Fierce Church Sermons

An Invitation to Intimacy | Summer at Fierce

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😔 Are you afraid to be fully seen by God?

In this powerful and personal message from Pastor Caitlyn, we explore what it means to live authentically before God—not wearing “costumes” of performance, perfection, or hiding. 👗🎭

God isn’t asking for your performance. He’s asking for your heart.

💬 In An Invitation to Intimacy, we discover how to:

  • Be real with our emotions 🙋‍♀️
  • Invite Jesus into our insecurity 🙏
  • Experience deep, healing connection 🤍

Jesus doesn’t flinch when you’re broken. He weeps with you. He sees the real you—and He still wants you.

👇 What mask are you ready to drop?
📲 Subscribe and experience more of Jesus: https://fierce.church/

Speaker 1:

March 1st is National Pig Day. I know this because when I was growing up, my grandmother loved pigs and we would celebrate National Pig Day because, you know, we need any opportunity to get the family together. And so we would dress up in pig t-shirts, we would have bacon ham yes, we did eat them and then we would play this game where we had these little rubber pigs that you'd shake them like dice and if they land on their legs or their back or their snout you'd get different points. And then we had this peppermint pig. It's black of peppermint pink, that was the shape of a pig and we put it in a little velvet bag and we took a little hammer out and we'd whack it and then we'd pass it and then we'd whack it and then we'd pass it and we'd whack it Kind of like a pinata, and then we'd eat it. I don't know. Like it's a thing. Okay, it's a thing. We did it right. Well, one year she gave me a pig costume, which was actually really exciting. It's so versatile, you can use it anywhere we had doing kids camps. I would dress up like a pig and the kids would run around chasing me, be like oh, I love bacon, pretending to eat me. Take it to youth camp. You know, go team pink. I'd had so many sweaty teenage boys wearing this thing. Probably should have got it washed.

Speaker 1:

And one time my son he was in kindergarten at the time his school asked us to do a trunk or treat and so I decorated the back of our pickup truck like a farm type scene and I wore the costume. I got out my acoustic guitar. I was saying oh, mcdonald had some treats. Yeah, yeah yo. And we're handing out treats. And he comes walking by. I'm wearing this mask, I'm wearing the costume, and as he's coming by I'm like, oh, take a picture with me. And we take a picture and he just kind of walks away and it dawns on me. I never told him I was doing this. So here's this random person dressed up like a pig taking a picture with this kid, this random person dressed up like a pig taking a picture with this kid. And I realized when we wear a costume, people don't know who's on the inside. I feel like we all tend to hide sometimes, right, I know, for me that's been really true Out in the lobby. Hey, how are you? Fine? Okay, on social media, you know putting what you want people to see.

Speaker 1:

Maybe you've recently got a new job, whether you're out of college or transitioning careers, and you try to appear confident, like, yeah, I know what I'm doing, and on the inside you're like I have no idea what I'm doing. Or a parent, super parent, right, trying to be a mom, dad, doing the right things, and on the inside you're like feeling inadequate. Am I messing up my kid? I mean, let's admit, the first birthday party it's not really celebrating the one-year-old, it's celebrating the parents who kept the one-year-old alive for an entire year, right? Or maybe you're just living alone and you're feeling lonely. Or maybe you're living with people, but you're still feeling lonely, and we tend to pretend we're content when on the inside we feel vulnerable, when on the inside we feel vulnerable. And so, yeah, for me, to be honest, for a lot of my life I felt like kind of wallpaper, just not feeling like I can speak up out of fear of rejection or something like that. And I've noticed that when I hide I cannot be authentically known. And if I'm not authentically known, then there's no real relationship.

Speaker 1:

And so my question today is are we doing that with Jesus? Are we doing that with Jesus? That's kind of a broad like what does that mean? How might I be hiding from Jesus? Do you ever feel like you're doing a lot of great things but just feeling spiritually dry or distant? Or maybe you just feel exhausted, trying to keep up appearances, whether at work or at home or at church. Maybe there's an anxiety driven by kind of this internal scoreboard of am I doing enough? Or perhaps maybe you just feel scared to approach God. You know, you don't know what he's going to say or do. Or maybe, on the flip side, you don't feel like you can approach God because you don't feel like you're worth his time. I know I've felt that way before. Maybe you just feel restless. You see, the Bible is just one big story of how we have hidden from God over and over and over again out of fear, shame, guilt. But then Jesus comes in and he wipes away that fear. He wipes away that shame and that guilt so that we can be truly known and loved by him.

Speaker 1:

I only have one point for today and we're going to dig into it. We have a scripture that is a kind of a challenging scripture. Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Mount, he's speaking in front of all these people and he's wrapping it up and he's talking about how there's these false prophets who are like wolves dressed up in sheep clothing, pig wolf, close enough. And a false prophet is simply well, a prophet is someone who speaks God's words. So a false prophet is someone who says they're speaking God's words when they're not, and so he's kind of calling out this group of people and he's like you'll know them by their fruits. A good tree bears good fruit. A bad tree bears bad fruit. And we know from the Scripture that a good fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, is love, it's joy, it's peace. Patience of the Spirit is love, it's joy, it's peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, all those good things. And so he's wrapping up his message. He's talking about the importance of looking on the inside.

Speaker 1:

And then we step into our scripture for today and I do have to give a little bit of a disclaimer. So today's passage Jesus is challenging kind of the superficial religion and points us towards genuine intimacy with God. And it can come across as really harsh, it can be seen as this rebuke. But as I've been wrestling with this passage, I realize that he isn't trying to shame anyone, he's not trying to add fear, add guilt. Remember, he came to wipe those things away. Rather, he is actually inviting us into something deeper and more real.

Speaker 1:

And so I'm sure there are people in here or watching online who are going to be more sensitive and might hear this passage and be like, oh my gosh, I'm freaking out. I don't want you to hear judgment, I want you to hear the invitation, you see, because God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. So, yes, this scripture passage is a warning to religious hypocrites of Jesus' day, but even more so, it's an invitation. It's an invitation to everyone who truly wants to walk with Jesus. Matthew 7, 21.

Speaker 1:

Jesus says not everyone who says to me, lord, lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Or in your name, drive out demons, or in your name, perform miracles? Then I tell them plainly I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers. And like I read that and I ask is that me? I've done all those things I've. I've checked the boxes, I've served in kids ministry and youth ministry and I'm the worship fan and I've gone to different countries and painted houses, fed kids like you, wore costumes like you name it. I've done it. Is that me? Because I don't want to end up on judgment day before Jesus and him saying I never knew you. But this is the thing I propose, that Jesus doesn't want that either. Jesus doesn't want us to end up on judgment day with him telling us I never knew you. Get away from me, evildoers. Rather, jesus wants the opposite. He doesn't want to say I never knew you, get away from me. He wants to say I know you. He wants to say I know you, come to me, I do know you, come to me.

Speaker 1:

So, yes, this passage is only a harsh warning to the people who seek to manipulate others through external godliness that is void of the genuine relationship on the inside. But for the rest of us, this is a beautiful invitation to step into an intimate relationship with Jesus. Jesus is inviting us to take off the costumes and allow him to truly know us. For him to truly know us, jesus is inviting us to draw near and to be deeply known by him. So how? How do we know if we're growing in our intimacy with him? This is the one point Ready, invite Jesus to know you. That word to know in the scripture is actually a Jewish idiom used to describe a sexual relationship between a man and a woman. And so when Jesus uses this word to know, he's not talking about a head knowledge, a oh I know about. It's a deep, intimate knowing. It's a deep intimate knowing. And so Jesus is inviting us to be vulnerable. So when I say invite Jesus to know you, what I'm saying is be vulnerable and let Jesus into your innermost thoughts and feelings.

Speaker 1:

Dr Brene Brown she is known for her research in vulnerability. She defines vulnerability as this the definition of vulnerability is uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. But vulnerability is not weakness. It's our most accurate measure of courage. So Jesus is wanting us to come to him and invite him in and be vulnerable. Let him see beneath the costume. Let him see the be vulnerable. Let him see beneath the costume. Let him see the real, the real Caitlin. And here's the thing, because vulnerability is really scary, but Jesus is a safe place, is a safe place. Jesus is a safe person to be vulnerable with, because he loves us.

Speaker 1:

Psalm 193 says how difficult it is for me to fathom your thoughts about me, god. How vast is there sum total? If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. God is thinking so many thoughts about you. He's constantly thinking about you and they're not just any thoughts, they are good thoughts. The Bible says that he rejoices over you with singing. He's thinking man, he's amazing. I made him. Oh man, look at her, she's so beautiful. I love her personality. It's fun. I'm proud of him. I love your heart. And he just goes around and he sees oh, she's got the best hugs by the way. He's thinking all these different things about each one of you. Vulnerability I'll go first. Yay, yay, I'll go first, yay.

Speaker 1:

About a year ago, god kind of shoved me onto this journey of vulnerability. You see, I've been wrestling with. You know, these fruits of the Spirit love, joy, peace. I'd look at my life and be like I don't know that I see those things. I would sit across the table from my mentor, dale. He's like a spiritual father to me and as we talk about life and God, I would just see in his eyes just overwhelming sense of love. And I'd look at that and be like I want that. And so I'd pray God, I want to experience your love so that I can share your love.

Speaker 1:

And, like Levita preached last week about this idea of you know, we can do a lot of things and love on people, but are we truly loving people? And I had that question mark in my spirit of I do all these things, but am I loving and do I even feel God's love for me? And so I started on this journey of vulnerability and at one point, about a year ago, I did the worship band audition, which you know, like playing any audition is going to bring up some nerves. But a part of the audition is to then do a little group powwow with everyone on the team just to get to know each other. No big deal.

Speaker 1:

But for some reason for me, but for some reason for me, I felt like I was just like spotlight and all my internal sirens were going off like just freaking out because I didn't want, like I didn't know what questions they'd ask. I mean, their questions were fine, but there was something inside of me that just felt so insecure and so I stepped back. From that moment I was like, okay, God, what is that? And I realized that I was afraid to be known. And if I took that a step deeper, I realized that I was afraid to know myself even I was afraid of other people knowing me, but I was afraid also of myself going deeper and through those different layers of the onion and what could be inside and getting to know the real me. And so I began unearthing God just started unearthing some of this insecurity and fear and shame and inadequacy.

Speaker 1:

And I remember one point I'm just sitting in a sunroom at our house praying and we're just like God. What is this? And I invited Jesus into that moment. And as I was there processing and asking God questions and just started crying, I felt like God reminded me of a verse of a scripture where it says that he holds all our tears in his bottle and he writes them all in his book. And I kind of got this picture in my mind of like there's Jesus holding this bottle and my tears are just going in it because he cares about me, he loves me.

Speaker 1:

Romans 12, 15 says rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. And in that moment I realized like God was sitting there there and he was collecting those tears. He was crying with me. There are times that he will rejoice with us when we rejoice. He cries with us when we cry, just like the time when Jesus Lazarus had died and Jesus went and saw them. They were all crying, jesus wept. And so, no matter whether we're in a moment of rejoicing, a season of joy or a season of pain, jesus wants to be right there, walking with us through it, rejoicing when we're rejoicing and crying when we're crying, missing and crying when we're crying.

Speaker 1:

It's been a hard season for me. To be honest. This past week has been hard. And on Wednesday I went to a church just down the road from me. I walked into the sanctuary just to get some space and to pray and I walk in and there's this guy there who's just cleaning the carpet super nice guy. He's like hey, how's it going? Yeah, welcome, feel free to sit and pray. And so I go and I sit down and I just start praying and I start crying.

Speaker 1:

And this gentleman, he's just a young, tall, black guy. Yeah, just super nice guy. Not creepy or anything, by the way, no stranger danger. But he comes in and he sits down next to me, well, two seats over, and he's like, if it's okay, I'd like to just sit with you in this. I don't know what you're going through, but I just feel like God wants me to sit with you. And so he does. And as I'm sitting there crying, after a moment I notice that he was crying and in that moment it just felt like Jesus was sitting next to me, crying with me. Because Jesus does he sits with us when we invite him in and he'll cry with us, sits with us when we invite him in and he'll cry with us. And after a few moments he just turns to me and he's like this is not something I normally do. I don't ever just sit with people randomly and cry with them, but I just wanted you to know that you're loved, that God loves you and he sees you. So this is an invitation to let Jesus in and sit with you.

Speaker 1:

Let's get a little more practical. So when we are in a moment where we might have some sort of feelings or hard thoughts kind of stir up I know some of us tend to be more emotional, some not so emotional, but you know we all have a thought or emotion occasionally. Right, we're people. It happens. So take a moment and first name the emotion. Kind of get out, just step away and name that emotion. You should be like, okay, jesus, this is going on inside of me. And name that emotion. Be like, okay, jesus, this is going on inside of me. And name that emotion. For example, worship band. Right, I was feeling super insecure and anxious and afraid and I'm like what are these emotions? So I started naming them.

Speaker 1:

Then, second, go a little deeper with Jesus. What is that thought behind that emotion? What's the lie that you're believing? Identify the lie. That's when I realized that, oh, I'm really nervous because I was afraid of people getting to know me, because why, why, why, why. Okay, because I am believing the lie that I'm not worth being known. Well, where did that come from? Why, why, why, why, why, where did that come from? Why, why, why, why, why.

Speaker 1:

And a story came to mind for me when I was in middle school. I was in between classes. I was talking to a girl and, as we were talking, this boy came over who's a friend of hers, and I was like, why are you talking to her? And that planted in me in that moment this lie that I'm not worth talking to, I'm not worth being listened to, I'm not worth being known.

Speaker 1:

And so in that moment, as I'm processing and praying this with Jesus, I then go to step three, which is give it to Jesus. So I've named the emotion, I've identified okay, what's this lie, this underlying lie? And now we're going to give it to Jesus. I'm giving him those emotions, I'm giving him this lie, I'm giving him this kid, like'm giving him this kid, like I'm forgiving this kid because he didn't know what he was doing or what he was saying. So I'm just giving it all to Jesus. And it's kind of abstract. So I like to picture Jesus holding a garbage, can Just put it in, or maybe, maybe, what's more accurate, a dump truck. Just put it all in and give it to Jesus.

Speaker 1:

And then number four is receive, receive from Jesus. Say, jesus, I'm giving you this stuff. What do you give me in return? And maybe he'll give you just peace or comfort, maybe he'll start speaking truth to you. And maybe part of it is just like digging into the scripture and reading the scripture of, like, what does Jesus say about me? And learning that inside and out.

Speaker 1:

And so maybe in that moment when you're praying and saying, okay, god, what do you give me? You might feel something in that moment. It might be a few days later that something clicks for you, but God will show up. He is faithful. So maybe you're a parent and it's crazy summertime, right? Kids are running around, so you escape to the bathroom, right? I mean, that's what I do. It's the five minutes you have a little space to yourself. Pull out the phone. But instead of pulling out the phone, maybe it's saying okay, jesus, I'm in the bathroom, the kids are going crazy, I feel overwhelmed. God, I give you this, jesus, I invite you into this moment and I give it to you. What do you give me in return? And you take a moment to be still, to invite his presence, to invite his peace and his comfort over you.

Speaker 1:

Or maybe you're at work and it's a really frustrating project you're trying to work on and you don't know the solution. You step aside and say, okay, god, I'm really frustrated, I feel anxious, I feel inadequate, I feel like I'm not successful, I can't provide for my family Whatever those thoughts are that are going through your head for my family, whatever those thoughts are that are going through your head, and then, in that moment, just giving it to Jesus and he might give you some peace. He might even give you a thought all of a sudden of oh, I could probably solve it this way. He's done that before he can do it again. Or maybe you're not even a Christian and you're like what on earth is she talking about? I'm glad you're here, you're welcome. Maybe it looks for you like going to your bedroom, locking yourself away and just be like God. I don't even know if you exist, but here are some of my thoughts, here are my feelings. Here you go, see what happens. God wants to have that conversation with you.

Speaker 1:

So this passage today where Jesus says I never knew you, get away from me. It's only a harsh warning to the people who would seek to manipulate others through an exterior godliness. That's void of any genuine relationship. But for the rest of us, it is a beautiful invitation to step into an intimate relationship with Jesus. Jesus is inviting us to take off this costume and allow him to truly know us. He's not trying to scare us into religion or obedience or following a certain way. He's not trying to scare us. He doesn't want us pretending or performing. Rather, he's inviting you to be known, because you're worth being known. Yeah, yeah, each one of you.

Speaker 1:

As I've been going on this journey of vulnerability, I've been feeling God's love and I've been feeling his love for other people and I can tell you that when I look at you, oh man, he loves you so much, he is for you and he wants you to let him in, let go of the hiding, the hustle, stop trying to impress and just be honest, letting him see the good and the bad. And when we do, he's right there, rejoicing with us when we're rejoicing, crying with us when we're crying, gathering our tears in his jar, because he cares and he's right there giving peace and walking with you every step of the way. The worship band is going to lead us in one last song. It's called here Is my Heart, here's my Heart, and this is a song that I've kind of had on repeat for the past year, as I've been just opening up and letting God see the good and the bad on the inside and being vulnerable.

Speaker 1:

And so, as we take a moment during this song, I encourage you if you're in a season where it's hard, feel free to sit and cry. He's right there, sitting and crying with you. If you're in a season of rejoicing. Feel free to stand up, raise your hands and praise him. Come to the altar, whatever you want to do, just be you and let him in. May we be a people who take off the costume, who don't pretend, but let Jesus in and invite him to truly know us inside and out. May we be a people who say Jesus, here is my heart.