this way, I've run in vain. Like when I get to eternity, I'm missing out on the full reward. If anybody is justified in getting a full reward when they cross the finish line, I would say it's paul. Anybody else agree.
Speaker 1:But paul's saying guys, church at philippi, how you run impacts whether or not I ran in vain. What if we looked at our team with that same kind of burden, that our eternal reward is hinged upon their success, them becoming who God's called them to be? What if we looked at it in that same way? And that's what Paul's illustrating here is this communal faith, and even all throughout Paul's letters, it's an inclusive. He talks about our faith, our pursuit, our running, our prayers, our praise. It's a communal type thing, and so, if ever I'm disconnecting my faith from other people's faith, I've run into a solo journey, and a solo journey is not the win. The win is that we all come across the finish line together. Okay, so he says, yes, that I'm being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice and service of your faith, your faith, the sacrifice is what their faith. I am glad and rejoice with you all. We have another joy, count number six. But I think this is interesting because Paul repeats the same kind of verbiage in second timothy 4 2. He says for I'm already being poured out as a drink offering and the time for my departure is at hand. This is amazing because A drink offering we see it for the first time in genesis, chapter 35 Jacob pours out a drink offering to the Lord, and drink offerings oftentimes were thought of as waste.
Speaker 1:Because every other time that we see blood being done within Leviticus what's up? One College, you little Leviticus scholars what do we often see it happening? What do we see? Like sprinkling and it's put on certain things strategically.
Speaker 1:But a drink offering looks like waste because you collect the blood from the animal and it's just poured out on the ground in front of the altar, and so the main show of what's happening is the sacrifice that's getting burnt up on the altar. The blood seems to be just being wasted, just being poured out. And so in Leviticus 15, we see a drink offering of a lamb, a ram and a bowl. And then in Numbers 26, we see each offering includes a drink offering. So what's interesting is, when a lamb was offered, this would be the least amount of blood that would be offered as a drink offering, which would be one and a half gallons. And so you pour out, they are pouring this out and they would pour it out for their homes. It actually has biblical roots. And so you're taking your drink and you're pouring out before God, and they would bring a hen of wine or blood, a quart to a half gallon of wine, and it would look like waste to the world, but to God it looked like worship, like to the world it looks like a waste, but it was always with. The main show would be the offering that's being presented on the altar and then this would be poured out. It seems like waste.
Speaker 1:Paul is saying your faith is the offering to God. I'm the one that's just being poured out, and a lot of times in leadership we think we're the main offering and the people are the waste. We think I'm the star and they're the ones that are the extra. And Paul says is actually the opposite. Your faith is the offering. I'm the one just being poured out, I'm the one that you're looking at it and you think it's a waste of a life, because I've been shipwrecked, I've been in prison, I've been beaten, I've been rejected. It looks like waste, but to God it looks like worship. And if ever we stop start elevating our sacrifice above the sacrifice of others, of look at how much I've given and we're promoting our sacrifice as though we're the one on the altar and our team is just the drink offering. I serve all these hours, I do all these things, I'm giving up all this stuff, I'm doing this and my team. But Paul had opposite view. The church at Philippi didn't even know the persecution that Paul had been through. I would say Paul had sacrificed more in the natural. In my mind, he's the one on the altar, philippi is the extra, but Paul says the reverse. And I just think that just speaks of the humility of Paul. And guys, we're going to lead well when we have that perspective. And if ever you start elevating your sacrifice above the sacrifice of your team, you start elevating what you're doing above what your team is doing. You're missing the whole thing. And so you're getting something out of this Wine is a metaphor for the blood of Christ being poured out at the cross.
Speaker 1:On the sacrificial offering, the animal was burned and they would pour the wine. And he's saying you, philippi, are the lamb, you are the one that is a pleasing sacrifice to God. I am just the cup, I'm just being poured out. I don't have a high view of myself and a low view of others, and I think this is where we need to stay, where we need to remain. And what's amazing is Paul doesn't even know that the blood that is inside that lamb they measure it out and that would be about the amount of blood that is inside of a human and Paul doesn't even know that they hadn't even gotten to that point in science yet to know that the same amount of blood. So, when he's saying this, under the unction of the Holy Spirit, that I'm being poured out, it would have been the same measure that was being poured out as a drink offering. So his blood literally being the sacrifice that's being poured out. How beautiful that is. And thinking about how he's saying I'm the blood that's being poured out, like I'm doing this, but you may see it as waste, but God sees it as worship. Can I just say you may see your sacrifice that you've done as waste, but God sees it as worship. You may God does, like people may not see all the things that you're doing, but God does and he sees it as worship. Verse 18, for the same reason, you also be glad and rejoice, joy, count number seven with me, and so, and he's saying basically, like all this, like be excited, don't be sad that I'm being poured out as a drink offering. This is great.
Speaker 1:Then we go into Philippians 2, 19 through 24. If you're doing notes in your brackets of your Bible, this is a nice little chiasm we have here. We have in verse 19,. We have 19a would be a on your chiasm structure, and it says but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly. That I may also be encouraged when I know your state. That's B, for I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state.
Speaker 1:That's C. Verse 21,. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ. That's D. That's the point of our chiasmic structure, chiastic structure. And then we have 22,. But you know his proven character that as a son with his father, he served with me in the gospel. That's C. We're going back down on the other side C, c, negative. And then we have 23,. Therefore I hope to send him that at once. So as soon as I see how it goes with me, that's B negative. And 24 it says but I trust In the Lord that I myself Shall also come shortly, so that's A negative. So we have our book, our foots of our mountain. There Is going to be trusting in the lord, um, jesus to be sent, and I love that. He says that I'll come shortly. Okay, come shortly. When I think of like come shortly, I think about people that live like five minutes from a grocery store. What would that be like? I don't know that life, um, because we live 30 minutes from everything at our house, and so he's like I'm going to come shortly. The come shortly he's talking about is an 800 mile one way journey. 800 mile, one way journey. My brain doesn't compute that. I don't call that come shortly, I call that go longly. But again you see this low view of himself that he's not.
Speaker 1:Have you ever had somebody do something for you. And then they're talking about how difficult it was to do it. And you're like oh, thank you for dinner. And they're like oh, I had to go to three stores and the line was so long and then it took forever. And then I got to the car, it was raining, it was actually a hurricane and it blew all the groceries away and I chased them down. And then I came in. I had to dry off all the groceries and then like and you're like, by the time they get to the end of it, and they're like huffing, and they're like now I have to clean the whole kitchen. And I'm so glad you came though. And you're like I'm sorry, I showed up, paul goes, I'm just going to come shortly. Now it's 800 miles one way. So it means you go 800 miles and then, guess what, you have to go back 800 miles.
Speaker 1:And he's like Timothy's going to do this. And Timothy's just like yeah, I'll go shortly, I'll go run to the store real quick. What if we stopped huffing about, oh, I got to go to Costco for, uh, for fast track. Oh, so hard. Now I'm just going to come shortly. It's not a big deal. It's my joy to get to do this? Like I get to do this. Oh, I got to get there early because I got to meet up with team and we got to tear down the chairs in the worship center because we got legacy lunch and oh, so hard. No, I'm just going to come shortly. Are y'all feeling me? 800 mile journey. This would have taken a long time to go 800 miles, but I love this because he says he's going to come to you shortly. That I may be encouraged.
Speaker 1:When I know of your state, he's like listen, guys, I'm so excited to find out how you're doing. Like, think about the joy I'm going to go on. I'm going to send somebody on a 1600 mile journey just because I'm so excited to see how you're doing. I'm so excited to meet with you. I'm so excited to hear what's happening in your life, for I have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state. I love this so much because Paul's saying when I send Timothy, it's like I'm sending me. Like when I send Timothy, he's carrying the same heart, the same passion, the same enthusiasm. I want to ask you do you have a Timothy that can sit in rooms that you're not in? Like, our goal is that we have Timothys, right that the goal is that, as we grow, paul wouldn't have been able to manage all these churches if he was the one doing it all. But he's like guys, timothy carries the same heart as me. So, in other words, if you're rejecting Timothy, you're rejecting me. Can I just say, like a staff, like as we grow, like you're representing Brian and I, right, like you're, you're, yes, you have direct reports, but like you're carrying my heart, you're carrying our heart in every room. So can I just say to one another when you reject other staff members, you're rejecting me.
Speaker 1:When you're judgmental and critical about Pastor Tylan, you're judgmental of me. When you're judgmental and critical about fill in the blank Ranchito or Matt, you're critical of me because no one has my heart like them, nobody's gonna carry it like them, like you're not just entrusted, like to your task, to your role, but it's that same kind of caring that Paul's like, if I can't be in the room, I'm okay because I know Zach's going to be in the room and he's going to carry the heart like me. So how you greet people is how they see me greeting them. So if you're rude and short, they're like Pastor Brian's rude and short. If you're too busy and you're like like I've got bigger things to do, then they see it not as Shaq's that way, they see it as Pastor Brian's that way, and he's like nobody carries my heart like him. So how he walks in a room matter.
Speaker 1:How you walk into that lobby matters. How you respond to people matters. How you reply to emails matter. You're not replying as Courtney, you're replying as Brian Wade Sparks, and that's the way people see it. But even more so, they see it as Jesus and it's their view of the church, whether we like it or not. Because when they have a bad interaction with Emily they didn't have a bad interaction with Emily, they had a bad interaction with Brian. Bigger one church, even bigger God, and so we have to be careful, right. And so he says nobody carries my there, my heart, like Timothy. And he says for all, seek um their own, not things which are of Christ Jesus. I think this is interesting because he's saying that selfishness is the antithesis of Christianity. Christ thinks of others first, and often we're thinking of ourselves first. Timothy was chosen not because it doesn't say anything about his giftedness, doesn't say anything about his talent, it's that he was selfless. That's what Paul says.
Speaker 1:As staff, let me tell you we should be the most selfless people here. And if we're thinking, where's my seat, where's my position, where's my accolade, where's my? Nobody just told me thank you, nobody's what, are we okay? And if ever we start like that selfish mentality again, I expect that in the world. I don't expect that from you. Hey, one College, you should be the most selfless people. You should be the first to give up your seat. You should be the first like hey, rance, you need somebody this weekend. I'm your person, man, put me on, put me anywhere. Like what Emily was saying. Like, is there ways that God can't use you? And if there ever is ways that God can't use you, please give up your seat to somebody else, because there's a line of people who'd love to take your spot, they'd love to do what you do. Are we okay? Like I expect people that come in on Sunday to be selfish and act like the world, I expect them to say I want hot coffee, I want my seat. But when staff and college students start acting that way, I'm disappointed.
Speaker 1:But he says the reason Timothy was selected is not because he was the most talented. You may be the most gifted, but God can't use you because you're so. You've got your mind on you and if you got your mind on you, you're not going to make a difference in others. Are we doing? Okay? You still love me. Praise God, amen. So his he says. But you have you know this by his proven character that as a son with his father, he served with me in the gospel. I love that so much.
Speaker 1:Again, he's using familial language and you think about a son with a father. I want to be a son of the house. Well, think about what does the son of the house mean? It means you have responsibility. A son carries responsibility. My son has different responsibilities in my house than if somebody else walked into my house. I have no problem asking my son to take out the trash and I don't do a parade when he does it, it's just take out the trash. Now, if you're a guest in my house and I ask you to take out the trash, I'm gonna be like thank you so much, like you're the best, you're awesome, high fives, like nobody takes out this trash like you. But to my son I'm like Osito get in here and take out the trash and then when it's done, it's just done. I'm still doing the thing. Oh, and after you're done doing that, clean the toilet in the half bathroom. Oh, and, by the way, pick your drawers up off the floor. But my sentences are short. Why? Because a father and a son. You don't need flowery language If you're offended because you wanted to be a son of the house.
Speaker 1:But then you're offended because the sentences got short. You didn't want to be a son, you just wanted to be a guest. And if I have to be like, no one's like you, ty, no one's like you because you made the roster. Congratulations, you're a son, are we okay?
Speaker 1:Okay, second thing about a son is you get rebuked. And if you're not being corrected and you don't respond well to correction, I'll just say you're not a son, you're a hireling. And it's like what's your heart posture when you're corrected? What happens in you? Do you get offended? Well, that's not fair. Like to dig your heels in when your direct report gives you feedback like, hey, i's not fair. Like to dig your heels in when your direct report gives you feedback like, hey, I'm noticing this. You can like get sold up. Or you can say no, I'm a son, I'm a daughter of the house and a son and a daughter. My kids get corrected. My kids are held accountable for the behavior that they have. You can come in my house and you can have a terrible attitude and that's fine, like as a guest, but as my daughter, you won't, in Jesus name, like you, you are accountable for how you treat people. You are accountable for how you react. You are accountable for those things.
Speaker 1:And he says that his character has been proven. Which it's been proven, which means it's gone through tests and trials. You don't, you don't become a son in the faith by attending a few weeks or being around for a while. It's character over time, it's faithfulness for the long haul. And so he says therefore, I hope to send him at once as soon as I see how it goes with me. I love that so much because he's like guys. I really love Timothy. I don't want to let him go, but I'm going to send him to you. It says but I trust in the Lord that I myself shall come shortly. And so Paul's emphasis from beginning to end was I trust in the Lord Jesus. Our goal, guys, everything God's called us to do, is to trust in the Lord.
Speaker 1:And I was thinking about the story in Numbers and the. I don't think I have time for this, I'm going to go just really fast. Is this okay In Numbers? Whenever they go in to spy out the land and they come back, we all know the story. This is the land, here's its fruit, but the giants in the land are big. Okay, remember, we talk about narrative in one college. When you know the overall story, you get the point. The point in everything is to remain a faithful witness. Okay, so I was reading, I was thinking about this story the other day and I thought about this.
Speaker 1:The problem with, in that moment, the problem wasn't there. What they saw, the problem wasn't the fruit. And I thought about it this way it's. They started to think they're the ones that parted the Red Sea. They started to think they're the ones that making manna fall. They started to think that they're the ones that were making all these things happen. They forgot that every miracle they had seen up into this point was never measured by their ability.
Speaker 1:But for some reason, they got the spotlight off of God and they got it on themselves. And, guys, let me tell you he's saying from beginning to end I trust in the Lord Jesus, and from beginning to end. We trust in the Lord Jesus. Nobody can do it. You can't make a roster without the Holy Spirit. You can't do what God's called you to do without the Holy Spirit. You can't lead a song set list without the Holy Spirit. You can't do a kid's classroom, especially if it goes over time, without the Holy Spirit. Like you need the presence of God, and that is the main thing.
Speaker 1:And when the children of Israel got the spotlight off of God and got it on themselves, it limited them. And when the children of Israel got the spotlight off of God and got it on themselves, it limited them. And it was because they stopped being faithful witnesses to what they've seen God do. And then we got to remind ourselves what we've seen God do, his faithfulness in every season, and you see this with Joseph, that he remained a faithful witness, even in the pit, even through all the things, he remained faithful to what God's called him to do. And so then we're linking this in.
Speaker 1:We see this theme of like being a faithful witness throughout scripture, but this has been just on my mind is in Revelation, chapter 21, verse 8, 21, verse 8. It says but the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexual, the sorcerers, the idolaters and the liars all have their part in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. It's wild to me that the first is the cowardly. And it's this theme of being hello faithful witnesses that we're called to be. Faithful witnesses, which means how I'm a faithful witness is. I keep the spotlight on God and I keep it off of myself.
Speaker 1:And if you ever start thinking that it's your talent that opens doors, it's your faithfulness, it's your goodness, it's your ability. No, it's our trust in God. God is the one that's faithful. You can't grow your team on your own. You can't make this thing happen without. And he says from beginning to end I'm just gonna let you know here's my plans and what I want God to do, but I trust God and it's gonna end in trusting God. We start every youth service with we trust God. We end every youth service with I trust God. We start every Sunday with I trust God and we end every Sunday and I trust God.
Speaker 1:When did you start making it about you? And whenever I step into me, I'm always going to feel insufficient. Whenever I step into me, I'm going to go. I don't know that I have the talent. I don't know that I have the resources. I don't know that I have the ability, and I'm just like cause. We can talk about the children of Israel with those grapes and coming in and telling them here's the fruit.
Speaker 1:But how many times have we been guilty of the same thing? Because we start measuring what God's asked us to do on our ability and we got to remind ourselves. I never parted the Red Sea in the first place. I never swallowed Pharaoh's chariots in the first place. I didn't make the plagues happen in the first place. I didn't make the manna come in the first place. I'm really not that good.
Speaker 1:And when we start getting the spotlight on us and we forget everything that God's done, we cease to be faithful witnesses, which means we become cowards, hello. So let's get our, let's get our focus back. Let's get our focus back and, as team, as we go into this next week and as we go into this Sunday, let our, let our hearts cry be. I trust God, like from beginning to end. I don't know how this is going to work out, but I trust God. I don't know how to pay off $11 million worth of property, but I trust God, and how are you going to do it? One dollar at a time, one act of God's faithfulness at a time. I don't know how we're going to get our team to the next level, because I know three services are coming here in Caddo. But you know what I trust God. I don't know how we're going to do all the things that God's got in May.
Speaker 1:The month of May is crazy, but I know this, I trust God, and if I look at my own talent, my own ability, come on, some of you have got some things you're praying for and you're measuring up your own natural ability. Look back at what God's done, look back at the testimony of his faithfulness, because in that season of seeing the next impossibility, I need to be a faithful witness of the things I've seen and the things I've experienced. That, god, you've been so faithful, You've been so good. This has never been about me, and so I'm going to hold the fruit of the land I'm going to possess, and I'm not possessing it because I'm that good. I'm possessing it because you're that good. I'm not possessing it because I'm skilled for army, but I'm possessing it because you're skilled for army and you're the Lord of the battle, and so I know that if you call me to it, you're gonna get me through it. And so I'm just gonna keep trusting you, one day at a time, reminding myself of the last miracle I saw, and then somewhere in that time, god shows up and he does the next miracle. I trust God. I just trust God. Let that be our heart's cry as a team. Amen, can I pray as we close out.
Speaker 1:Father, we trust you, lord. Let us be faithful witnesses. God, lord, even as the word says, it's a crooked and perverse generation. This isn't a new problem that we see in the world today. It's just the fallen state of humanity. But, god, let our light shine bright for you, lord, any area where we cease being a faithful witness.
Speaker 1:God, would you just reignite our hearts again, lord, would you remind us that we're called to act like Christ followers, not like the world? Lord, smite our hearts anytime that we take even a step off the path that you've called us to Lord. Remind us, lord, of your faithfulness, how you've been so good in every season, even as Pastor Jimmy was talking about where him and Mamaw came from that, god. I thank you that, lord, we all have testimonies of your goodness. Will you remind them to us this week? Will you call them to our remembrance how, every time you've been faithful.
Speaker 1:So, lord, I thank you that every dollar that we need is already there. Lord, we thank you that every team member that we need, it's already there. Lord, we thank you for every piece of land that belongs to one church is already ours, because we trust in you. You're the Lord of the battle, god. We just have to look to you and so, father, we love you, we praise you. Thank you that we get to do this. May we be faithful witnesses for you in Jesus name. And somebody who believed it said amen. Thanks so much for hanging out here on my podcast. Do me a favor and hit the subscribe button if you haven't done so already, so you never miss out on anything here on my podcast. Also, one of the best ways for us to begin to reach other people is by you sharing. So if you do me a favor and share this podcast with a friend, family member or maybe on your social media, help us get the word out so we can help others.