Rush Hour
RushHour helps RushChurch members stay connected to each other, informs them about current RushChurch happenings, and also includes bible study/theology talk. We will speak about RushChurch specifics but also on current events, tough questions on faith, church and the Bible
Rush Hour
You Cannot Live On Spiritual Highs Alone
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
We catch up on summer life at Rush Church, share key announcements, and then pivot to why paintball camp is about more than paintball. We talk about being anchored in faith, why spiritual highs cannot sustain you, and how daily habits help you hear God even when He speaks softly.
• Summer updates and what’s been happening around the church
• Rush 1.8 Independence Day park outreach needs and volunteer roles
• Kids Jam volunteer signup process and why it matters for kids
• Camp scholarship support for families sending kids to Christian camp
• Jokes and icebreakers that reveal how we think and laugh together
• Paintball camp overview and the “Anchored” theme for students
• Mountaintop experiences versus daily faith practices
• Elijah’s burnout and learning to listen for a gentle whisper
• Practical ways to pray, read Scripture, and stay close to Jesus
• Why faith cannot be a checklist and still be a relationship
So sign up at the welcome desk, whatever you'd like to sign up for.
If you want to volunteer, find the table in the foyer.
Pray for our students that are there.
www.rushchurch.com
Welcome Back And Summer Chaos
SPEAKER_00Welcome everybody. It's us. We're back. Rush hour podcast. A rush church podcast. Do you like the music?
SPEAKER_03I feel like we should be on soul training. I definitely feel like when the music starts, that you should be like more welcome.
SPEAKER_00Okay, you want to do it again? No. Welcome, everybody. Yes, this is our podcast. Is that better? Yeah. I'm glad you're listening. You got two intros in one episode. Thanks to Brittany.
SPEAKER_03No problem.
SPEAKER_00I'm glad that that is approved now.
SPEAKER_03Everyone's speakers just blew. I know.
SPEAKER_00Sorry about that. That's uh you can thank Brittany for that one. I just wanted to make her happy. So here we go. We're back with another episode. We were gone last week. Some people were like, Where's the episode? And I was like, we didn't do one. They were like, well, you should have. So we've been We thought summer would be easier.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It has not.
SPEAKER_00There's been lots of stuff going on here at the church. We've been preparing for Kids Jam. We've been doing some work on the Rush 1.8 trailer, all that good stuff. Getting some stuff done. But we're back this week with an episode. Yeah. And it is a nice June day outside. What is it about 86 outside, probably?
SPEAKER_03It's 105 degrees outside.
SPEAKER_00I'm the only sane one in here. Both of these people all know you have blankets. Ashley's got a blanket on.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna get me a blanket.
SPEAKER_00Brittany's got a blanket. Apparently. Which is comfy. June is blanket month. So there's an air conditioner. Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_02I'm on a heating pad, which makes it a little bit more than a little bit.
SPEAKER_00I forgot you had your heating pad because there you go.
SPEAKER_02Because I'm old.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I fell because I was working on the trailer. There you go. We've been hard at work. We got our heating pads and ice packs out.
SPEAKER_03We're all limping around the church.
SPEAKER_00If you see us Sunday and we're just barely moving. Morning.
SPEAKER_03Like you guys love. Good to see you guys. Great.
SPEAKER_00So there we go. But yeah. Thank you for listening. Always glad to be on here with these two talking about Rush Church and the Bible.
Quick Announcements And What’s Next
SPEAKER_00Announcements coming up. We had to postpone, well, we didn't. We postponed, they postponed pineapplepalooza. So we didn't get to do that with Rush 1.8. We were kind of disappointed about that. And maybe, maybe next time. Are we we're not going to get to do it next time?
SPEAKER_02Not for their makeup date. So we'll be on their books for next year.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, scratch the whole pineapple palooza.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, forget it.
SPEAKER_00Still go if you want to. We just won't be there. And then what else is coming up? We have. Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_03Sorry.
SPEAKER_00My mic is falling. You good?
SPEAKER_03Yep, I'm good.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
unknownNo.
SPEAKER_00Everything's falling apart here. Your chair is falling apart. Your armrest fell off when we started.
SPEAKER_03Pick what you
Rush 1.8 Park Event Signup
SPEAKER_03want to talk about. Do you want to talk about Rush 1 8 coming up? Or do you want to talk about Kids Jam coming up?
SPEAKER_02Well, Rush 18 is coming up first.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Coming up quick.
SPEAKER_02It is. So if you miss your opportunity to sign up for Piappalooza, we have plenty of opportunities for you to sign up for the WrestleMania Independence Day celebration out of the park. We're going to do things from cotton candy, popcorn, snow cones, face painting, games, information booth, the photo booth. So it's like everything minus the obstacle course.
SPEAKER_00And if you don't like fun stuff, you can come and help us set everything up.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you can help us set up or you can help us tear down.
SPEAKER_00We need help with all that good stuff. Setting up, tearing down, and then people that day is a long day. Yeah, that's why we have lots of people help. So we can do it in shifts. Two shifts. Two shifts.
SPEAKER_03You want to see us perky, come help set up. You want to see us worn out.
SPEAKER_01Help us tear down. Still happy.
SPEAKER_03But still happy. Still. I can still remember the first time we tore down that event, and I was like, I am so happy right now. Is anyone else happy? And they're just pouring with sweat like 90 degrees. I should say. Yes. No, John did show up that day. Oh, it's a teardown? Yeah, in a suit. That's right.
SPEAKER_00Good times.
SPEAKER_03So he really didn't look happy.
SPEAKER_00Come come help us. What date is that? June 27th?
SPEAKER_03I'm just kidding, by the way. Right? Yes.
SPEAKER_00June 27th, the Saturday before 4th of July. We'll be up at the park here in National Via. So sign up at the welcome desk, whatever you'd like to sign up for. Promise you you'll have fun. It'll be good times hanging out with us all day. So yeah, Rush 1 8 event where we go out and get to see people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And what's the next thing? Kids
Kids Jam Volunteers And Registration
SPEAKER_00uh Kids Jam. If you want to volunteer for Kids Jam, we're uh signing up volunteers, right?
SPEAKER_02Yes. So this Sunday you will see in the Welcome Center a table where Miranda will help anybody who needs assistance signing up. We are doing online registration this year. We're not doing paper copies. So you can either go on the website and sign up yourself and choose an area. You do need to select two different areas just in case we fill up one area, what where you'd like to volunteer. And then if you cannot, or you don't have access to a computer or the phone and you would like Miranda's help, she will be in service at the table at the in the foyer for assistance. You'll see the big giant sign that says Kids Jam volunteers.
SPEAKER_00Can it's it? If you want to volunteer, find the table in the foyer. Yeah. It says volunteer sign up. It'll be good.
SPEAKER_02It is. It's a really exciting event. It can get a little wild at times because they're kids, but the impact that you guys have on these kids, I mean, is huge. They love their crew leaders. They love their, you know, when they go into lesson or they go into craft, you know, they really look up to the adults. So it's it's fun and exciting. It's rewarding. It is work, but we use about a hundred volunteers for this event.
SPEAKER_00All right. So sign up for that. Come help us out. You know what? It's a little chilly in here.
SPEAKER_03I'm gonna like it.
SPEAKER_00The air conditioning is working good. I've just sat down and stopped making it.
SPEAKER_02Is it really? Yeah.
SPEAKER_00No wonder it's cold in here. All right.
SPEAKER_02Do you want to keep my house at like 68?
SPEAKER_03That's 68 is ridiculous.
SPEAKER_02Just kidding.
SPEAKER_03I like it cold. I'm like, it's too cold in here. And Levi's like, I can't turn up one degree. And I'm like, oh, that's better.
SPEAKER_00Wow. All right. Do we have any oppressing announcements
Camp Scholarships And Bulletin Ideas
SPEAKER_00coming up? I can't think of anything else.
SPEAKER_03Do you want to talk about camp scholarships?
SPEAKER_00Camp scholarships. If you're sending your kids to any Christian camp this summer, make sure you let the office know. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's like, is it $60 per camper that you get towards your camp fees? So if you're going to you know, if you're sending your kids to a camp, maybe it's camp union, maybe it's Western Buckeye, maybe it's paintball camp, maybe it's that's well it's too late for that. But uh we do that a different kind of way. Everybody still gets their $60 through paintball camp, too. But if you're not going to that, then make sure you talk to the office people, which would be pretty.
SPEAKER_03Me.
SPEAKER_00And Katrina.
SPEAKER_03And Katrina.
SPEAKER_00So those are cool. I like the missions team gives to the the camp, uh the camp scene in the summer. Christian camps are I think they're really important. I think they're opportunities to help kids grow and give them something fun to do in the summer, and it's beneficial. So I don't think of anything anything else announcement wise.
SPEAKER_03Brittany, you just did all the announcements for the I mean there is, but none that we need to talk about.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, check the bulletin. Check the slides. Read your bulletin. Sunday morning.
SPEAKER_02I always want to hide something like funny in the bulletin to see people like read it. You know, be like, if you're reading this statement, come find Cody and he'll give you a you know, I don't know, a cookie.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Because it just, you know, it's just like people, you know, they're reading it then.
SPEAKER_00Cody's cookies contest. Cody Cookie Contest.
SPEAKER_02Cody Cookie Contest. Say that three times fast.
SPEAKER_00Wow. So yeah, that would be fun though. We could just find some. We need to find maybe not the bulletin. John would be not be happy with that.
SPEAKER_02That's true. We could hide little things around the church. Yeah, like this idea.
SPEAKER_00Miniature Cody's. No, no, yes. Get my face on a sticker and put it on things. Okay. Well, think about that. So, do you have any, I don't know, jokes?
Cheesy Jokes Intermission
SPEAKER_02You know I do.
SPEAKER_00Okay, I didn't know.
SPEAKER_02Time for cheesy joke time. Wow, where's the excitement? Come on, guys.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. Just that was so cheesy.
SPEAKER_00All right.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02How do you know Adams are Catholic?
SPEAKER_03Shut down the podcast. Wait. Is that inappropriate? No, please tell us.
SPEAKER_02They have math.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I like that one a lot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, scientific. Even though I did not pay attention to science class. Is that scientifically accurate? Yeah, did you like that joke? I have no idea. I'm gonna say yes. That is correct. Correct. Okay. Last joke. What do you call a fake potato?
SPEAKER_00Imposter.
SPEAKER_03No. I was gonna say like spud.
SPEAKER_00Spud, starchy.
SPEAKER_03Hold on.
SPEAKER_00Fries. Mashed. I don't know. Potatoes.
SPEAKER_02Wait, what is a what do you call fake potatoes?
SPEAKER_00I can get this.
SPEAKER_02How can we not get this?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. Just tell us.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, just tell us.
SPEAKER_02An imitator.
SPEAKER_03Pause. Come on. Hold on. I haven't caught up yet.
SPEAKER_00The emphasis is on tater.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I didn't like it, but uh there you go. He was like, I don't know what's happening. I well, she you put the emphasis on the wrong.
SPEAKER_03Imitator.
SPEAKER_00You said imitator. Like it was in the first part of it.
SPEAKER_03At first I was like, Really threw me off there. Could not get there. Imitator.
SPEAKER_00Imitator. Imitator.
SPEAKER_03Imitator.
SPEAKER_00Not M.
SPEAKER_03Emma. Emma. I'm like, I'm I don't know any email.
SPEAKER_00What did she have to do with potatoes? Um that was great.
SPEAKER_03Thank you for helping me get that job.
SPEAKER_00You're welcome. Uh it took me like three seconds. I was like, wait a minute. What that all is. Okay. Good job, Ashley. Thanks for the entertainment in ways even you didn't expect.
SPEAKER_02All
Icebreakers And Carousel Upgrades
SPEAKER_02right. Moving on. Okay. To our other segment.
SPEAKER_00What's our other segment? What are we doing here?
SPEAKER_03Icebreakers. Icebreakers. I couldn't remember the name.
SPEAKER_00We took one week off. I just can't remember icebreaker.
SPEAKER_02It's falling apart.
SPEAKER_00One week off, and here we are. And uh okay.
SPEAKER_02Here we go. Question number one. What topic could you give a 20-minute presentation on without any preparation?
SPEAKER_03I'm not allowed to say.
SPEAKER_00Well, don't say then. That's good. You probably shouldn't. If you you shouldn't.
SPEAKER_03It's the same one that Ashley can do.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03What would be your answer?
SPEAKER_02My my answer was gonna be like I could do like a mime or a puppet presentation without any preparation whatsoever.
SPEAKER_00Not the same as I was gonna say, you can't do mime or puppetry.
SPEAKER_03First of all, you have no idea if I could be a puppeteer.
SPEAKER_00I have an idea. Yes, I do. I would be a great puppeteer. Alright, prove it.
SPEAKER_03Give me a puppet right now.
SPEAKER_00Well, we don't have one, so they're upstairs. 20-minute presentation. I could do a lot of things. I could do the Bible. I could do collecting sports cards. Oh I could do disc golf. Uh how to play disc golf, or you know, anything, you know, fantasy football, sports related, stuff like that. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02You got right out in your back pocket.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I can just talk about anything, you know.
SPEAKER_03I can talk about conspiracies for quite a while. That yes, I could do that. Yeah, but as a presentation, yeah, I think they're really interesting.
SPEAKER_00Oh, do you believe all of them? No. Okay, good.
SPEAKER_03But what makes us a conspiracy thing? One of them's gotta be true.
SPEAKER_02It's very true.
SPEAKER_03And they're all something has to be crazy.
SPEAKER_00One of them doesn't have to be true. Yeah, one of them's gotta be.
SPEAKER_03That's like percentage-wise, one of them's gotta be true.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_00I know you are.
SPEAKER_02All right, moving on. Last question.
SPEAKER_00If you're curious, you should ask Britney about her conspiracy theories. Pull her to the side this Sunday.
SPEAKER_02People would think we are nuts. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, never mind.
SPEAKER_02Okay, next question. How could carousels be spiced up so they are more exciting?
SPEAKER_00Oh my gosh, I like this question. I like this question. I mean, give everybody a pool noodle and you beat people until they fall off.
SPEAKER_03I was gonna say.
unknownWhat?
SPEAKER_00Or you give everybody like a birthday hat and they wear it in pool noodles and then you knock knock people's hats off as you go around and you have to jump from horse to horse while it's spinning.
SPEAKER_03Okay, get rid of the horses. Okay, get rid of the horses. Okay, okay. They're just a pole with handles and kick up the speed. Last one on when they were flying in the air.
SPEAKER_00That's fascinating. You have like, are you like in some like a when you get thrown off? It's like a bull ride. It's like a bull ride. You get thrown off into like a pit of balls or something.
SPEAKER_03Oh this idea has only been 10 seconds long. I haven't had enough to work out the kinks.
SPEAKER_00Wow. That's a great question. What's yours, dude?
SPEAKER_02Okay, so I was thinking like I was gonna keep the carousel the way it was. Oh, okay. But every time it went like down, it made a different noise. Like really weird noise. You just kind of had to guess what noise was gonna be next or what it was, but you know, the noise that I like time.
SPEAKER_00I like all these ideas.
SPEAKER_03How exciting to guess the noise. You're right.
SPEAKER_00Is it like do you have like a big screen? You got multiple choice, like what sound was that? Or like I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I had 10 seconds to think about it.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02I just thought every because it goes up and then it goes down. Like, okay, every time it goes down, you know how people, your kids pranking, you put a whoopee cushion under you. Yeah, I'm just thinking there's gotta be something that sound of farting noises. Those horses are farting the entire time, but definitely one of them's gonna be the wow.
SPEAKER_00I'm I like that question. That's one of the best icebreakers we had. I gotta say. That was good.
SPEAKER_02Um don't ever put us in charge of building a carousel.
SPEAKER_00If you have your own cool ideas how to spice up a carousel, leave them in the comments or let us know. Um we'll share them next time. That was a good one. That's good.
SPEAKER_02I redeemed my jokes. Yeah, yeah, that's for sure.
SPEAKER_00Not that your jokes were bad.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's okay. At this point, it's kind of funny to be bad.
SPEAKER_00It's yeah, it's entertaining, whether it's funny or not. All right, wrap it, bring it together here.
SPEAKER_03That's my favorite thing when we're dying laughing, and Cody's like, okay. Yeah, come on, you guys.
SPEAKER_00People are counting on me to bring you guys back in. Uh I've had that comment before. Somebody said, You do a good job of bringing it back together.
SPEAKER_02And that's why you're here, because it was just bringing your eye here on your ears laughing the whole time.
SPEAKER_00So when I'm out for a week, you guys can do it. No podcast. No podcast.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no. It would just be us wheezing under the microphone for 30 minutes.
SPEAKER_00Lovely.
Paintball Camp Week Preview
SPEAKER_00So today's topic that we're gonna talk about, we're going to me and Ashley are going to paintball camp next week with the youth. We're taking, well, there's 25 teenagers at paintball camp, 19 of them from up here at Rush Church. So we're taking a group down, leave Sunday, come back Friday. And paintball camp is, you've never been. What do you think of when you think of paintball camp?
SPEAKER_03I mean, I definitely feel like there is gonna be paintball.
SPEAKER_00Okay. That's a good start. Thank you for that.
SPEAKER_03Well, I was gonna say, like, I don't know. What if I say something really cool and then you don't have that?
SPEAKER_00I just I just I don't care. I want to know your like when you hear we're going to paintball camp, what do you think of in your head?
SPEAKER_03I think of this really cool camp that has like port things everywhere that you guys hide behind and play paintball with. And I think about you probably have campfire time, which is cool. And just hanging out, like the camps you see on TV.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Sounds good. Well, that's kind of what we do at camp. Yeah. We uh we do play paintball. We have campfires, we do camp things, it's really fun. And so if you've never been, but me and Ashley have been uh several times.
SPEAKER_02I remember the first time you brought it to this church, and I thought, paintball camp? How in the world are you gonna spend a whole camp just playing paintball? Like that's all I thought you did.
SPEAKER_00We don't do that, we do other things besides paintball. We do we do paintball every day after lunch for a couple hours. But it's more than that. We call it paintball camp because it's exciting, and kids are like we have people sign up, but just because it's called paintball camp. And then I get them there, I'm like, ah, got my Bible out, and you're gonna listen to this. Gotcha. No, not really, but uh we have really have a good group of people that are going. Some returners and some people that are going for the first time, so excited about that. I thought I would just talk a little bit about camp, the theme that we're gonna be talking about scripturally, scripturally. Sometimes I have a hard time talking. So yeah, we're just gonna break down the theme and the topic, and Ashley gets a sneak peek of what we're doing, and everybody else can kind of know what we're gonna be doing while we're there. It's me and Ashley, Cole Carpenter. Those are the main ones that are going this year, right?
SPEAKER_02Allie Anu.
SPEAKER_00Allie Ainu. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Two girls and two guys. Two girls and two guys.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, we have a whole week. And then I'm bringing in a one of my good friends who's gonna speak for us, and he's gonna help help out throughout the week, too. But so the the theme this year for the whole camp is called Anchored, and it's about being anchored in your faith. What
Anchored Theme And Water Stories
SPEAKER_00what kind of keeping your faith solid, making sure that it's uh well well grounded and anchored, I guess you could say. So my friend who's doing the lessons for us at nighttime, at night, the evening sessions, he thought it would be cool to do some like water-based stories. So all the stories that we're gonna be looking at from scripture have to do with water, and they're kind of like big impact events, like parting the Red Sea, Jesus walking on water, Jonah being tossed into the sea, swallowed by a big fish. So kind of like those type of things, where it's like these big, huge, big, huge events. And so that's kind of what we're gonna talk about then. And then for our small group time that we're gonna have our Bible studies in the mornings, we are going to focus in on, you know, those big spiritual moments in our lives, those big things that happen, they're really powerful and they're really deep and they're really good. But you can't just live your faith by those huge mountaintop experiences, and then in between those, do nothing. So it's like in the morning, we're talking about how these big experiences are really good. You come to camp, you have a a retreat, or you know, even like a cool Sunday night worship experience or something like that. It's like a mountain, it's like a spiritual high, I guess you could say. Those those are good, but you can't depend on those to sustain your faith because they're too far and few between. So you have to go to the well daily, you have to go throughout the week, throughout your life, go back to Jesus, go back to the source of living water, is kind of what we're gonna talk about. So that's kind of like the main theme that we're gonna be doing. And so I was gonna ask, like, have you guys ever had what's like some of the things that you guys have experienced that are like spiritual highs, I guess you could say? Like mountaintop experiences.
SPEAKER_02Oh man. I think as a teenager, every year I went to Acquire the Fire was like a mountaintop high.
SPEAKER_00Well, tell us what that is.
SPEAKER_02And then you'd come home and you're like, I don't know what that is.
SPEAKER_00Right. What's acquire the fire?
SPEAKER_02So Acquire the Fire was put on by Teen Mania. They're actually no longer in business. However, it it was a good program in the beginning, and it was just it was a three-day actually, yeah. So Friday through Sunday, they traveled around the nation. Youth groups from all over would gather together in big arenas and just be immersed in worship and teaching and dramatic, you know, dramas and and fire and effects. And it was just like everybody to the altar. And you know, when you're surrounded by 10,000 other teenagers, that's a huge high. And I love Jesus and I love God, and I want to do so many amazing things. things and then you come home and you got your back to your everyday life.
SPEAKER_00Back to the grind. Back to the routine of everyday life. And so well anything coming to mind, Brittany, about like a well, I just went to Superstart for the first time. There you go.
SPEAKER_03And that was wonderful. But I do feel like even if you haven't experienced things like that, that you can get a spiritual high just on Sunday mornings. Oh yeah. I mean a regular service. Like especially if you are going through something really big and then you come in and after worship and you know seeing everybody like you can still feel like that even though it wasn't this firework event or a bunch of different people and just experience it by yourself.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. These big big moments are you know they could be camps. They could be retreats like that. They could be a superstar they could be a winter jam. They could do like all these cool things where you gather as a big group or you deal these but that could also be like you know Sunday morning worship. It could be like you know you feel connected you feel in or when you first give your life to Christ or you first encounter Jesus or you first encounter this the gospel for the first time you're like this is really good news. Like is this true? And then you live it and then all of a sudden it kind of falls off as you go. Right. And and so camps are these you know camps and retreats these things that we do like paintball camp are these big mountaintop I'll call them experiences or like you know being like a fire hydrant like all at one time just like a rush of taking in all this stuff. And then you have those and then I think for most people that aren't doing those kind of things Sundays are like our mountaintop experiences during the week we come to church we're all together we we eat together we sing
Mountaintops Versus The Daily Well
SPEAKER_00and praise together we learn together and it's kind of like a a big time experience and not even once a week on a Sunday can sustain your faith the way it should be. And so the daily grind of going back to Jesus every day or going back to refreshing your your yourself with God each day is kind of one of the themes I'm going to be talking about while we're at camp. Like you're at camp this week it's easy to kind of get up on that top of that mountain and experience this week and be like this is amazing. We're doing Bible studies every day. We have quiet times we have speakers we have all these fun things we're with everybody when you go back home it'll be different like it always is right and so preparing them for living their faith on a daily basis and kind of giving them habits giving them things to do is kind of what we're going to be doing at camp next week. And so I thought I would just share that with you guys. But the the spiritual spiritual highs the Sunday mornings the camps the retreats the big time moments in our lives the mountains are for vision and revelation it changes your perspective but you can't build a home there. It changes how you see life but you can't stay there if that makes sense. The well is for daily things it's like a sustaining and helps you survive. You visit it daily to keep moving so Luke 933 on the Mount of Transfiguration Peter says this to Jesus when he goes up and it's like you know this huge moment where Jesus is like glowing his face is like shining so bright and they're like hear God's voice again and and and Peter says Master it is good for us to be here let us put up three shelters he wanted to stay in that mountaintop moment he wanted to stay there. Jesus immediately said no we can't stay here and led them down the mountain out into the world again to do more work to to to because the work and the people and the daily walk were not on top of the mountain but out there as we go through the week. And you see this idea of when you have those spiritual highs when you have a good Sunday morning or a good Sunday or a good camp or a good retreat and and you're like I want to stay here in this moment forever and Jesus like you can't stay here. This is to help you see what you should be doing every day throughout your life and stuff like that. Does that make sense? Yeah sound good yes okay any thoughts before I move on well I have thoughts but you keep going in case you're gonna say the thought oh okay the uh the deception of the mountaintops is you know this idea of if you just live on the highs and you just you're only really thinking about God on Sundays or at a camp or during these certain times it just kind of gives your faith like a roller coaster effect and it's either you're really high or you're really low and when emotion fades people assume that God has left them. So when you just survive off the big time experiences it'll feel like God's not there in the low points if you're not staying connected to him. And so my next scripture that I had on here was 1 Kings 19 a story from Elijah he has this massive mountaintop victory against the prophets of Baal and they have this showdown where he lights the guy he calls on God to light the altar and God puts fire down. It's this huge thing and he defeats the the false God of Baal and his prophets and everything like that. It's this huge victory and immediately afterward he runs into the wilderness exhausted and depressed begging God to die. And so it's from this mountaintop to the lowest low God doesn't meet his exhaustion with another massive fire from heaven he talks to him in a gentle whisper it's this idea of you can't expect God to show up on you know on these huge level all the time sometimes he's talks to us on the daily grind in little whispers and different things and you have to be close to him to hear a whisper.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah he'll he'll show up at big things he'll show up on Sundays he'll show up in corporate worship he'll show up in camps and retreats and superstart and stuff like that and it'll be loud and be like I can't how could you miss him? He's right there. How could you not see it? And then you go you leave and you go out into your life and you feel like he's not even why isn't it like that? Well he doesn't always speak in the big way sometimes it's a whisper like he talks to Elijah here. And so if you're not going back to him on a daily basis you're gonna miss the whispers. You're gonna miss the intimate moments that he wants to have with you on a on a daily basis. You guys ever experienced that before on a spiritual high and then you're like oh Jesus is amazing and then it's a random Thursday morning you're like tired, wore out you feel like where are you?
SPEAKER_03Have you ever is it just me or okay no I've definitely felt like that I think that especially that is true when you are just when your relationship is really new. When you're first putting forth effort into your relationship with Christ I think that those highs feel so good and kind of like how you feel in a in a regular relationship I may be way out of bounds by the way but in a regular relationship you use those big highs and you're like oh this this is so great and that feeling but the more that you actually are bonded with that person or the more you're bonded with Christ and the more that your love is genuine with them then the highs and lows aren't as much I mean I still feel the highs but they're like leveled out like it's it's a constant.
SPEAKER_00Yeah it's not the roller coaster of yeah oh this is great and then oh it's terrible it's more of you'll still have them but it's more leveled out like you said.
SPEAKER_03Yeah like there'll be times where I'm like okay I need to check back in because I'm losing sight of what's important and I know better.
SPEAKER_00Yeah it happens because especially when it's a like a huge moment and you're like this is amazing.
SPEAKER_02You can see God working in this thing and then you have to come down off the mountain and and then you know you could been a Christian for a long time and still have those be like oh you know and one of my boss says we were talking about that that whisper moment too because sometimes you can get stuck in comparing yourself like watching somebody experience something so amazing
When God Speaks Softly
SPEAKER_02you know spiritually spiritual growth or somebody getting baptized or you know just something really awesome for them. And you're like man God that you moved so much in their life. What what about me? Like what you know and just because it was it was a good reminder that just because I wasn't experiencing that that mountaintop high like they were does not mean that God's not moving in my life even with a whisper. Right. You know and so I think that that is just another good reminder. Thanks God for bringing that up again. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And that's why it's important to building these habits of daily daily time with him.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00So that it doesn't get to the point where you miss the whispers or you feel left out when somebody else is on a mountaintop and you're like I'm down in a valley right now. Right. And I don't think God but he is still there. We just you know it's the old thing that I say it's the I've said it a lot but like a lot of people be like well God's just not close to me He's moved far away God doesn't go anywhere he's always right there. We're the ones that come and go closer or further away from him and so some of these some of these things you know it's like Matthew 611 in the Lord's prayer Jesus didn't teach us to pray for a monthly spiritual uh inheritance he taught us to pray give us today our daily bread it's a daily thing not just he didn't say teach us to pray like keep me going for a month here and there it's it's come back every day. It's kind of like a Thanksgiving feast you can't survive a whole year on a Thanksgiving dinner. You gotta eat every day or you can't just survive the week on biscuits and gravy at Rush Church on Sunday morning. You have to eat so it's kind of like that the mountaintop is the feast and and and you have to continue to sustain yourself as you go away from that so I liked that analogy a little bit that I had in my notes here and oh here's a here's a psalm you guys like Psalms worship and poetry and songs and stuff when so David writes in Psalm 631 David wrote this while in the desert of Judah he says oh God you are my God earnestly I seek you my soul thirsts for you my body longs for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water David didn't pray for the desert disappear he looked for God in it. So even in the hard times he's not asking him to take away all the things he's where are you? Where can I find you in this hard time? Talks about thirsting for God and wanting to be where he is so he realizes he's in a desert he's in a hard place he's not saying save me from this he's saying where are you? I want to know where you are in this struggle or in this challenge in my life and so I kind of like that idea of also often we'll just pray and be like God take this away or save me from this hard thing that's happened in my life when really we should be like what? You should be like God I want I want to know where you are in this with me. Are you still here and take me through this together with him because even for me like so often when I pray it's like I want this to not have be this way or I want this to be fixed and it's not okay we're in this together what should I do while I'm in this hard section it's always rescue me or save me from this it's okay not it's not a bad thing to pray that way I don't think but sometimes if we flip it and be like well if I just trust him I want to know where he is in this hard moment that's what we should be focused on focus on him. And so
Simple Daily Habits That Last
SPEAKER_00practic practical things we can do on a daily basis what are some things that we can do to get in the habit of going to the well every day through life I guess.
SPEAKER_03Well I think that these spiritual highs that you've been talking about I mean the reason they are the spiritual highs is because daily you're worshiping daily you're in your Bible daily you're just even talking about God. You know I mean when you sit back and think about it, I mean we're here so we kind of speak about Christ more than maybe the average person but when you're out and about during the day and you're just going to the grocery taking your kids to school all this I mean are you even speaking to him or about him in any way? Right. I think that's the first that could be the first step if not prayer I guess.
SPEAKER_02But yeah I mean I agree I think the the daily it just even the daily conversation like if I'm driving sometimes I sometimes my day consists of a lot of driving and I can't just open up my Bible but I just talk to God in my car you know randomly it's just it's he's he's like a friend that you have here on earth you know yeah the same it's the same concept he's listening he wants you to talk to him he wants you to have a relationship with him there you go that's what I have written down so I don't really know what the is it really yes kind of the idea of I actually really like doing that to you.
SPEAKER_00Keep it small and sustainable you know if you don't have time for a half an hour or an hour Bible study a day most people don't have time for that daily you know make make take the little time you do have and and focus on some God time five dedicated minutes a day maybe while you're waiting for the coffee to brew you read some scripture or you say a prayer or if you're in a pickup line or if you're stuck somewhere if you're waiting in an office somewhere got Bible on your phone if you don't you should you can always have a Bible with you and you can pray anywhere even if you don't have anything you can reflect and think about you know think about your relationship with God and what's going on with you and him and take some time to go to the well and get a drink. Refresh yourself in your faith Psalm 119105 your word is a lamp into my feet a light into my path and so you don't need a massive you know huge light all the time you just need enough light from the word for your next step for that day. So it's like daily things. A lamp is a small little light source and you just go as you go you don't need to know you don't have to have a huge you know it's it's one day at a time one step at a time I guess is what I was trying to say with that one. Little tiny things go a long way. So stop consuming and start staying close to Jesus. Stop treating your quiet time like an assignment that you have to check off. Stop treating reading the Bible like oh John told me I need to read the Bible more my church tells me I need to rather read the Bible more so I need to check it off my list of don't make your relationship with God another thing to check off your list for the day. If you do that there's no point. I mean it's it's not a might as well not do it if you're just doing it to check off. We do these things because we want to grow we want to know who God is we want to know him in a deeper way. If it's not your goal then I I don't you know it's kind of pointless. It's kind of harsh I think but I I think it is true.
SPEAKER_02Very true.
SPEAKER_00Like if you're just reading to check it off or you're just praying because you were told to then there's no no true relationship there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah it's just like a marriage. Like if you're not you're not really putting effort into your spouse why are you even married?
SPEAKER_03Also they will know.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah yep don't do that and don't do that with Jesus either because he knows I mean it's just the same thing. It's like if you're coming to church just to sit in a pew just to check it off your list and think well I need to go church because somebody told me it's a good thing to do or you know it's because it's what I've always done and you're not involved or you're not looking to change I guess like it's okay to I mean cut keep coming to church I guess but like if you've been doing it for a long time and you just do it because it's what you've always done you just sit in a chair is it what is it a waste of time? Right. I think so.
SPEAKER_02What's your heart behind it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So that's kind of that the idea of uh don't treat this whole quiet time this daily going to the well as a checklist it's a it's it's for your benefit. If you're not doing it for the right reasons then don't do it at all. And Jesus even kind of alludes to that in some of the gospel of like if you're not motivated for the right reasons or you're not doing it because out of out of love for me then yeah whatever it's not that good. And then let's see what was I gonna finish with oh manna back to the manna in the wilderness in in the old testament when they're out in the wilderness and Moses leading the people God gave the Israelites manna how often did you give it to them?
unknownDaily.
SPEAKER_00One day at a time if they tried to hoard it for tomorrow what happened to it it rotted it rotted. Good job look at you guys so it's a daily thing God will give you what you need on a daily basis. It's not you know the mountaintop experience can sustain you for just a little while but it's not going to sustain your faith for long periods of time. We've seen that we've all experienced the mountaintop and then come off of it and been like if we don't put effort into our relationship with Jesus and we don't make it a daily thing then it's gonna fade. And so you know that's really what I wanted to talk about. So we're gonna talk about camp next week. So that'll be the topics of what we're what we're learning about. So if you thinking about us next week while
Prayer And Closing
SPEAKER_00we're at camp pray for our students that are there. Pray that uh they have a really good mountaintop experience but then after that continue to pray for them. They don't just have that and then fall back into a valley or whatever. So that's what we're gonna try to do. That's what up my lessons and all my things that I've put together for next week are geared towards experiencing God in this moment and having a great week and then being able to take it and keep growing when they go back home. So is that what you guys kind of got from that a little bit hopefully from the whole thing.
SPEAKER_02It's a great it's a great reset.
SPEAKER_00Yeah good reset and so those for those of you listening maybe you need to work on your daily daily moments with God and then Sunday is good Sunday's good to be here at Rust Church or whatever church you go to but you can't you can't expect a two hour service on Sunday morning to last you the week. You gotta keep going back to it on a daily basis in little ways and that's why I said just you know make it a habit. Get into the habit of when you're waiting for your coffee to be done or when you're waiting for something or you have a spare moment in your day use it use it to go back to to God and kind of refresh yourself or however you want to do that. But I think that's all I have for this for this episode it's warm again in here. Oh it's the AC kicked off all right thanks for our oh I don't know what we're talking about next time but we will have it's a surprise you'll have to just come back and check us out. Let me pray and then we'll be done for today. Lord thank you so much for this uh church this opportunity to speak and just have conversations talking about you thank for all the upcoming things we have at Rush Church cool events fun times we get to experience you in all these different kinds of ways and we get to let other people see who you are through whatever we're doing. You know we can go to the park and give out free snacks and offer games and stuff and we get to have conversations with people that you love hopefully we can make an impact in that way for your kingdom and just be with we go to camp next week safe travels and a really good experience to show up and be be there. And we just thank you for those opportunities. In Jesus pray amen. Alright we'll see you next time on Rush Hour. Thanks for listening