Steve and Matt - A Grounded Episode

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello everyone and welcome. You're listening to the Brick by Brick podcast from Renovation Church, where faith gets built one truth at a time. Each week, you'll hear inspiring sermons from our pastors, deeper dive discussions that unpack the wisdom of God's word, and grounded episodes with stories and encouragement from members of our very own church family. Whether you're new to faith or have been walking with Jesus for years, there's something here for you. So kick back, hit play, and let's build this thing together.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Hi Steve. Hey, how's it going? It's great. I loved your video, your grounded video. Had a few follow-up questions for you. Yeah. Uh, but I I thought it was just amazing. And I love your energy and enthusiasm. Thank you. So as I reflect on what you said in your video, um, I did a little deep dive. I'm gonna read a little here, but yeah, I was thinking, I immediately went to the people who saw him um beaten, um, dying on the cross, laid in the tomb, stoned in front of the tomb, you know, wrapped, he he was dead, he was gone. And and I immediately went to, but the prophets in the scriptures had said the Messiah would return. So here's some examples. In Psalm 16, David foreshadowed Jesus returning from the grave and and beating death. He said, You will not abandon me um to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your holy one see decay. So he's speaking out to God in Isaiah 53. It says, After he has suffered, um he will see the light of life. So after he suffered, I mean, Isaiah calls it out. Um, one more um Hosea 6, 2. After two days he will revive us, and on the third day, he will restore us. Amazing. Even Jonah um spent three days in the belly of the fish. And um, you know, Jesus is himself in Matthew uh 12, 40 says um that it's a sign of his death and resurrection. So I think that's fascinating, right? And I just think that all of these people walked with him for several years, um, heard his teachings, heard him rebuke uh the Pharisees and Sadducees, saw his miracles. They knew deep in themselves that he was the Messiah. Yet when he was persecuted and beaten and scorned and killed, and he was laid in the tomb, and and the tomb was sealed. What do you think their emotions were like at that moment?

SPEAKER_02 2:54

Right? Well, I think their emotions were just feeling hopeless. You know, they they thought that he was going to come and take out the Romans and establish the kingdom right then and there, and it didn't happen the way that they expected. And so I think they were, I would think they were devastated. Um, and I think it really speaks to the power of our expectations, even when those expectations are misplaced. Because as you read in all those scriptures, you know, it's easy for us in hindsight to look back and say, well, they should have known better.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Right? They should have known that the Messiah had to suffer, that the Messiah would be persecuted, all these things that happened to Jesus, that he was fulfilling prophecy, and yet they still, I think, were expecting him to just set up the kingdom. I mean, that's what was going on on Palm Sunday, right? He was coming into Jerusalem and he's the king, and he's gonna overthrow the Romans and he's going to you know set up the kingdom again. Um, and they they failed to see the the other piece of this that first he had to die, he had to take care of our sins. Um, and so that expectation of what they thought, even though it wasn't based in in scripture, at least all of you know those passages that you you talked about, it it still threw off what they were thinking was gonna happen. And I think that is what left them in that hopeless place. Not that Jesus had actually failed because he didn't, he did what he set out to do, but their expectation of how that was gonna go is what led to that hopelessness.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

You just made an amazing point that I want to tease out a little bit. The expectation of the Jews was that he was going to come in like a lion, right? That he would overthrow the Roman Empire, who had really, you know, held them in check. Um, the Romans were in charge, and they believed that he would come in, you know, with the sword on a horse, and he didn't. He came in as the lamb. Um, and so that that was probably incredibly confusing for them. That it's it's not what they expected, right?

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Yeah, and it makes me think, you know, how many times do we have expectations of God that even though we feel like while I'm being a faithful Christian, I'm being a biblical Christian, but yet I can place expectations on God too, that that's going to become the source of my struggle. You know, um, I mean, you know, scripture tells us that we're supposed to die to sin. Um, and yet I think a lot of us we struggle with things. We're like, well, that's just in my nature, that's just who I am. You know, and so we we forget the part where it says that that we have the spirit in us to overcome those things. Or we say, you know, that's that's just my nature, you know, that's that's just who I am, that's just how how I am. Um, and yet in Galatians, we're told, no, that's actually the works of the flesh, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, you know, all of those things that that we are enabled by the spirit to do. And yet we'll tell ourselves, like, oh no, you know, that's that's for other people, or that's not something I'm capable of. But we forget the spirits in us, the spirits at work in our lives. So we can overcome those expectations that we have of ourselves too, or even go to the other extreme. And we might tell ourselves, I'm no good. Um, we we wrestle with shame and and and fear and all of those things, and we forget that scripture tells us you are a child of God, you are made in his image. Um, he is at work in you. You can overcome all of these issues and these things that are at work in you. And so I think we can develop wrong expectations about God also. Um, even though we are trying to be faithful to scripture, we know scripture, but yet sometimes we think, well, that's not true for me, or that doesn't apply to me. And then that leaves us, us feeling hopeless too, just like them.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

That's such a good point. And when you talk about fruits of the spirit, the things that are contrary, anger, discord, jealousy. Um, uh, we just say, but but it's just me. Yeah, it's just my nature.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

That's just who I am. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Yeah, that is so interesting. Um, last question. How do you think they felt when they saw the stone rolled away and they saw the angel? I mean, what what an incredible, incredible feeling they must have had. Right.

SPEAKER_02 7:20

I mean, to go from absolute hopelessness to everything is changed now, you know. Um, I think shock probably initially that uh because they thought it was over and here it's not over, you know. Um, and so I think it would have, it would have to have just been the the highest of highs, you know, from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. Just that absolute joy that, you know, he he isn't dead, uh, he didn't fail. Yeah. Um, and it's actually better than we ever would have thought because we're not just dealing with just a man. This is God. You know, I mean, it would have just confirmed everything that they ever hoped and and believed about Jesus times a thousand, you know, that he's he's not only here, he can conquer death. So what else can he do?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

You know, yeah, that's incredible. Right. That's incredible. Well, I hope that people will have that uh feeling and that um expectation and excitedness about um our our living God and our savior as we approach Easter here at Renovation. So um thank you, Steve, for expanding more. This has been great. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, all right.