Ep. 128 | Heart of Worship | ft. Pastor Chip Parker and Austin Shekell

On today's episode, Astin Kahnk is joined by Pastor Chip Parker and Austin Shekell for a conversation about the first sermon in our new series "Louder Than Words." Listen in as they recap our Lake City location's Glow Family Worship Night, and dive into the Heart of Worship.

If you have any questions about this podcast, or about The Orchard Community Church, we would love to hear from you! Visit our website at theorchardcc.org and fill out our contact form, or send us a message on Facebook (@IAmTheOrchard) or Instagram (@theorchard.cc). Until next time!

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:00

There is a danger when the holy things become common. Yeah. Right. And what we mean is not that it's bad to do these things regularly and often so that they become commonplace in our life, but it is dangerous because that's when you begin to take something for granted. And what did Jesus go through?

SPEAKER_05 0:20

Think about me. His blood was spilled for me, his body was broken for me. You know what I mean? And once again, it's it goes to the heart level when it's more than just words we're reading and a cup we're drinking and bread we're eating when it's actually personal to you. There's no one more important than Jesus, nothing greater than gospel, and nowhere better for us to be than relationship with him. And the coolest part about all that, that guy's here. He's here with us. That's why this is meaningful, is because the Holy Spirit of God is here with us.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Welcome to Let's Talk About That, the podcast where we deep dive into Sunday's message and explore your questions. I'm your host, Aston Kank, and I'm excited to share this journey with you. Whether you're a longtime member of the Orchard or a first-time visitor, Let's Talk About That is your space to explore, reflect, and connect. Join us as we navigate the intricacies of faith, spirituality, and daily life, seeking to understand how the wisdom shared on Sundays can be applied to our modern challenges. So, grab a cup of coffee, find a comfortable space, and let's dive in together. This is Let's Talk About That, where the conversation about Sunday's message never stops. Well, welcome back to Let's Talk About That. I am sitting across from Chip and Austin. How's it going, guys?

SPEAKER_06 1:34

Pretty good. It's going pretty good. Going pretty good. Big week this week. Big week this week. I don't know if you guys have heard this. Actually, that's 100% of a lie because I know that I both heard this because we joked about it. But this is the week that we may get kicked down of the Southern Baptist Convention. Wow. I hear. Yeah. And it's all Aston's fault. Yes. Sorry, guys. Because the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. Al Moller, who is one of the great minds in modern Southern Baptist history, you know, has said that women hosting church podcasts are functioning as pastors. And Aston, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_05 2:11

I'm sorry, guys. So the question is if a business had a had a podcast and there was somebody hosting it, they automatically the CEO. Yeah. That makes no sense.

SPEAKER_06 2:20

I I love Al Moeller. He's done a lot of good stuff. I learned from him. Al Moeller, if you are listening to this, which I know you're not going to do. That would be shocking. That would be a shocking thing. You're wrong, Colonel Sanders. You're wrong. You know, and like I get it. We we, you know, talk about all kinds of stuff on the podcast, but there is like uh a thing going on inside the Southern Baptist Convention now about the role of women in ministry. And it's a conversation that's been going on for a while, but the crazy part is this is not something I think that is by and large extremely divisive in the convention. Like everybody's kind of be on the same page. And I guess maybe we should say, spoiler, the orchard is a Southern Baptist church. They just don't often claim us.

SPEAKER_04 3:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:02

Because we have lights and drums and wear jeans on Sunday morning. Um, but you know, the convention is meeting this week and they're talking about the role of women in ministry and specifically around women serving in the office of pastor. And so what we've done, maybe it's just a good time to kind of clear that up and just thinking about the things going on at the convention this week. At the orchard, we would be what I think a lot of people would call soft complementarian, which means, you know, essentially when it comes to women in ministry, we believe that the office of pastor is set by God to be filled by men, you know, who are called to that position. Yeah. The problem where that gets kind of squirrely in practice is that if you're a guy and you work at a church, you get the title of pastor. And that's just not that that's that's not what it is to be a pastor. The office of pastor is clearly defined in scripture. We see pastors as those who lead the congregation and who are assigned by God, called by God, as under-shepherds of the flock in that congregation. And they are the ones who exercise on behalf of Jesus authority in that local church. And so at the orchard, we just said, look, hey, let's just quit playing semantics. You know, we we don't have everybody on staff is a pastor at the orchard. Yeah, we have myself as the lead pastor, Michael is our executive pastor, and then we have location pastors, Matt and Robert, that serve at our locations, that pastor those locations. And Eddie is now our founding pastor. Yeah. Those are the pastors of the orchard. You know, I love my guy Austin sitting right here next to me. He is a godly man called and equipped for ministry. I fully believe that he could serve as a pastor of a local church. Yet at the orchard, his role is worship leader and student leader. Now, here's where this gets tricky to me, and this is where I think the Southern Baptist Convention has kind of like jumped the shark a little bit with this whole topic, is they started talking about, well, it's not just the office of pastor. It is when women function as pastor. And what I want to say is, brother, I want every woman in our church functioning as a pastor. Like, because to function as a pastor is to function as a shepherd, one who cares, one who serves, one who, in specific context, does lead, you know. And man, we ought to promote women doing those things because though Austin is not a pastor of the orchard, my man functions as a pastor in the fact that he cares for people, serves people, disciples people, leads people. My girl Aston, though she is not pastor Aston, though she was, you know, called that what's happened if I thought that's for not. Uh, she functions as a pastor. And I've got no problem saying that when you understand that to function as a quote, pastor in the broadest sense of the term is to help lead people and care for people and serve people and disciple people. Why wouldn't we want all isn't that the goal of the Christian life? It's to get us all to that belief. Disciples who make disciples. Yeah. And so I think when we start distinguishing functioning as a pastor from the office of pastor, I think, man, we're making distinctions that scripture isn't. And I am so thankful that we have called and gifted women who serve the Lord vocationally in the local church. And so, you know, if we get kicked out of the convention, we will still support the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board because they do a great job with missionaries. But at the end of the day, I mean, I don't go to meetings anyway.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

So the question is Is that a legitimate concern?

SPEAKER_06 6:43

Like that might actually happen. Okay. Not not for one minute have I had a legitimate concern about that. Do I think there are some people who in the convention would like try and make that a thing? Yes. Do I think there are some people in the convention who say nope, women can hold the office of pastor? Yes. But that's why we're convention of autonomous churches. Like we fit under the same theological umbrella. And, you know, if they want to kick us out, then I mean, hey, they're lost. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 7:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:11

But again, not gonna happen. And I would say I don't know of any churches or pastors personally who would say that about us. That's me just being, you know, exaggerating and trying to be dramatic and funny about that. But it's not, it's not a thing.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, total change of subject. Welcome to the podcast. Welcome to the podcast at the Lake City location. We had our family, our first. Hopefully, I don't think it'll be our last because they have kids now.

SPEAKER_05 7:38

Me and Mary Beth already are we already scheduled one for next year, so it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Family glow night. So I want to take a moment. So if we're getting kicked out of the convention for anything, it's what happened with this night. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 7:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:49

Man, what a great night. So if you weren't at the Lakesea location, uh our family glow night was just a time where families with young kids, even some elementary kids, and even some people that didn't even have kids that just wanted to watch the next generation worship Jesus came together and we had black lights, we had neon, we had, I saw balloons at some point. We were going around, kids were running around with little. The Lee Boys had lightsabers, and my little guy was so he's like, Well, where did they get those? And he's like, We had to go, he wanted to go by Walmart to get this. Anyway, that was a time to worship. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_06 8:26

But before we get too serious into it, because there were some great serious moments that I love last night. Yeah. But one of my favorite moments last night was I I brought Chasen, my sixth grader, with me. And Sammy, Trey and Savannah Lee's son, Trey, friend of the podcast, been on, right? He's got his little light sword and glow stick. And my man is having the time of his literally a timeout slayer. You know, because those not that every song wasn't hype, but the first few songs were like super hype. And so the kids were like having a blast. And I lean over to Chase and I'm in, I say, Man, Sammy looks like he's having a great time. He goes, Sammy looks like he's about to kill somebody. Just about fellow.

SPEAKER_05 9:07

It was, it was fantastic. From from from my seat in it, like, you know, being up there looking looking out. I like I had so many laughs because you look out there, and that's definitely true. Some of the kids are running around doing great stuff, but they're definitely taking advantage of it a little bit in the sense of like I'm gonna whack my friend. You know what I mean? This is where they discover the mosh pit. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Glad we didn't have one of those last night.

SPEAKER_05 9:28

That would have been how wild, how wild would that be? One day they're they're at a you know concert. Maybe there is a mosh pit. Like, I learned this at church. You know, that's right.

SPEAKER_06 9:36

I would tell you, I think seriously, one of my favorite, just serious moments for last night, and you you hinted this, Aston, is we had some adults there. And I, you know, and I don't mind calling them specifically by name. We had Wayne and Vicki who were there, we had Miss Deborah who were there. They don't have kids at the house, they have grandkids that were older than the kids, you know, who were there, but they were there to be a part of it and just to really just watch the kids worship and celebrate with the families. And like at the end of the night, when we're winding down, and I mean, if we're being honest, we lost most semblance of worship at that last because the souls were just getting all the energy out. Yeah. And they started to do the conga line. They did, they did around the room.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

And it was the kids that started the conga line, which was awesome.

SPEAKER_06 10:25

But when I saw Wayne and Vicky, I love all right, we're this is why I love our church. That's right. That's right. But you know, it is good. That's that's you know, we talk about what it means to be an intergenerational church. Like I think what people mean when they say we want to be an intergenerational church is we want people to do what we want.

SPEAKER_04 10:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:44

And we just want younger people to do what we want. And I'm gonna just, you know, shoot it straight because I guess that's the mood I'm in this morning. Yeah. When they say intergenerational church, it's usually older people who say we want young people to love our hymns. Yeah. That's what they mean when they say intergenerational church. Well we saw last night was what an intergenerational church looks like, which was mature, godly believers who, you know, have been following Jesus forever, who, hey, this is probably not their preference. Yeah. But man, they just want to be there for the next generation to be a part of them. This isn't like if you asked them what they wanted to do, that probably wouldn't have made the top of their list. But yet being there with the kids, uh, that that's what it means to be an intergenerational church. Setting aside your preferences to be there for another generation. Yeah, that's great.

SPEAKER_05 11:25

Well, Wayne and Vicky, as they walk out last night, I just thanked them for coming and you know, their their heart man wouldn't miss it for the world. You know what I mean? So that's that's wild.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Yeah, I love seeing Miss Deborah come in. She was just like, I didn't have a white shirt, but I brought my brightest shirt. And she was sitting back there, and even the conga line was just beaming. And it was just so cool to see, yeah, them just step back and watch the next generation worship. And you see, I mean, you see the kids running around. Were they worshiping all the time? Probably not, but they were in the room, they were like watching you guys worship, watching their parents. I think that the whole thing was who had families worshiping together. Yep. And it just goes right into our, you know, sermon series about the heart of worship. It looks different for different people. Obviously, last night was a lot different than what we saw on Sunday morning, but the name of Jesus is being proclaimed was being worshipped.

SPEAKER_06 12:13

Well, and you know, think about it like this is and again, maybe this isn't the most spiritual quote way to look at it. But what we're doing for those kids who, and when I say when I say kids, like look, there were some older kids there who who they were, this was more worshiping for them. It was fun worship, but they were worshiping. But what I'm talking about preschool three, four, five-year-old kids, what they're doing is learning that when mom and dad want to come to church and when we have nights of worship and it's time to worship, it's not something that I am dreading having to go to. Yeah. You know, it's the fact that we're there, this is fun. We are lifting up the name of Jesus. You know, and here's the thing. Again, maybe I am totally theologically off base with this, but here's my thought. I feel like Jesus had a blast watching those kids. 100%. Yeah. When Jesus says, Don't stop the little kids from coming to me, I mean, I'm not sure he had lightsabers in mind. Yeah, yeah. But the joy, and then again, one of my favorite moments is honestly seeing a lot of the dads.

SPEAKER_05 13:19

Yeah, dude, I was gonna say the same thing.

SPEAKER_06 13:20

Dads, and I get it. I don't, I honestly, I don't love, I wish our men would be more expressive in worship, even though we talked about yesterday, and I guess we'll get in this a minute. Yeah, that being expressive in worship does not equal you having a heart of worship. But I do know we have some guys who have hearts for Jesus, yeah, and they're trying to figure out what being expressive in worship looks like. Yeah. And a matter of fact, we circle back to that. There's a guy in our Lake City location that just comes to mind who's taken some steps I just love. Um, but last night, because it was less serious, yeah, less formal, seeing dads engage in that with their little kids. Yeah, and that that was a win for me. Yeah, that was a win for me. And I I love, I love that.

SPEAKER_01 14:03

Yeah. No, I, yeah, as you're talking about worshiping, you know, Jackson and goodbye yesterday. And he's like, so you know, sword fighting Sammy. I'm like, you know what? We're worshiping Jesus, it's good. Fair. Love that. Yeah. So yeah, I think that was my favorite part was watching some of the dads because it took that pressure off. And I've always heard this saying, and maybe this is gonna kind of segue into our you know sermon from yesterday, but I heard this idea of if we can get excited and I wouldn't say rowdy, but excited at a football game, why can't we have that same type of excitement at church? And that's always stuck with me about, you know, just being engaged in the worship. Yes, you don't have to have your hand raised, but that's why I say every Sunday, you know, when it's my time to go up to pray, is like may these lyric or may these words not just be words, but declarations of our heart. And the fact that you could see that last night with those dads. I think of Shane Foot, you know, dancing with his kids, getting hype and everything. And oh man, it was just I hope heaven is like that with the hype. Like I'm here for, I'm here for that.

SPEAKER_05 15:03

100%. And yeah, like you talk about the football game stuff, like, and it's wild that we'll get that excited about a football game. And normally, right? And especially, I'm not promoting sports betting whatsoever. I don't do I don't I don't do that. But but look, we're jumping. No, no, no, no, no. But but seriously though, people get this excited, and normally, normally they're they're not giving anything to you. If anything, they're taking things from you, right? Maybe even years off your life because you're stressing about Florida State football. I don't know. But but Jesus is giving everything for you. Yeah, right. Like, and and why would why would we not be excited? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Yeah. We'd love to kind of talk real quick. So diving into the sermon, what? So this idea is louder than words. I'm curious, Chip. How did this idea for a sermon series come about? I I'm always curious and want to hear how you know these ideas or these thoughts go from ideas to actual like sermon series. So, what did that process look like?

SPEAKER_06 15:52

Well, also actually, this series itself was kind of birthed out of a series that Eddie came up with in Brantford last year during the month of July. Okay, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Pastor earned location pastor months.

SPEAKER_06 16:06

So location pastors in July, you know, kind of have the month to take it in whatever direction they feel led in that month. And a lot of that was born out of the fact I try to not preach as much in July and kind of disconnect some in July to really get refocused on the next half of the year and kind of set our agenda and calendars as a church for the next half of the year, and then give those location pastors freedom to do that. And so Eddie last year had a series called Singing Faith, okay, where he had songs that were like some favorite songs from people, I think, in Brantford, okay, and why they were meaningful to them, and then had them come up and share about that, you know, and then Oh, very cool. And so that kind of gave birth to it. He was like, What if we did that, you know, as a whole, as the church? And I said, you know, I love that idea. Now, obviously, it's a little bit different because we're kind of casting a lot broader net than, you know, here's somebody who in our church who loved this song and had a story. Not that that was a bad idea, it was just not feasible for the things that we had going on and and playing in the series. And so what we said is, well, let's just take songs that everybody knows that have incredible stories behind them. Yeah. And then let's look at like the scriptural truth that's underneath those stories. And so I, you know, it wasn't, hey, what are some songs we can preach on? You know, because we're not preaching on the songs, but these songs, the reason they're so meaningful and so powerful is because there's scriptural truth underneath them. So let's go to the scriptures and rediscover that truth and then watch what it does to those songs.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Yeah, I love that. So yesterday, um across all three locations, you guys dove deeper into the heart of worship, just like not literally, but also the song and in the Lake City. Yeah, there you go. And the Lake City location, I'm gonna be completely honest, I loved every second of the acoustic because that's how the church that we planted in Omaha started. Everything was acoustic. And so whenever I, you know, Brandon had that conversation with you about the song list, I was so excited and I loved being able to hear every voice. And I love that you even pulled your voice back and had Deanna and Casey pull their voices back just to hear the audience or the congregation. Because I feel like so many times on Sunday, the lights, the sounds, all things, it's great. But at the end of the day, it's like the fact y'all could hear, I'm sure that meant was just mind-blowing to you guys. Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_05 18:25

For sure. And from where I was, like singing that song, and honestly, it it meant it meant more to me actually hearing the I didn't know. I I knew that it came from Matt Redman, Soul Survivor Church. I had no idea that it was written out of that moment. Yeah, back in the 1900s. Yeah, yeah, 1900, really.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

You said that because everyone was L O Ling.

SPEAKER_05 18:44

I think that song was written the year I was born, by the way.

SPEAKER_06 18:46

So yeah, I'm aware of my hard hearts. Actually, I think it was written after you were born. Yeah. What year were you born in? 97. Oh no, yeah, I guess it probably would have been 97. I was the start of the 1990s. The start of the 1990s. Just little fellowship. As well back in the mid-80s. Wow. I was I was a Reagan president baby.

SPEAKER_01 19:05

There you go. So yeah, so we'd love to kind of talk a little bit deeper about yeah, the heart behind that song, but also how did you guys prepare for that? Because you know, it I'm sure, you know, you have this song they're having to preach or having to, you know, create a set list behind what was that that thought process like for you guys coming up to this past Sunday?

SPEAKER_05 19:23

I can I can start with that. So to be completely transparent with you, I wasn't in our communicators meeting last week, but I knew that Chip wanted me to lead Heart of Worship acoustically. So, and and honestly, from my heart, I wanted to, I wanted to be prepared to, yeah, lead the congregation in that, but I I wanted to know that song so well to where it wasn't just words I was singing, it was actually like we're saying louder than words, right? So from that, what I mean is it was cool going from singing, I'm coming back to the heart of worship, right? And so Chip talked about this a little bit yesterday, but there's there's some self-admittance in that that I've left, right? And I think that it would be amiss for me not to say that there are there have been so many times where just to be completely real with you guys, where I've hopped up with a guitar, yeah, saying, and and really it it it wasn't from the heart.

SPEAKER_04 20:17

Yeah, yeah, right?

SPEAKER_05 20:18

Well, it's easy to go through emotions. For sure, for sure, for sure. And so I wanted to be prepared in the sense of that that most definitely was not the case then. And it was honestly really cool just listening to that song over and over again this week and just having those moments of God. I'm I'm sorry for the times where I I just go through the emotions. I'm sorry for the times where you know I I just I just sing, yeah, and it's no more than that. But praise the Lord that wasn't that wasn't the case yesterday. Yeah. And it was cool to just hear people proclaim that I'm coming back to the heart of worship. It's all about you, Lord. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:49

Well, and I think that's that that's kind of like the point of the series, right? Is that we want those songs and really not just those songs, but those songs to hit different because we are aware of what's underneath them. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 21:03

Well, as y'all were even talking, I don't remember what you said at the start of service on Sunday, but all last week, I was just feeling, you know, because my role, I have a, oh my gosh, I have multiple hats that I wear at the orchard, but one of the hats for the Lake City location is the first impressions team. And I was thinking about that team specifically and thinking about this sunny heart of worship and how, you know, whenever we're connected to Jesus, that worship can look differently. I mean, that worship looks how we treat people. I'm because we're supposed to be imitating and showing the love of Jesus to others. And so it made me think about too, because I know sometimes it can even feel redundant too, I'm sure, to people that serve on those teams. If you kind of forget, like, wow, sure, you are the first impressions team. And so I found this video, and it's again, just so happens doesn't happen, but it was a video that's it just so happens never just happens.

SPEAKER_06 21:50

We got the rhythm that's got you, I have some rhythm in that.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

So, like a chip, my algorithm, you know, is all over the place. But golf videos, really? Not golf videos, not golf videos, but specifically is somehow I started stumbling upon like church videos, like greeters, welcome team, all that stuff. And one video I saw was this mom, and she was in front of the camera and she was like, Well, my kid wants to go to church. I've never been, and I'm terrified. And it was her admitting, she's like, is the church gonna burn whenever I first come? Is someone gonna smile at me? All of these things. And I took a moment and I was like, I've forgotten what it's like to come to a church for the first time. And that really stuck with me. And then, you know, a pastor came and like, or first impressions, you know, team person came over and talked over. And he said, I he said, show this to every single person on your team to remind them this courage it takes, you know, to make that first step. And so it makes I want to send it to my team this week because it made such an impact for me. But I think about through worship, through the corporate worshiping of how it is that admittance of like, man, I have been going through the motions. I have just been going to church sitting, but now it's like I actively get to express my worship for the one that created me. So anyway, that was my two cents of information. That's good. I like that.

SPEAKER_06 23:08

I think it's really good. You know, one of the things that I shared, and I shared it with the staff yesterday morning in a text is that there is a danger when the holy things become common. Yeah. Right. And what we mean is not that not that it's bad to do these things regularly and often so that they become commonplace in our life, but it is dangerous because that's when you begin to take something for granted.

SPEAKER_04 23:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:35

You know, and it's like, I don't know if this is still true. And honestly, maybe it never was, because I don't even know that I've ever looked it up. But I used to hear the statistic that like the vast majority of car accidents occur within like five miles of your house. Something something like that. And it's because you're just not paying attention. You're just going through the motion. You're an autopilot. Yeah, you don't you don't think about, oh, I need to turn here to get that. Like you just do it. And so it's not that it's bad, it's just that it gets dangerous because we're not giving our attention to it. Yeah. And I think this is, you know, multiplied when you're in ministry. Yeah. And not just as a serving, but as a vocation, you're out in ministry. But it goes down to even people who, hey, I I come to church regularly, you know. I think that it's just something that's so easy to take for granted, but that we we can't take for granted. Yeah. We've got to intentionally give it that effort to refocus.

SPEAKER_05 24:30

So there was one time I was talking to my grandfather, so he's a deacon up at his church in Indiana, and he's one of his duties is so they do communion every Sunday, and he fills the cups every Sunday, you know what I mean, gets them ready and all that. And I remember having a conversation with him about this same thing, is that there was a time where he just literally it became so familiar. Yeah, he just drinks the juice, eats the bread, whatever. But it it's different. And I remember him telling me he was convicted on that. And he says his his practice now is every single time he will make sure, even if even if everybody else is just a common thing for them, makes a point to think about man, what did Jesus go through? Think about me. His blood was spilled for me, his body was broken for me. You know what I mean? Yeah, and it's and and and once again it's it's it goes to the heart level when it's more than just words we're reading and a cup we're drinking and bread we're eating, when it's actually, you know, it's actually personal to you. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:21

And I think that, you know, talk about the bread, you know, that there's a lesson to learn there from the manna in the wilderness. Yeah, you know, the quail in the wilderness is that they ate the same thing every single day. And, you know, you read, they got bored of it, you know, hey, can we have something else? You know, that's when we gave them quail. But they kept it from being something that was taken for granted by the fact that you only could have enough for today. Yeah. Like it's not gonna last you for for tomorrow, except on Fridays. You know, Fridays would last you for Saturday. Yeah. But uh, you know, I I think that that that part of, hey, give us this day our daily bread. You know, keep us dependent. Yeah. You know, I I think that's got to be a part of the answer to that is just to say, hey, I need something fresh today. Yeah. You know, I need I need a fresh reminder. I need a fresh vision. I need a fresh, you know, encounter today, not so that I don't ever have to have one again. Correct. But I just need it for today.

SPEAKER_05 26:24

Yeah. Yeah. Do you think that there's a I already know the answer to this, but do you think there's a tension there in the culture that we live in? Because I mean, honestly, at any moment right now, we can go get all the food we can possibly need, all the water we also possibly need, I mean, all the all the help we could possibly need. And so do you think that that sometimes hinders what we're talking about in the sense that like right now, obviously, apart from my great need for the Lord to take care of my sin and all of that stuff, which he's done, like what is someone's need every day for the Lord outside of that? Right?

SPEAKER_06 27:00

Well, I what you just maybe think of, I'll go, I'll go even deeper than that. But the same idea is, brother, it's not just food that we have access to or clothes that we have access to, the amount of edifying content that is available online. Like I love our bands at the orchard. You know, when we get together and do nights of worship and everybody comes together, like that's that's top tier. Yeah. You can find better on Spotify. 100%. You know, like I love our pastors, their heart for their passion. You can find better preaching on podcasts. I tell the story we had uh a guy come into the church, pretty well known, you know, in church circles, multi-site specialist. He was visiting with us and, you know, kind of talking with staff and volunteers. And before we took him to the airport, I was recording the online message that week. And I was like, all right, so I'm gonna be in here for a few minutes. You know, you can chill out for a little bit if you need to answer emails. You want to walk next door, hang out with some of the staff. He goes, I think I'd like to hear you preach. And I'm like, okay, that wasn't part of the plan. It wasn't part of it, just doing that online, but whatever. And we're headed to the airport, and he says this, he goes, you know, uh, Chip, you're you're a good preacher. You're not great, but you're a good preacher, you know. And that was a powerful thing. It stuck with me. Like, hey, as good as any of us think we are, we're probably not great. Yeah, there's better.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 28:12

And there's all of this content that's available out there. And what happens is we forget that when we gather on Sunday mornings, we're not gathering for content.

SPEAKER_03 28:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 28:24

We're gathering for a corporate encounter where the people of God meet with the spirit and person of God in a way that none of us can in our car with our phones. Yeah. You know? And so I think it's not just the no no needs that keep us from being dependent on the Lord. I think even spiritually, there's so much content out there for us that that keeps us from being dependent on the Lord and the people of the Lord and these moments. And so I think that's even part of why it's so easy to take it through.

SPEAKER_05 28:59

Yeah. Man, the other night and man, I it was so cool. I was over at the Camp Pigot Lake Camp Connection and a bunch of second to fifth graders worshiping Jesus, and it was awesome. Um did they have light and sabers? They did not. So not quite as cool as our worship night. Okay. No, but I I always, when I'm talking to kids, I'll I'll I'll tell them three things. Number one, here's three things we work from. Number one is there's nobody more important than Jesus, right? Nobody greater than him, nothing more important than the gospel, and it were better for them to be in a relationship with him. And they sang a song before, and it changed that for me forever. They're singing Rest on Us, right? And as the spirit was moving over the water, spirit come over us. And I will n I will never forget this. Because the Lord was like, Hey, yeah, you're preaching, but guess what? I'm here.

SPEAKER_04 29:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:43

And Aston, I like that you always say, My God, you're here. Yeah. You'd be the most honored guest in the room. Yeah. And I don't think I've ever heard her say that. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Every time. I was gonna say every Sunday. So no, no, but but but it hit me, and I will always say that differently now. So I'll say, Hey, there's no one more important than Jesus, nothing greater than the gospel, and nowhere better for us to be in the relationship with him. Yeah. And the coolest part about all that, that guy's here.

SPEAKER_04 30:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:06

He's here with us. Yeah. That's why this is meaningful is because the Holy Spirit of God is here with us. And that's that's it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 30:12

Yeah. So while you were talking, both of y'all were talking, I was thinking about, you know, you're talking about how, you know, worshiping God for the manna, for the daily bread that we need, I immediately thought about two. We talk about life has different seasons. You have those valley seasons, you have those mountaintop seasons. And I think it's a lot easier to realize your dependency on God in those valley moments, whenever you are desperate, you're like, God, I don't know where to turn. But I think pride is what keeps us from having our eyes on Jesus in those mountaintop ones. Like that's the dangerous, that's the dangerous zone that you can be when you're thinking about worship, because worship is even just thanking God for what he is. I mean, I know for Brandon and I, we've been, oh my gosh, all over the place. But when I'm in, when I'm on those mountaintop moments, I always try to remind myself, well, thank you, God, that you brought us here. God, you've provided this job, you've provided this occupation, you've provided these children. Nothing what I've done but you. And so I would even challenge, you know, our listeners in that aspect of when you're in those mountaintops, that's kind of your like training ground to get ready. Cause when you turn the corner, you're probably gonna have a valley moment, but that's just a great time to practice worshiping. And worshiping is just thanking God, thanking God for what he's done, what he's going to do, and what he will do. Yep. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 31:25

Absolutely. Yeah, I love that. I think I mean all that's really important. And it just again, it all comes back to intentionality. Yeah. Right. Is that we have to be if you let your mind, body, whatever go unchecked, go into something like that, then you're gonna miss it.

SPEAKER_01 31:40

Yeah. Okay. So my next question is what do we do when we're not quote unquote feeling it? When we're not feeling the worship, when we're not feeling the heart, or maybe we've gone through we're we're numb, we've gone through those emotions for so long. What advice, what would you say to the person listening?

SPEAKER_06 31:58

That's a good question. I think that, you know, I've answered this in two ways, but I don't think they compete with each other. I am a big, in many ways, fake it until you make it kind of guy. If you don't feel like reading your Bible today, okay, read your Bible today.

SPEAKER_03 32:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 32:14

Don't feel like pray and pray. Yeah. You don't feel like worshiping, show up to worship. Yep. But the whole message yesterday was about the hypocrisy of worship and the consequences that it comes. Yeah. And so I think you have to understand that while you're quote, faking it till you make it, that there is an issue that you're having to do that. Right. And so you can't be satisfied with the faking it till you make it. Like you have to, you have to say, okay, God, I don't have that hunger now. Give me that hunger. Yeah. God, I'm I'm hurting right now. I need you to help me move out of that hurt. Yeah. Like, and so I don't think that the hurt is a reason to believe the habit, so to speak. Yeah. But we can't let the habit remain in that fake it, but I'm not gonna make it spot. So I don't know. I mean, it's tough. So I would say, you know, hey, fake it till you make it, but not just by going through the motions, but by acknowledging, hey, I'm doing this because I want my heart to catch up with the motion.

SPEAKER_05 33:16

Absolutely. And I think there's a there's a fine line between that and what we talked about in the past and the performative Christianity, which you kind of hit on yesterday, right? In the sense of that, like in a worship service, me lifting my hands and then turning around around my shoulder to see who's watching, right? That was awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:33

See how big the fish I caught was?

SPEAKER_05 33:34

That's right. That's right. No, that's good. That is a wild story that you told yesterday about the it's honest to goodness truth, man.

SPEAKER_06 33:41

Like, and the story was I I was preaching at an independent Baptist church revival, and there was a pastor on the front row. I could name his name, but I won't unless you find me on the phone. Do it. Um who would just stand up and shout, man, you know, at the top of his lungs. And every time he would do it, he would, as he's sitting down, turn and look over his shoulder, see who's looking, see who's paying attention, see who who noticed me there because that's what it was about. And that just, you know, I I got no time for that. Yeah. That's not the fake it till we make it what we're talking about. Yeah. What we're talking about is, hey, I just lost a loved one, and I really don't want to be here today, but I know I need to be here today. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's it's almost like maybe the way to think about it is trying to change your eating habits, right? You're not eating good because you enjoy it. Yeah. And but you're gonna fake it until you make it. Because you do know that your your taste can change, your habits can change, you know. I'm reading a book right now called The Common Rule, and it's about, you know, uh spiritual habits that can help us in age distraction. And he says habits form us, and that's the point, right? We want our habits to form us, but we have to know how these habits are forming us. Because and when it comes to worship, he says, you know, worship is formation, formation is worship, right? So we need that habit in our life. So again, it's not, man, if you're looking for a silver bullet, I don't think there's a silver bullet, but you know, saying, hey, I'm doing this because I want my heart to catch up with it, I think is where you have to start.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Yeah. Awesome. Well, fellas, as we start to land this conversation, is there anything that you guys maybe wanted to mention that you didn't didn't get to mention from Sunday, or maybe something that stood out to you, or just words of wisdom to share with our listener. We're here for it.

SPEAKER_06 35:26

Yes, di different though, is glow night, right? Uh man, next week's kids camp. Yeah. The kids camp. That's pretty cool. Uh be a good time. It is my youngest last year of kids camp. Oh, wow. And uh so that's fun. He's excited about it. But yeah, what's hilarious to me is glow night. You know, all the little kids are in it. And here's Chasen, you know, he's sixth grade now. He he's there. He's definitely the big kid in the room. Yeah, you know, and so that's gonna be fun going to camp. But yeah, I'm excited about camp. I love kids' camp. I go to kids' camp every year. Even after my kids aren't going, I'll still be going to kids' camp because that's kind of the kids who go to kids' camp are usually like our kids from our church, and usually people who are pretty plugged in and and they're here. You know what I mean? This is their place. So it gives me a chance to kind of get to know a lot of the kids, hang out with them, so I can kind of keep that connection as they get a little bit older. So I love kids camp. I'm excited about it, but you guys will have to find somebody else to call down the hierarchy of the SBC while I'm gone. Sounds like that. Yes.

SPEAKER_04 36:21

Put that on Austin. Take care of it, yeah. Or call Eddie. No, Eddie's in the Bahamas is anything.

SPEAKER_05 36:26

I'll say this as we wrap up, and I think it's uh something from Glow Knight too. But Chip came up and Chasen came with him to introduce the video, and Chip was like, Hey, can you pray? And he's like, uh, yeah, sure, I'll do that. And well, and and and here's here's what I loved about that, and here's what I love about Chasen is that you have to wonder what what Chasen's thinking. He's gonna be real with you, right? And and either one is that much of a filter. No, and that's where they get mad. No, I know that. And that's great though, because because I think that protects him from this performative Christianity. Yeah. All Chasen said was, God, thank you for tonight. You know, if there's anything that is hindering us from worship you, let us worship you. Bam. You know what I mean? And it's like that was that was good because I think we easily we can get into the whole thing of like, you know, and and I I do this is I when we pray and stuff to to use all these fancy words, blah, blah, blah. God don't care about that.

SPEAKER_04 37:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:12

God cares about us being real with him. Yeah. And uh, if we can take anything away from that, I think that's what guards us from the whole performance of Christianity, is let's just be real.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:20

No, that's so good. Well, Chip and Austin, thank you for joining me today. Thanks for all you guys do for our church.

SPEAKER_06 37:26

And I'm really Austin and Aston. Thanks for joining us today. I'm just gonna say I'll start off.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 37:32

And uh, hey, uh, I I just want to do this on here. Chip, will you accept $300 for your baseball cards? No.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

Sounds good. Okay. On that note, thanks for tuning in to this week of Let's Talk About That. We will catch you next week. Have a good one.

SPEAKER_05 37:46

Bye.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Thanks for joining us for this episode of Let's Talk About That. We hope it encouraged and challenged you as we continue to grow on this journey of faith and embrace community together. If you have more questions, thoughts, or feedback, we want to hear from you. Be sure to reach out to us through our social media or visit our website to stay connected. If you found today's discussion meaningful, don't forget to subscribe, share, and leave a review. Until next time, we hope that this episode inspired you and will keep Sunday's message at the front of your mind. See you next week.