When The Pigs Panic And Grace Wins

We laugh about childhood “truths” we believed, then turn to Mark 5 where Jesus steps into Gentile territory and meets a man everyone else has given up on. We talk about brokenness, spiritual reality, and why Jesus doesn’t just offer relief but brings real restoration that turns our story into mission. 
• Jesus moving toward outsiders and skeptical spaces 
• the Gerasene man as a clear picture of deep brokenness 
• Jesus meeting people in their mess without conditions 
• why recognizing Jesus doesn’t always lead to surrender 
• the difference between knowing about Jesus and trusting him with your life 
• the reality of the spiritual realm without fear or hype 
• Jesus’ unmatched authority over darkness 
• the gospel making us new rather than “better” 
• going from isolation to mission by sharing your story 

Transcript

Welcome And Podcast Purpose

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome to the Jeff Fuel Podcast, a series of Concord Conversations. In each episode, our lead pastor and a guest will sit down and dive a little deeper into what we learned as a church that week. These are honest, practical conversations to fuel your faith and help you live it out with purpose and consistency. Or, in other words, this is Jet Fuel for your soul.

SPEAKER_04 0:25

All right. Well, welcome back to the Jet Fuel Podcast, our podcast where we're helping you guys fuel faith for everyday life. That's right. Welcome, Bree. Welcome back.

SPEAKER_03 0:36

Thanks. Good to be here.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

I'm glad it wasn't like you were here and then you're not here anymore. And so do you have a question for us?

Childhood Myths We Believed

SPEAKER_04 0:45

I do. Okay. What is the question?

SPEAKER_01 0:47

Okay. The question is There is no warning on this.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

I'm not excited about what's about to happen. I don't like surprises.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

The question for today is what's something that you believed was true as a kid, but is actually just false? Like you can't go swimming after eating kind of thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:05

Like debunking everything your grandmother told you.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's something you really thought was true, but it's actually not?

SPEAKER_02 1:13

And you just also we should probably not say certain things because there may be kids listening to this that they believe. Oh, yeah. So let's not say any of that. Okay. Any of the mystical Yeah, mystical creatures. Uh yeah. What is happening? Let's answer the question. This is Okay, I have one. So my grandmother used to tell me that if I crossed my eyes, they would get stuck that way.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

And I believed her. Did you? Yeah. I wholeheartedly believe that. So you would never cross your eyes like as a kid? No, I would never hang around? Because I got very scared that they were gonna get stuck that way, and then I would get made fun of for the rest of my life. How'd that work out for you? I still got made fun of.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

What about you, Brie?

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Okay. So you know how milk cows are have black and white.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

I think I know where this is going. Milk. Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

My dad told me that the brown cows were where chocolate milk came from.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

And you believed it?

SPEAKER_04 2:15

I love that. So you got white.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Chocolate milk cows.

SPEAKER_04 2:21

Okay, where did this where does strawberry milk come from then? Pink cows?

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Honestly, I don't think I've ever had strawberry milk. I don't think I've ever had strawberry milk until I got it from the creamery. Like Mountain Fresh Creamery when they do it like once a year.

SPEAKER_04 2:36

I did the Nesquik, the bunny strawberry milk.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Yeah, I don't know. It's like strawberry water. It's like you. What is this? Chocolate water.

SPEAKER_04 2:47

Well, I think for me, I'm gonna go back. You you did say when I had I had a grandmother who was very big on like if you ate like a sandwich at lunch or something, you could not get in the lake. You couldn't get in the water for 30 minutes. Or you would drown. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 3:03

That you would cramp.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

That you would get it I don't know. But also the one that's if you swallowed a piece of gum that it would be in your stomach for seven years.

SPEAKER_02 3:14

Or or if you swallowed like a watermelon seed, it would grow to grow in your stomach.

SPEAKER_04 3:18

I want to know how many of y'all have heard things like this from your parents or grandparents? The watermelon, the yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Comment on the thread. What did you believe when you were little that you something bad was gonna happen? The watermelon seed, that was a real thing. Like I really believe that as well. The question is, why would you tell your kids these things? Why did they tell us that? Probably, well, the the seed thing was probably a choking hazard, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Yeah, maybe. I don't know. Or just I don't know, because it's not bad for you.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Or as a parent now, I just like making things up, so maybe that's what my parents did. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Well, because kids ask so many questions. It's like at some point you just start making up answers.

SPEAKER_02 3:56

I do start making up answers to my kids. They when they asked me the same thing over and over again, and I've told them, I'm like, okay, let's just make up a new answer.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Especially, I remember when Zaya was like three, she'd be like, why? Why? But why?

SPEAKER_02 4:07

And I tried not to do the whole because I told you so, but sometimes I'm like, because I've already answered you five times. That's why.

SPEAKER_04 4:14

All right. This has been very upsetting about all of our childhood uh trauma, childhood trauma. That's it.

Mark 5 Begins In Gentile Territory

SPEAKER_04 4:20

Well, let's jump into Mark chapter five. We've started this off, uh, finished up four, where we saw several of the parables that Jesus talked about the kingdom of God ended with uh the miracle of him calming the storm, speaking into that. And now Jesus is across the lake. He's in the garrisons.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

And so thank you for saying that word because I've been looking at it and Garrosines. Garrosines.

SPEAKER_01 4:44

It's pretty like phonetic.

SPEAKER_02 4:46

Well, okay, thanks, Brie. I didn't know how to say it.

SPEAKER_04 4:48

Well, Garrosenes. Just to go back, though, I mean, there was some time where you were preaching out of the Old Testament and you sat down and you learned how to say all the names to me.

SPEAKER_02 4:58

I made the ESV Bible read it to me over and over again practice. Well, and then when I preached that sermon, I read it all out and nobody clapped. And I paused and made people apart. I was like, you better clap that I got all those names right. You don't realize how hard that was?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:10

Oh, that's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Garrison were in the region of the Garrosines, which is Gentile territory.

SPEAKER_04 5:16

Yes. Well, which is a big deal. And one of the things that I think we forget because when we look at the Bible, we look at it in such a hindsight view.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 5:25

Um, and we understand the kingdom of God. We understand how it's going to play out. But if you put yourself in that time, um, ministering to the Gentiles would have been something uh very different for that group. And you're m moving from um a Jewish population or at least a mixed population to a Gentile population now. Uh and so the ministry is gonna be different, but it's gonna be people are gonna be very skeptical and look down upon it. Uh, but Jesus had work to do to minister to all people. And that's one of the things that I just take away in just today's world, 2026, of going um, Jesus ministers to people wherever they've come from, whether their background, their ethnicity, their tax bracket, whatever, whatever it would be that separates people, Jesus still ministers to all people.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Well, and it's wild too in this encounter, because okay, so in the stories that we've seen, like he's in Jerusalem in the city, he's like going through, and like you see, okay, people have heard about him, they're coming to him, asking him, they're wanting to do things, and so then he's in this totally unfamiliar part of town, Gentile territory, but still immediately someone comes out and talks to him, and it's like, okay, like so. We've already news has already been spread a little bit about what's happening.

SPEAKER_04 6:38

But the person he encounters, this is not a normal

A Picture Of Human Brokenness

SPEAKER_04 6:40

encounter, right? No, it is not.

SPEAKER_01 6:42

The yeah, the man's described as having an unclean spirit, and that he's lives among the tombs. So I get I'm guessing that Jesus gets off the boat and he's right at the edge, edge of the city is where all the tombs and things are, and this man is isolated, uncontrollable, and tormented pretty uh extensively by this unclean spirit.

SPEAKER_04 7:07

Uh, this is someone that they've tried to chain down, that they've tried to uh keep controlled, and just the the sheer force that that you're gonna see, no one could even bind him anymore. He was completely out of control. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:21

And I think it's a picture too, when you and you'll see this the more that we get into this story. This man was broken in every sense of the word, every aspect of his life, physically, mentally, spiritually, like this man is completely has been completely destroyed in every aspect of his life, and then we're gonna see this amazing encounter with Jesus happen in the story.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Yeah. So I mean, pretty clearly, the thing that stands out the most about this man's condition is his brokenness. Mark makes that pretty clear. But why do you think Mark lets that be such a prominent description of what this man's state is?

SPEAKER_02 8:00

Well, I I don't I think for me it's the it's a good indication, it's a good picture of all of our life before we meet Jesus. I mean, maybe it's not this intense physically and may and like outwardly being able to see it, but I mean, there is a sense of real brokenness mentally and spiritually before we meet Jesus. And I think it's good for Mark to show this, that part of the story about what this man is like, what he's going through before he meets Jesus, because then we're gonna get to see what he is like after he meets Jesus. And so for me, it's not an encouragement, but it's almost like, oh yeah, like that, there are remnants of that that my life looked like before I met Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 8:41

And I think there has to be a reality check. I mean, just for the people listening and watching right now, I mean, I had lunch with a guy today, and we were just talking about the fact of man, he's having some victories in his life, God's doing some things, coming out of some dark places and and and different things like that. And one of one of the things is I think there is such an assumption in the church today that everybody's got it all together. Yeah. And we put on these facades and these masks. And I feel like we've talked about that a lot as we've taught through the book of Mark, but it's nobody's perfect, but everybody I I love that word that you used just a second ago, Aaron, because you said brokenness. And I think each of us can identify with some element of brokenness. Maybe you know, you talked about physically. I mean, there are things, the the aches and pains of life, but then medical diagnosis, uh, uh mental illness, all all of the things that go along with that, then the spiritual side of things. I think all of us can adapt. And when Scripture speaks to brokenness, um, I think it's very identifiable as we read, as we study, as we engage with the living word that brokenness is a real deal. And so I think Mark does a great job as he's, you know, giving account of what happened here to go, there is a man when you strip away all of the theatrics of it, a man that is broken, he's isolated, he's lost everything, and he's alone and broken and runs straight into Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Yeah. Well, and then when as we are going through this, the man runs to him, falls before him. And I think what's powerful about this story is Jesus chooses to engage this man. Like if you think about where this man is, where he is in the part of town, what is happening to him, where what you're seeing physically from him, how terrified I'm sure people were of this man, Jesus chooses to engage in conversation with them.

SPEAKER_04 10:37

Well, we I I preached this uh sermon um or note in a sermon a while that pee Jesus meets people in their mess. Um and many times when we see Jesus interact with people, it's people that everybody else is done with. Like I'm done with trying to restrain this guy. I'm trying, I'm I'm done with him being a part of our community, I'm done with him being this, that, and the other. And Jesus walks up and meets him in the middle of his mess, doesn't ask him to to clean himself up or present himself a certain way. And I think that's how we do church nowadays. We we don't want messy people, we don't want to deal with baggage and brokenness and going, then what are we doing? Yeah. If we're not meeting people where they are, just like Jesus demonstrates in Mark chapter five. I mean, this man comes towards him and Jesus boom runs runs straight into it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

And I think just before we move on, this like the detail of this man's brokenness is gonna be such a testimony.

SPEAKER_02 11:34

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Which we'll get into later. But I think a lot of us tend to hide our brokenness that we've even come from, even if we're moved past that, but it can be used in such a mighty way.

SPEAKER_04 11:45

Yep, yeah. Um, one one interesting thing about this is um, you know, we've talked about uh we were saying earlier that, you know, without social media, without news broadcasting, Jesus is working in uh the these parts of Galilee, and now he gets to the other side. And there is fame, there is people following him, but this man doesn't recognize him because of maybe his fame, but because of his demon possession, right? I mean, it's the first thing that comes up is he runs into Jesus and it's just like, what business do we have together, son of the most high?

SPEAKER_01 12:22

Which we've seen already a couple of times is that Chapter one, I think, right? Spirits and demons are the ones recognizing Jesus before anybody else figured out.

SPEAKER_04 12:31

Isn't that crazy how the spiritual world gets it right and mankind and humanity we miss it? Yeah, God in flesh, and we're trying to wrap our minds around it, or these people are trying to wrap their minds around it, and the demons, as soon as they interact with him, they're like, Son of the most high, I know who you are. What are you doing here? Is now like and they begin to panic and they fall down because they understand who Jesus is. It's a good thing.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Well, which is well, and that's just wild to me because I mean, through every gospel account, it takes people so long to figure out who Jesus is, even after sign after sign after miracle after miracle after statement after statement that Jesus makes, it takes people so long, like some people all the way until the cross and the crucifixion and the resurrection, until they're like, oh, okay. And then immediately when these this darkness, these unclean spirits are immediately like, you are the son of the most high.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

Like, man, it's just so wild because I I mean, what's different in our ministry today? Yeah, you know, we know what truth is, but when we're working with people, sometimes it takes so long for people to understand to get who Jesus is. Yeah. And this demon knew right away.

Knowing Jesus Versus Surrender

SPEAKER_04 13:45

Let me ask you guys a couple of questions. I got two questions. Um why does the recognition of Jesus not always lead to surrender? So we've talked about, you know, this demonaic, and he falls down in front of Jesus, confesses who he is, and they're gonna have an interaction here in a moment. But we've said for people, and even today, it takes them longer. Why does just not realizing who Jesus is, why does that not always lead to a immediate surrender? Why is it that we fight against that and push back against that?

SPEAKER_01 14:17

I think part of me wants to almost go back to something we taught on a couple weeks ago, which is the soils where the truth falls on and almost like the condition of people's heart. So whether it's they have a really hard heart and it's not going to take root of the truth, or whether they are on the other spectrum and they do like immediately hear and surrender to Jesus. But I think people are in a whole spectrum of places between those two. Yeah. And so it's really, in my opinion, the condition of people's hearts. And with the people that have hard hearts, you know, even if they understand the truth, maybe it's a just a rejection of that truth.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Well, and I think too, like, I I almost think like when I was in school and I was studying for a test, I would just learn stuff for the test. Like I would I would just memorize facts that meant nothing. Like I couldn't connect them. My professor wife is probably listening and be like, I don't do that. Like, learn the material. But I would just learn facts and memorize things to be able to pass the test. It didn't mean anything. It didn't connect. I there was I didn't know the bigger story. I just knew this question was going to get asked. This is how I answer it. And we see that story over and over again in church. Like I was having a conversation with someone the other day, grew up in church's whole life, could have answered any question possibly asked of him about scripture, about God, about what Jesus did, everything. And he would tell you, I did not surrender my life to Jesus until I was 28 years old. Wow. And he has been in church his whole entire life. And so it's as cliche as the statement is, because we make it all the time, it there has to be this transfer of, I know it in my head, and but what does it mean to for my life? How does it connect? What does it look like?

SPEAKER_04 16:06

Well, and growing up in student ministry in the 90s, uh, it was uh said that you know, a lot of people will miss heaven by 18 inches.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

You know, it's the the distance between your head and your heart. Yeah. And so that brings up my second question. So what's the difference practically between knowing about Jesus and surrendering your life to Jesus? Like what practically is the difference? Because maybe there's people listening today, um, because that is a testimony that keeps resurfacing in our church right now is hey, I was at a VBS, I was at a camp, I was with my parents, I was a little kid, I walked an aisle, I got baptized, lived my own way, no lordship in my life whatsoever. It was check a box, get dunked. And then later on in their teens, their twenties, their thirties the other day, someone in their 60s came up and said, Hey, look, I I know all the stuff, but I need to repent and put my faith in Jesus and be born again. And so what's practically the difference between someone listening going, Hey, I know about Jesus or I know Jesus?

SPEAKER_02 17:12

I think You go ahead. Okay. I was just gonna say, I think it has to be that your knowledge is changing the way that you live your life. And like, even on the most like very low part of the like, so I'm thinking about the way that I'm teaching my kids. So Zaya, for example, she's almost six years old. She has this song about the gifts of the spirit or like the fruit of the spirit, and she knows this song and has it memorized. She can name every fruit of the spirit. But what I'm trying to do is when she makes a mistake or she does something that's wrong or is mean to her brother or whatever that looks like, I come back to that song and be like, hey, you know that song that you know that you memorize? This is why you know this, and it should change the way that you interact with Owen, and it should change the way that you talk to your mom and dad. And so that's a very simple, like very simple level of that. But I think when your knowledge, your knowledge has to change and impact the way that you live. And I'm not talking about like just living more morally, like that's not what I'm saying. It should change your motivation for what you do. And if there's not that change and not that connection, then the knowledge is almost pointless. Like it's it's a useless piece of knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Well, that's what I was gonna say, because that is my own testimony, is that I grew up, my dad's a pastor, and all the way into my teenage years, I would have said I surrendered my life to Christ when I was in elementary school. But the reality is it wasn't until I was in late middle school, early high school, and I knew all of those things. And if you would have asked me, I would have even said, Yes, I trust in Christ alone and what he's done for me. But really, what I was trusting in was all of my works and trying to be self-sufficient and work my own way up. And I would say exactly what you said is that it takes that knowledge transferring, and then also just the Holy Spirit revealing that to me. Like, you know, there's part there our decision obviously plays a role, and then at some point it's the Holy Spirit revealing that truth to you that you've heard hundreds of times. Um, which I think we've all experienced and seen as well.

SPEAKER_04 19:27

So that's cool. But let me just read a little bit of this because I think it'll take us into our

Legion And The Spiritual Realm

SPEAKER_04 19:32

next passage. But it just says it's talking about this man in uh verse six of chapter five. It says, Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before him, and shouting with a loud voice, he said, What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I employ implore you by God, do not torment me. And for he had been saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit. And he was asking him, What is your name? And he said to him, My name is Legion, for we are many.

SPEAKER_01 20:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Well, it's so we s this story is wild. Um, but we s so Jesus encounters this man, but the unclean spirit starts screaming basically, like, please do not do anything bad to us. We know who you are. And he says, Nope, come out. Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

And then he says his name, which is Legion, which that's also wild to me because Which Legion, it kind of gives some context if you're reading.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Lots of people.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

Which so he's indicating there are many of us, not just one.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

Well, and for me, we think about it, and you know, we were talking when we were uh working on preparing for this sermon, doing some of the initial study. Um, you know, I think in our world, especially in conservative circles, um, we kind of shy away from the ultra-spiritual, right? Like we like everything to fit in a box, we like the gospel to look like this, we like people to look like this, we want this, that, and the other. And you start talking about the miraculous gifts, you start talking about um, you know, angels, but then you forget the other side of the demons. And then uh we were kind of talking, we were like, it's like we get confused on this stuff. Like we don't want to acknowledge the darkness of the spiritual realm that would include demons. But on Sunday morning, if the projector goes down, you know, somebody say, well, just the devil's in the in the sound system this morning, and we'll attribute something like that. But when someone has uh problems with addiction or sin or things like that, um we we can't that that could be a spiritual force and maybe not a medical issue or something like that.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

That there is a very we want to ignore the bad. We were talking about this earlier, where like you'll hear people all the time, Well, I you know, I have angels watching out for me. And okay, well, if you believe there are angels watching out for you, then then you should also believe that there are demons trying to defeat those angel. And so there's there it's both and you can't.

SPEAKER_04 22:02

And there's rulers and authorities and principalities and and all of these things. And and this isn't meant to scare anybody, but it's just take the take the blinders off a little bit and understand that we live in a physical realm, but there is a very spiritual world around us that includes uh both the the evil side and the the good side to it. But I think about it that when he says, My name is Legion, we're not talking one demon afflicting one man. Yep. We're talking thousands of demons afflicting. How does a human body even do that? And you start to understand some of the beginning of Mark V where it says nobody could contain this guy. He would cut himself, he would howl and scream and and all this stuff.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

But the moment Jesus shows up, they bow down and they're like, Well, and that's that's one thing that's one thing that sticks out to me about this story is there is no struggle. Like we talk about like struggling against darkness and fighting against that. Jesus does not have to do any of that. Like he speaks and they come out. And I think I'm a huge cherry potter fan, y'all know this. And so I there's always stop. There's scenes in that where like there's light versus dark, but the light is always struggling to overcome the dark, and there's this big back and forth, and finally the light overcomes. That is not what's happening in this story. Like Jesus says, speaks, and immediately no struggle, no fight, no like back and forth. He's like, Nope, come out, and they're like, All right. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

Which is pretty crazy, and they don't just leave and go somewhere else.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Like just float away.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Yeah, they actually go into a herd of pigs, which then they run off the side of a cliff.

SPEAKER_04 23:41

Yeah. This this is something that's just when you read scripture sometimes. I don't know. I when people say, Well, I just the Bible's boring, or I don't get it. And I'm like, if you can just imagine yourself, you've got this guy that's running around, um, stripped of his clothes, can't be chained down. I mean, just wild demon-possessed man. Jesus shows up on a boat, they have this interaction, he casts them into pigs, these pigs commit suicide into the like it is just pretty wild.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

A wild scene. And it's story. This is very random and has nothing to do with this story, but it makes me think of other crazy stories in scripture, like in the Old Testament, the prophet's getting made fun of because he's bald and he's like, hey, you she bears, come out and kill these kids. Like, I'm like, Yeah, what? Never a dull moment.

SPEAKER_04 24:29

No, it's a little close for me because that's why I wear a hat all the time when I'm going bald.

SPEAKER_01 24:34

Well, well, I was gonna roast a couple other staff members, but I won't, but you can say it, Miles.

SPEAKER_04 24:39

It's fine.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

And Michael.

SPEAKER_04 24:42

Um back on track to the loving side of the state.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

I think it is also just one thing I wanted to mention mention is that we're talking about the reality of the spiritual world. And I think that's why Paul is so insistent in the end of Ephesians saying, hey, there's a reality of this world.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

Yeah, this battle raging.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yes, and so we need to be prepared. Yeah. Because we're not Jesus, like there will be a struggle. Yeah, yeah. And so we need to be prepared. But yeah, it's pretty crazy to be sitting there and be an innocent bystander because this was a herd of pigs that had someone taking care of them.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Yeah. They were just they're like, Well, there go my pigs off the cliff. All right, let me let me ask a couple of questions of you guys. So,

Jesus Has Total Authority

SPEAKER_02 25:36

first, when we see this moment and we've talked about like Jesus speaking, and instantly they come out, what does this moment teach us about like the scope of the authority of Jesus? What does this moment say about Jesus' authority in this moment?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

It has no boundaries.

SPEAKER_04 25:54

Okay. I mean, it it does sound a little bit, you know, like when people are like, What should I do? And you're like, read the Bible and you're like, ah, I know that's like a a bottom level deal, but I just think it once again accredits that Jesus is who he says he is. He is God. Um, and and you know, creation obeys, demons obey, death forfeits its grip on folks. Like, I mean, he is, um, as John one says, uh, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. Yeah. Um, and I just think it it his authority is unmatched because he is God.

SPEAKER_02 26:35

And so why, why I was gonna say, why is that important? Why is it important to know that there is no level of brokenness, no level of darkness, nothing that is beyond his power? Why is that so important to understand?

SPEAKER_01 26:48

Well, and I was gonna say too, I think that's what makes it so beautiful that we can come to him in our brokenness. Because I think naturally we would say a a being that is so powerful, so high above anything that we could comprehend, we need to stay away. But Jesus comes and makes himself available available, that we can come to him. Because John 1 is recounting what you just said from Genesis, and it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us so that he could bring us back into right relationship with him.

SPEAKER_04 27:24

Yeah, absolutely. I and I think there's this when you say, Why is it important that no level of brokenness is beyond his power? I mean, we look at this guy and um we j we just go, he's lost everything. He's probably lost his family, he's lost his employment, he's lost his own sanity, control over himself. I think for some of us, we feel like we've lost everything. And we feel very unworthy. And and not only could God do something with my life, but would he want to do it?

SPEAKER_02 27:52

Yeah, why would he want to?

SPEAKER_04 27:53

And I think I think so many people are convinced that they have no worth, that they have messed up too much, they're not wanted, and just the way the world is right now, that kindness, just common kindness and courtesy is a thing in the rearview mirror that I the default of today's world is to put down, to harass, to tear down, even in playful sarcasm, you know, and and so people adopt these identities of my whole life I've been made fun of because of my name or my height or my family or this, that, or the other. Put in whatever it is for you. And I think we go, we're not even worth saving. We're not even worth the time. And we bring some measure of brokenness and we go, not only could God, but would he want to? Yeah, why would he want to? And the thing that we see in his picture is so beautiful is Jesus doesn't shy away from this. Yeah. He meets this guy right where he is. And so I just want you, if you're listening to this, whatever measure of brokenness that you're wrestling with right now, the the understanding of can God do anything with my brokenness, or is it, hey, would he? Would he want to do anything with me? He does. He created you, he knows you. Um, and wherever your brokenness is, he doesn't just bandage it up. Yeah. I mean, the thing about him is he makes brand new, he restores, and we're going to see that

Ministry Highlight With Melissa Willeford

SPEAKER_04 29:21

further. But before we move any further in this passage, uh, I want us to just take a short break because one of the things that we're hearing is you guys are loving these ministry highlights, our ministry partners that Concord works with, different community organizations and different staff members and volunteers. And so we've got one more highlight for you. Y'all check us out.

SPEAKER_02 29:42

All right, guys, we have another ministry highlight today. We have Miss Melissa Willeford here, um, who, if you can't tell, if you are watching this, Melissa is terrified. She does not want to be here. She begged us not to do this ministry highlight, which is why, even more so, we are going to do it. And so, hi Melissa, how are you today?

SPEAKER_00 30:04

I'm just so excited.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

Are you excited to be here? Um, okay, so Melissa, a lot of what you do in all reality, no one sees. Like we talk a lot in the office about how me and Clint would literally not be able to survive if you did not help in all the ways that you do in our office. But before we get to that, I want to ask you because not a lot of people know what was happening in your life before you came to Concord. So, what were you and Adam doing before you came to Concord?

SPEAKER_00 30:40

Um, so for almost 10 years, we served in Mexico with Hugo Ministries. Um and it was actually through Concord's connection with Yugo Ministries that we ended up here.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

That's awesome. What were some of your responsibilities that you did while you were in Mexico working with Hugo?

SPEAKER_00 30:58

I know there was a long list, but like Well, it was a lot of behind the scenes things again. Um, we hosted teams and so I was communicating with different churches and um prepping details for them to come and all that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

How long have you been on staff here at Concord?

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Um, it'll be four years in the fall.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

Four wow. Oh, yeah, because how long when what month did you come?

SPEAKER_00 31:22

We arrived in Georgia October 1st, and then I started right before Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Okay, so I started in February of that year, and then you came the same year. Okay. Awesome. All right, so tell everyone a little bit about what you do here at Concord. I know it's a lot. We could go on literally, I'm not kidding. We could go on for a long time about what Melissa does here, but give some of your like major responsibilities that you have here at Concord.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

The calendar is always a good one. It's always ever changing and um helping to schedule meetings and you are downplaying.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

You are downplaying what you do. Yes, you are. Okay, so let me I'll I'm just gonna give you a little glimpse, and we won't go long, but I want to give you a little glimpse about what Melissa does for our church as a whole. So there are a lot of moving parts, there are a lot of moving pieces that happen all the time. There are changes that happen on a dime that need to be rescheduled, there's stuff that needs to be changed. And this woman right here is the person that keeps all of that together. We I would not know which way was up, calendar-wise, what was happening church event-wise, all of that happens. And also, Melissa, and this is something that you don't ever give yourself credit for. You are amazing at connecting with people exactly where they are. You work at our she works at our next steps table table every week. And I don't know how many times we have talked about conversations that you have had with people that just randomly come up to you and be like, hey, I had this question, or like, hey, my family's experiencing this. And you are just so good at relaying that information and being able to like explain it in a way like, hey, this is the way that we need to help that family. And so I'm very grateful for that. I know our pastor is grateful for that. You keep our staff like in the loop, basically, of the the tone and what's happening in our church with our people. And so I am very thankful for what you do. And I know you were terrified to be here, but we wanted to highlight you and the rest of our staff because so many of our staff do so many things that people don't see. And so, last question for you, okay?

SPEAKER_00 33:31

You've done so good answer for me. I like I like this. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Yeah, last question. You're gonna answer this one. I'm not even giving you any help on this answer. If you had to say, hey, what this is one thing that you can be praying for me for, whether in my job, with my family, whatever that looks like, what is one thing that you would say, hey, church, would you be praying for this specifically in this season?

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Um, I mean, focus comes to mind because there are things constantly changing, and you know, with just balancing things like I want to be focused because I can't do things well if I'm not.

SPEAKER_02 34:08

Okay. Hey, Melissa, thank you very much. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Melissa, for everything that you do, and we will see you on the next ministry highlight.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

Peace out.

Clothed And In His Right Mind

SPEAKER_04 34:22

All right, well, we're back. Let's finish out this passage in Mark chapter five. I really enjoyed this conversation with you two, and so uh it's been fun. Let's uh let's keep jumping into it.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

So after everything happens, people kind of come out to see what has happened, and it's pretty powerful the image that they're left with when they get there.

SPEAKER_02 34:41

Well, it's a complete change in appearance of this man.

unknown 34:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

Right?

SPEAKER_01 34:46

It's pretty crazy. Yeah, they say that he's sitting clothed in in his right mind. Yep. So the same man that wasn't controllable is now calm, sitting and pretty much just but but I think that's pretty indicative of any time somebody meets Jesus.

SPEAKER_04 35:03

I'll just tell you, you know, uh a couple of weeks ago at our Good Friday service, we had uh someone give their life to Christ. I mean, I could just tell because this is somebody I know really well, and just speaking with them like they were a different person. Like, I mean, just brand new. And I think when you think about this guy who was in all of this brokenness and all of this distress and despair, I mean, it's a completely different disposition. I mean, he is changed from interacting with Jesus, from coming face to face with the one who created the world can change things completely restored.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Yeah. So why is it that full restoration and not just relief such a key part of the gospel?

SPEAKER_04 35:54

Say that one more time for me.

SPEAKER_01 35:55

So why is full restoration and not just relief from difficult things such a like important part of the gospel?

SPEAKER_04 36:04

Yeah, I mean, I think, I mean, I think it's the very evidence of what the gospel does is the gospel doesn't make us better, it makes us new. Yeah. You know, I think a lot of times, especially in our culture, we are so consumed with self-help and get things right and a better version of you, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and we're trying to get some relief, try to get some correction, and what the gospel does is you bow at the cross, you you repent of your sins, you put your faith in him, and you are made new. And I think being completely restored to the proper relationship with God, moving from a child of wrath, someone that will have the punishment and the wages for your sin poured out on you, to being adopted into the family of God, made new, having Christ's um righteousness imputed to you, that glorious exchange. Um, I I think that is what the gospel does. It's not just getting relief from this or that, it's a full restoration of who you are in relation to God.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Well, and that's probably too why there's such an emphasis on Jesus' authority because only someone with his authority could do that. Like only God can do that.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Well, because it's I mean, we we can take like relief, we can give relief to someone. Like we can give them food, or we can help pay a bill, or we can help them change their behavior and help them stay sober. Like we can there there are things that we can do as human beings that we can provide relief. We cannot restore someone. Like that we don't have the authority, we don't have the power to do that, but Jesus does, and we see him do that in this man's life.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 37:51

Well, um, so this is what happens as Jesus is asked to leave the town, all of this has happened. The the pigs run down, yeah. The people go

Sent Home To Tell His Story

SPEAKER_04 38:00

to the town, they come back, they see this man that they know in a certain way. Uh, they known him to be the crazy guy on the edge out there. Now they see him sitting, they see him in his right mind. Um, and and he he tells, look at verse 18, and it says, as he was getting into the boat, that's Jesus, it says, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring him that he might accompany him. But Jesus didn't let him, but he said to him, Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you. Like, I mean, think about this. He's like, Jesus, I just want to go with you. You've brought such change in my life. And Jesus says, Pause for just a second. I need you to go back and tell what you've done. Now you got to think this guy's been estranged from his family. Yeah. Uh, he's been estranged from society, from from any kind of um normalcy. And he goes, Go back and tell them why. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:02

And I think our story, his story, was gonna create, I mean, so many questions, so many people going, This is who you were, this is who you are now, which is why probably a lot of people fear going back to their uh high school reunion, right? Because they're like, we knew who you were in high school, and you do what now? Yeah. Oh, yeah. You're a pastor. What how does that work, right? Um, but I think our story carries that kind of power of someone who's been completely changed. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

And I think it was Aaron who said this earlier before we were recording, but he becomes the first missionary sent back almost to his own people, to the Gentiles, to share.

SPEAKER_02 39:40

Yeah, I mean, Jesus hasn't Jesus hadn't come into Gentile territory until now. And so, like, of course, we see Paul like throughout the New Testament being called to like preach to the Gentiles and take the gospel. But this man is about to be the first person in Gentile territory to say, Please look what Jesus did in my life. He can also do that for you. And that's a big deal. Like, this is the first time. Well, and it's this idea of um, I can't remember who said it. I was reading something the other day, but the idea of going from isolation to mission, like you and with you without Jesus, within your brokenness, you're isolated from the Lord, like you're cut off from all the stuff. And then as soon as Jesus transforms transforms your life, you are immediately put on mission. Like that, I mean, we teach that every week. Like, what are we supposed to do as believers? We're supposed to share the gospel. Like, we need to live on mission and do that.

SPEAKER_04 40:37

I actually think that's one of the things that people struggle most with in church. I I mean, I know there's always a battle against sin, but I do think there is this temptation in today's Western American church to be a consumer.

SPEAKER_03 40:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 40:50

To come in and go, I like this music, I like that message, I don't like this, I don't like that. And we we try to pick things apart or we try to take control, and there's all these things. But I think the real temptation is to come and just sit and soak. And when you sit and soak, you kind of sour, right? But understanding we're on mission and our story is a weapon in our hand for spiritual battle to go, this is what Jesus has done. But we don't share our story a lot. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

And I think the emphasis on your story is so important because I think the other tendency people have is to say, Well, I don't feel equipped to talk to people. I don't, I might not have the answers to all of their questions, but the reality is if you have experienced who Jesus is and he has changed your life, you have everything you need to share with other people.

SPEAKER_04 41:42

Well, and what gets me too is uh I was uh sharing at a uh FCA at a high school and we talked about sharing your testimony, and one of the things you always get, we always get this pushback, especially from this Bible belt part of the country, is uh people go, Well, my story's boring. Like I I don't I don't have these wild stories of addiction or sin or brokenness or lostness. Like I'm a church kid and I got saved early, and I'm like, But you're saved, right? Like you were going to be able to do that. Like that's a big deal. Like our story is a big thing. And I think for many of you, you need to come to grips with if Jesus has changed your life, you have a story to tell. And when Jesus took this guy from the depth of his mess, and he says, No, no, no, don't come with me. Yeah, you have a spot here to do ministry. And I want you to hear this. Some of you have a spot to do ministry, and it is time to get telling your story. Yeah. Um, whether it is simple and clean or whether it is broken and messy, your story has power if Jesus has changed your life. And you need to start thinking in a very practical way who is it that God has put me in some sphere of influence with that I can share my story? Because that's exactly what Jesus told this guy is don't come with me. Go back and tell them. Yeah. Um, and I just think it's important for you, wherever you're listening from, whether you're North Georgia where we are, or maybe you're listening somewhere else, you have a story to tell. And we point people to Jesus who changes everything. Yeah, it's good. Well, let's land this

Three Questions To Walk Out

SPEAKER_04 43:13

Aaron. Let's get some walkaways from Mark chapter five, one through twenty.

SPEAKER_02 43:16

Okay, so just some three questions. We always end with a few questions about what, hey, what are we asking ourselves coming out of this story, coming out of what we talked about? So the first one is where do you need to trust Jesus' authority in your life? Like, where have you not given him authority that you need to give that over to him? So that's the first one. The second one is am I allowing him to bring full restoration and not just give me temporary relief? Like, is am I asking him to take something away and not make me feel this anymore? Or am I asking him, no, transform the way that I think, transform the way that I act, transform the way that I treat other people? Is that what I'm asking?

SPEAKER_04 43:57

Well, I love that because I think of a conversation, not interrupt you but just uh that I was having with a gentleman in our church who just got a cancer diagnosis and uh he says yeah he was talking about moving from the why me to why not me. Yeah yeah you know not just looking for the relief but looking for the purpose of it.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

Oh yeah that's good.

SPEAKER_04 44:15

That's good.

SPEAKER_02 44:16

And then the last one is am I willing to and this is the biggest one I think am I willing to share what he has done in my life with other people?

SPEAKER_03 44:23

Come on.

SPEAKER_02 44:24

Because we like you said and we cannot say it enough like if you have had an interaction with Jesus and he has changed your life and he has brought you out of the depths of sin, out of death, out of being completely cut off from God and made a way for you to be reconciled to the Father and given you a way to spend eternity with him that is a tremendous amazing story. You need to tell people about it. Love it. Because there are so gosh there are so many times to where if you would just tell that story you have no idea the impact that it's going to have on people around you.

SPEAKER_03 45:02

That's true.

SPEAKER_04 45:03

And so and usually our stories are a lot more um a lot more um like we can connect better to them than maybe some kind of formal presentation.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Yeah for sure yeah for sure but yeah yeah that's good good stuff so and this narrative and we're gonna continue to see Jesus steps into many chaotic and difficult situations but bring such clarity and restoration.

SPEAKER_04 45:24

Yeah story after story. Well Bree Aaron this has been jet fuel for me hope it's been jet fuel for you guys and we'll see y'all later bye guys