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
Real Freedom Means Depending On Christ
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Welcome And Fourth Of July Week
SPEAKER_03Welcome everybody. It's rush hour. Once again. Another episode. And this time it's uh a special episode. It's 4th of July week. Today is July 2nd, so a couple days till 4th of July. And Ashley's on the beach. Yeah. But nope, Brittany's here.
SPEAKER_02I'm here.
SPEAKER_03So it's just me and Brittany for you today. We're gonna do a quick episode talking all things Rush Church and strictly Fourth of July theme things today. So about America.
SPEAKER_01That's good.
SPEAKER_03How do you feel about Fourth of July, Brittany?
SPEAKER_01I love the Fourth of July. I mean, it's fine.
SPEAKER_03Okay. We've talked about it a few episodes ago. I talked about I said my favorite holiday, probably 4th of July.
SPEAKER_01So I feel obligated to say that it's wonderful.
SPEAKER_03It is. It's a lot of good times.
Russellvania Party Recap And Highlights
SPEAKER_03We had our 4th of July at Russellvania last Saturday. Rush 1 8 was out doing some things. Yes. You were there? I was there. For a little while.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, only about 13 hours, I think.
SPEAKER_03It was. I think it was 12 hours.
SPEAKER_01No, it was we got there at 8 a.m.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And we were done cleaning up by 8 30.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01And then PM. And then hung out and watched fireworks.
SPEAKER_03Oh, good. So it was a whole day.
SPEAKER_01The fireworks were amazing.
SPEAKER_03Oh, they went pretty well this year. Yeah, they were really nice. So I got out of there and yeah. Left. And went to watch fireworks from our family's house down the road out in the field. I stayed at the party. Away from all the people.
SPEAKER_01Stayed at the park with the people.
SPEAKER_03You were amongst them.
SPEAKER_01I was amongst them. It was fine. Food lines were a little long.
SPEAKER_03No, they didn't have they had what two food trucks? Yeah. But I think it it's better than what it used to be. Yeah. The whole thing. Yeah. Like, I don't know, I've lived in here for seven years, I guess, now. And like I remember like when it was just like two tents and it wasn't. It wasn't really much.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03It's much better now. Uh so we had some food trucks. They had a soda truck. It was yummy. I had some of those. A lot of games all day. And then we had our our tents up from Rush Church and we gave out, you know, the norm cotton candy and popcorn. Popcorn did well this year. Sometimes popcorn's like eh, an afterthought. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Because popcorn makers were Russellvania, like as a community, they had that watermelon eating contest. And so I'm watching these kids. I mean, my d youngest daughter said that she had 15 cotton candies.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And then did the watermelon eating contest.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Then went back down the bounce houses and slides, and I was really nervous for vomit.
SPEAKER_03No, my kid would have Timmy would have thrown up everybody. He's done it like he can't handle all that and then run around.
SPEAKER_01She kept going.
SPEAKER_03Wow. That's impressive.
SPEAKER_01And she won four two liters of pa.
SPEAKER_03I saw that. Timmy did the watermelon eating contest last year. And uh it's always fun to just watch them.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it was.
SPEAKER_03It just is it still the hands behind the back and watermelon in front of you?
SPEAKER_01Why didn't I tie my kid's hair back?
SPEAKER_03Oh gosh. Oh, it was oh my. That was so gross. As far as I saw that things went, it went really well. Yeah, I thought it was wonderful. Gave out some stuff, and the baby tent's always a hit for parents to kind of yeah, I really like that tent. So good times. If you were there and you were helping out and volunteering, appreciate it. If you didn't come help and volunteer, next time I need to see you there.
SPEAKER_01No, it's fun, it's a good time. And me and Brittany were there the whole day, but you don't have to, I mean, people come in shifts, so you know, you have a shift to do and then you it was really nice that the people that did come for a shift like weren't anxious to leave, you know, like it was so easy and they liked it so much that they were like, I could stay.
SPEAKER_03We had people overlap and stay a little longer. So it was a good day. That was a big big thing we just got done doing.
Kids Jam Focus And Serving Next Steps
SPEAKER_03Now we're fully shifting our focus to Kids Jam. Yeah. This place is gonna start glowing, you might say, with uh decorations and so exciting Kids Jam things. So yeah. Uh what am I missing? Anything?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I'm sure.
SPEAKER_03Register for Kids Jam.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they can do that online or in the foyer Sunday morning. Volunteers and kids.
SPEAKER_03Okay. Well, I just wanted to mention that, and then let's see. I don't know. I don't think there's anything that's not more like I said, but all of our focus on Kids Jam right now. Rock the Lake's coming up though. So if you missed your opportunity to serve at the Fourth of July event, you can sign up and come to Rock the Lake. August first. August 1st on a Saturday at the lake. Oldfield beach.
SPEAKER_01They serve about there's about 10,000 people that come to that.
SPEAKER_03I don't know. Maybe about 10,000 people.
SPEAKER_018,000?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, probably closer to 8,000 than 10,000.
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Thousands of people.
SPEAKER_01I never counted.
SPEAKER_03I know, I'm not counting either, but uh thousands of people. I know when Creowder was out there a couple years ago, it was huge. That was the biggest one they've ever had. But yeah, there's still thousands of people everywhere. We get to hang out and be there all day and set up our stuff. So yeah, we'll have signups for that come out if you want to volunteer and or just come check it out, see what it's all about. So still had people come this past Saturday and be like, Oh, I didn't know this was what Rush 1.8 was.
SPEAKER_01Yes. So well, we did put put it on the website. So if you are interested and you don't know when we say Rush 1 8 what we're talking about, Cody and I actually worked on that last week.
SPEAKER_03But I didn't do nothing for it. Brittany did it.
SPEAKER_01Um but there's a video and I think the podcast that we think I stood there once and went, that looks good.
SPEAKER_03So they did ask him some questions. We did one of our earlier podcast episodes, we talked a lot about rush one eight, and there's a video, and so uh, but the best way to really experience that is just show up to one of our events, check it out, yeah, and then you can decide and see how easy it is to do some of those things. But all right, fourth of July.
Hot Dog Contest Talk And Cookout Picks
SPEAKER_03Speaking of the fourth of July, that they have like a hot dog eating contest. Yes, they did, and I really wanted to do it.
SPEAKER_01You should have.
SPEAKER_03I should have. It's just all it is is how fast can you eat five hot dogs?
SPEAKER_01Yes, right? Just five hot dogs.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna do that next year. I'm gonna practice.
SPEAKER_01Katrina's grandson won this year.
SPEAKER_03I saw that. Okay, was up there and crushed some hot dogs. I don't know how fast what you know with the time.
SPEAKER_01I do not.
SPEAKER_03I watched. Was it fast? Or was it just kind of like uh it was did they dunk him in water or anything? Okay, they were just eating them.
SPEAKER_01They had water to drink and then they could eat them. It wasn't as fast as what I thought it was gonna be.
SPEAKER_03I I mean, it's not a legit hot dog eating con that. Yeah, no, these are just Joey Chestnut here from you know the national champion hot dog eating. These are just Russell Vania guys eating hot dogs.
SPEAKER_01Um I did think that Cade was gonna puke. I think when he took his last bite, well, he almost lost.
SPEAKER_03I do want to try that. I want to attempt and see how I just curious for my own personal reasons of how fast I could eat five hot dogs. So one of these episodes coming up, I'll do it live on Rush Hour.
SPEAKER_01Eat five hot dogs. It's like five minutes.
SPEAKER_03Okay, I could eat five hot dogs. Maybe less than five minutes. I could do it, I could do less than five for sure. Easy.
SPEAKER_01I don't know. I feel like it's like saltine crackers. Like you get through three hot dogs.
SPEAKER_03I don't want I don't want one of those big fluffy buns, though. I need like cheap, thin buns, not like well, I saw the one.
SPEAKER_01So like one of the guys separated them, had like bun and hot dog.
SPEAKER_03Oh.
SPEAKER_01And then another guy like squeezed the bun down on the hot dog.
SPEAKER_03I'm telling you.
SPEAKER_01But both of those guys lost.
SPEAKER_03If you're allowed, like I would just it's just for contest, it's just like get past it, turn my brain off, and take that bun and just dip it in a cup of water, sog it up and just let it dissolve in my mouth real fast. Yeah, so gross.
SPEAKER_01But for the but they don't have cups, they have bottles of water.
SPEAKER_03I would just pour it on. I just be I would pour all over the bottom. There was no rules against it. There's rules, all right. Oh, no rules. All right, 4th of July. What's your like go-to at a 4th of July cookout? What do you want to see on the buffet when you go up or when you all the food being brought? What's your one thing at a 4th of July cookout? You're like, gotta have.
SPEAKER_01Well, probably watermelon.
SPEAKER_03Watermelon is probably a top five answer, I think. You think 4th of July summer cookout, you think watermelon?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Hamburgers.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01I like cookout food, normal cookout food.
SPEAKER_03Potato salad is really good. The thing about those though is you gotta be able to keep them cold. I know. You don't want potato salad sitting out all. But I like those type of things.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, me too.
SPEAKER_03Cool. Well, Ashley's not here for our jokes. I know. Our icebreaker. But I found some jokes. Did you really? Just because I thought we needed them.
SPEAKER_01It'll be really obvious if I don't laugh.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, it's just you and me in a room sitting here, and so I didn't tell you anything about this. No, you're just here.
SPEAKER_00You don't even know what we're talking about. I didn't even know the topic until five seconds ago. So if I'm delayed response. Here we go.
SPEAKER_03Well, we've been busy. We've been, you know, out and about, and the office is closed tomorrow, so we're doing this now for the people, for our trusty listeners. Trusty listeners, like faithful, faithful listeners. They're probably trustworthy too. I don't know. Probably. Probably. So the joke that I have, let's see if I can get through a couple of these. What kind of tea did the American colonist really want?
SPEAKER_01Boston tea. No.
SPEAKER_03Liberty. Oh gosh. Obviously, it's liberty.
SPEAKER_04Obviously. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That was I know the Boston Tea Party is where you're going.
SPEAKER_00That's the first thing that came to my mind.
SPEAKER_03She's like, literally, they wanted tea in Boston. That's why they were. Why does the Statue of Liberty stand in New York Harbor?
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_03Because she can't sit down. That was an Ashley one. Oh, we have a visitor. Who could it be? Oh, Brittany's leaving. Now it's just me. I'll take a break. We'll be right back after this. And we're back. Brittany's back. I'm back. She has to do her actual job sometimes too.
SPEAKER_04So yeah.
SPEAKER_03There's somebody here at the church office that needed something, so Brittany's good at taking care of those kind of things. Even in the middle of the podcast.
SPEAKER_01In the middle of the podcast.
SPEAKER_03Yep. So I did two jokes, right? I think I did. I think that's enough. I don't think I need to do any more. Oh, I found what I wanted to do. What do you call a patriotic dog?
SPEAKER_04Hold on.
SPEAKER_03Come on. Patriotic dog is a no idea. Yankee poodle. Never would I know. I had to do that one. I saw that. I was like, oh, I gotta do it. I gotta do that.
SPEAKER_01But um I promise you I was like, Rover.
SPEAKER_03Oh my gosh. I like it. I like how we think about actually answering these questions. What did I say?
SPEAKER_01Oh, shoot. Oh. That was good.
SPEAKER_03You like that one? It's good. Okay.
SPEAKER_04Wait, what was the answer?
SPEAKER_03Yankee Poodle.
SPEAKER_04Yankee Poodle. I like that one. I don't remember what it was, but I liked it.
SPEAKER_03All
Fourth Of July Trivia You Did Not Learn
SPEAKER_03right. Some Fourth of July trivia for you because I don't really think we don't have any icebreakers, but some interesting facts you might not have known about the Fourth of July.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Are you ready?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03Let's see. Oh, I like this one a lot. This is the original laptop.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_03In 1776. Very first laptop. Thomas Jefferson literally wrote the draft of the Declaration of Independence on a custom-made small wooden desk that wrapped rested on his lap.
unknownWow.
SPEAKER_03So there you go.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03The original 1776 laptop.
SPEAKER_01That's not what I would have.
SPEAKER_03A small wooden desk on his lap that he wrote it all out on.
SPEAKER_01I envisioned like a giant.
SPEAKER_03Now, I'll preface this with saying, I just looked these up. I have no idea if they're true or not. So but we'll just pretend they're all true.
SPEAKER_01Oh, we're gonna pretend everything we find on the internet is true.
SPEAKER_03John Adams was convinced that July 2nd would be the national holiday since that's when Congress actually voted for independence on July 2nd.
SPEAKER_01Maybe.
SPEAKER_03July 4th was just when the final text was approved.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03So there you go. Did you know that?
SPEAKER_01No. I didn't. I don't think I knew that.
SPEAKER_03Do you think everybody signed the Declaration of Independence on the 4th of July?
SPEAKER_01Yes.
SPEAKER_03They did not.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03Most of them didn't sign it until August 2nd.
SPEAKER_01What?
SPEAKER_03And some of them signed it months later. So there you go.
SPEAKER_01But then they went ahead and was like, this is the holiday. Yeah. This is the day.
SPEAKER_03July 4th became the holiday.
SPEAKER_01They already knew what everybody else was going to do.
SPEAKER_03You know. But it wasn't actually signed until a month later, and then even some people didn't sign it for months later. You know why?
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_03It had to be secret, all the people that signed it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_0330-something people that signed it, because it was treason against the British government.
SPEAKER_04And so well, like they weren't around watching them. So there's still some maybe.
SPEAKER_03Maybe. I wasn't there, but I would assume they're spies.
SPEAKER_04Probably.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. So I thought that was interesting about your 4th of July trivia here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that is.
SPEAKER_03I always pictured. And then when you picture the the the signing of the Declaration of Independence in my head, like how do you what do you how what do you picture these guys like?
SPEAKER_01A bunch of men in white headpieces.
SPEAKER_03Are they old and bearded?
SPEAKER_01I mean, kinda, probably.
SPEAKER_03That's what I always thought.
SPEAKER_01Are they allowed to have beards?
SPEAKER_03I don't think they had beards. Maybe some of them did. They don't see like they had their wigs, their white top wigs, and their collars and their frillies.
SPEAKER_01And yeah, you know. And they're all in the same room.
SPEAKER_03Well, I would picture them like in a candlelit room in the dark. Yeah. But I always picture like a bunch of old guys sitting around arguing about it. But like the youngest guy was 21 and Thomas Jefferson was 33. And they were all like, you know. Right. These younger guys that are younger than me. Yeah, younger than me. So, well, there we go. Now I feel old.
SPEAKER_04So but yeah, I always picture like it's like when you find out the golden girls were actually 45 years old. They're like, oh. Oh, dang. Don't tell John.
SPEAKER_03So yeah, there you go. I don't think I have any other really interesting ones. Those are some of the ones that I found that I liked a lot. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Those are all really good.
SPEAKER_03I thought so. So happy 4th of July.
SPEAKER_01Take time to learn anything about.
SPEAKER_03I was saying, I was gonna say, like, I wish Ashley was here because she probably didn't know any of this stuff.
SPEAKER_01Probably not.
SPEAKER_03Because of her history teacher. Her teachers weren't very good, she said. Probably would have had never mind. I'm not gonna, she's not even here to defend herself, so I'm not gonna make jokes about her while she's not here.
SPEAKER_04She might have known it.
SPEAKER_03She might have known about the fourth decoration of independence. Um, the random facts. Oh, the random facts. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Ashley, I didn't say that.
SPEAKER_03Do you think she would have liked the jokes?
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_03No.
SPEAKER_01Actually, maybe. She might have.
SPEAKER_03Yankee Poodle was good.
SPEAKER_01Yankee Poodle was good. Well, they're not her. She comes up with her jokes, and they're really good. She probably does not think our jokes were up to standard.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, for real.
Freedom From Sin And Freedom For Love
SPEAKER_03I did want to just finish up this episode, and it's a short one, but talk a little bit about the idea of Fourth of July, independence. How can we tie this all back to the Bible and tie it to our faith a little bit? I did a communion meditation on Sunday about freedom, kind of like we're free from things. Christ comes and frees us from guilt, frees us from sin and death and all these things. But and then the idea to go a step further than that, we're free for things. We're free to things. And our culture often defines freedom as just doing whatever you want, uh being free to do anything. Scripture defines freedom as being set free from something so that you can love the world around you. So it's it's a freedom from something, but also a freedom now you are able to do these things. And so, and it's not whatever you want, it's what Christ wants. I'm now free to live the life that Jesus wants for me when I couldn't before because I was still stuck in death and sin and brokenness. And then he shows up and liberates the people, sets us free from all these things. And I I I like that idea of really thinking about that at Fourth of July, really think about that kind of the uh the true idea of what freedom really is when we look at scripture.
Dual Citizenship And The Independence Trap
SPEAKER_03And then when you see that, it kind of led me into another thing I wanted to bring up on the podcast today exploring this idea of dual citizenship.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03You know what I mean by that. What do you think of when I mean when I say that?
SPEAKER_01I belong to two different things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Two and what are the two things that Christians belong to?
SPEAKER_01Well, I think you already told me the answer to this.
SPEAKER_03Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01Two things that Christians belong to?
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, but like when I say dual, like you're a citizen of the United States. Yeah. Right? But you're also a citizen of heaven now. Yeah. Paul calls us to, he says, you know, so so in Philippians 3, he says, we are citizens of heaven living in this world right now. So we have citizens of where we live. Wherever you live at in the world, you're a citizen of that place.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_03But as Christians, we have another citizenship, and that is with the kingdom of heaven. We're a citizen of that kingdom. And so how do we live both? How do we love and pray for our physical nation while remembering our primary, unchanging citizenship of the kingdom of heaven? And do you think it ever conf conflicts a little bit in some places? All the time. All the time, yeah. Yeah. I mean naturally it's going to conflict all the time because citizenship of this world has worldly things happening in it and things like that.
SPEAKER_01I think it's supposed to.
SPEAKER_03I think it's supposed to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I don't think it's possible for them not to.
SPEAKER_03Well, you're right. Because the most places that we live in, we give, you know, they're not always going to line up with what Christ wants because the world wants different things than what he wants. And so when you have that, and so and even when in the Old Testament in Jeremiah tells them when they're in exile in Babylon, God's people, they're there. He writes and tells them to, you know, God says, pray for the place that you're in. Do your best to bring peace to the places that you live in while you're in exile. And so stuff like that. And so our number one priority is always God and what he wants, no matter where we live in this world right now. And so I do think it kind of conflicts a little bit here and there. And the dual citizenship thing is something that I think, especially in our culture in a in um in America, kind of, you know kind of rubs us the wrong way sometimes. Because the American way is is what nothing.
SPEAKER_01Go ahead.
SPEAKER_03Who's there? Oh, your kids here. We got lots of visitors. Actually, you want to be on the podcast? Oh, and Levi's here too. Get on the podcast, grab a microphone. What if we put Levi on here?
SPEAKER_01Oh, I think it's fine.
SPEAKER_03Talking about America. So what was I talking about? We got all kinds of interruptions today.
SPEAKER_04I know.
SPEAKER_03Ashley leaves and everything goes crazy. Kind of the American way is, you know, you ever heard the pull yourself up by your bootstraps? Kind of like we work hard for what we get, we kind of, you know, do all these different things. And so that's kind of the opposite of what the gospel really is.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03And so sometimes I think there's a conflict there. Sometimes we yeah, go ahead.
SPEAKER_01No, I think that there definitely is a conflict there because especially when we've talked about before not growing up. Like if you grow up with that, pick yourself up, you know.
SPEAKER_03We've kind of we talked about that before, haven't we?
SPEAKER_01And then you switch over to be Christ-minded.
SPEAKER_03Yep.
SPEAKER_01And to depend on him.
SPEAKER_03The phrases that go around when it comes to American culture is you know, pull yourself up, self-made, don't need anyone else's help, but could do this all on my own by myself. We treat independence like the ultimate achievement sometimes. Look what I've done. Look what I've done, look what we've done, look what you know, look at this. That's the kind of especially around Independence Day. Like we treat independence as like it's the most ultimate achievement ever. We're like, we're independent, we're free, we did it all ourselves, type of attitude. And that's not, you know, it's all right. It's this it's in a in a country kind of way, it's good to have, you know, being self-sufficient is good, it's a good thing in some ways. When we carry that I can do it all mentality into our faith, it becomes kind of like a trap moment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And so when we start trying to earn God's grace, we try to earn God's favor saying, I did this all, and look at me. Well, that's not the gospel, right? That's not what scripture teaches. It's what shall we say we can fix our own brokenness, brokenness, we can just kind of push our way through the hard times and make it through. When the gospel says, No, you're supposed to depend on God, you're supposed to rely on Him to get you through all these different things. And so I do see what is in our, especially in American culture and Independence Day, we're like, Yes, independence. We're finally made it to that, and that's all we need, just ourselves and this attitude of we can do it all on our own. And then you look at the Bible and you look at the story, and you're like, nobody can ever do it. All on their own. It's it's not earned. We didn't deserve grace or any of that kind of stuff. And so, but yeah. Yeah, and also Jesus gives us a really you know visual of this, I think, in John 15. He says, I am the vine, you are the branches. We've talked about this before on the podcast. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit, but apart from me, you can do nothing. So we have this idea of we like to do everything on our own, we like to persevere. All are good things, but when you take those and apply them and try to live your faith like that, yeah, it doesn't really work. He doesn't say apart from me, things will just be a lot harder. He says, Apart from me, you can do nothing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03We have to be able to trust and rely on him and be attached to him in our life if we really want the faith that he has for us. You know, obviously a branch trying to declare its independence from the tree, it looks at the tree trunk and says, Thanks, but I've got this. And then, you know, it dies. Yeah. And that's the that's the visual that Jesus gives us in this uh little passage. Yeah, I mean He's a good teacher. Yeah, knows what he's talking about. When we try to live independently from God, we aren't being strong, we're being we're cutting ourselves off from the source of life. And so, I don't know, just a little reminder about you know, celebrate independence, celebrate you know, all the good things that it means to be in this country and all the freedoms that we have. But to remember that, you know, when it comes to who we are and our identity, and as Christians, you know, we don't live like that. Yeah, it's a little bit different. It's we depend on the source of life. We are not, we cannot live independently from Christ. Does that make sense? Yeah, it does. Everybody's like, I like that.
SPEAKER_01I like that, I do.
SPEAKER_03And Paul talks a little bit about weaknesses, and so we try as you know, the American mindset is don't show your weaknesses, don't be, you know, don't let people walk all over you. All these different things, all these different things and stuff. But if anyone had the resume to brag about independence and personal strength, it was Paul. He did a lot of things. He was highly educated, influential, driven, passionate, knew what he was doing, but God allowed something in his life.
Pauls Thorn And Strength In Weakness
SPEAKER_03He calls it a thorn in the flesh. No one knows what that means. What do you think it is? Any ideas?
SPEAKER_01Other than the obvious?
SPEAKER_03It's only a question that scholars have debated for.
SPEAKER_02Well, let me just answer it real quick.
SPEAKER_03God allowed something in Paul's life and he calls it a thorn in the flesh. Paul's like, I've had this thorn in my flesh, I've asked God to take it away, but he won't. And so it could be some kind of you know, illness, some kind of physical disability, or you know, it could have been just the hardships that he had to face over and over and over again. He's like, Good grief, my life is just like, you know. But he has this thorn in the flesh to keep him anchored in dependence on God, I think. This idea of, you know, God allowed him to have this thing that bothered him so that he would remember that he cannot do it on his own, that he needed God's strength with him. And so 2 Corinthians 12, 9 through 10 says, Paul says, But he said to me when I asked him to take away the thorn of the flesh, but he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all more gladly about my weaknesses, says Paul, so that Christ's power may rest on me, for when I am weak, then I am strong. And so Paul looks at this weakness and he says, Weakness is actually a good thing if you know how to handle it. Um Paul says, In the kingdom, your weakness isn't a liability, it's an asset because it forces you to rely on who God is. So sometimes we look at weaknesses, we look at struggles, we look at all these things. We're like, just take it away, and then I'll be I'll be free of it, and I'll be good to go. Well, sometimes God does. Sometimes God says, No, it's okay. You'll be fine with it. It'll just remind you that you need me. It'll it'll be a reminder to you that you know, if I let you just if I take it away from you, Paul, and you're free of it, and you're able to go do all the things without it, and you might get too arrogant, you might get too cocky, you might be thinking you did all these things on your own. And then and so I think God leaves it for Paul for a reason because Paul's personality. Well, saw Paul before he became a Christ follower and what he did.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I don't know that for sure. That's just my speculation on this whole thing.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's kind of humbling to hear because everything that I read about Paul, I feel like he had his head on pretty straight. Yeah. And really gave a lot of credit and glory to God in everything that he did post accepting Christ.
SPEAKER_03That's true.
SPEAKER_01So if he needs that reminder, dang it.
SPEAKER_03We need reminders.
SPEAKER_04And so then I guess I need one too.
SPEAKER_03This is, you know, my God tells him, My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness. So when you have weaknesses in your life and you have things that you know you realize you can't just pick yourself up and keep going, that's okay. You don't have to. It reminds you that you're not alone and you have your faith in Christ, and you can trust him, and then plus you have the church. Rely on your church family, you know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03That's what we're there for. That's what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be an encouraging place to get through the hard times. And so Paul has this thing, a thorn in the flesh, and he takes it and he asks God to remove it three times, and God's like, No. And whatever, I don't even tell us what it was. It doesn't matter what it was. It was something that he didn't like. It was something that was an annoyance or a hindrance to him, and God said, No, I'm gonna leave that there as a reminder that even in weaknesses, my strength shines through. And so Paul says, When I am weak, I am strong. Gospel tells us to admit our weaknesses so God can display his strength. When we, you know, surrender to him, the pressure's off. We don't have to carry the weight of the world because we serve the king who already has authority over the world. And that's just comforting to me to know that you know life's hard, and sometimes it's hard to persevere and just keep, you know, picking yourself up and to know that you don't have to. Not in this, not in the way we that we live and things. Maybe in the citizenship of this world sometimes, but we're we have dual citizenship, and so I rely on that kingdom more than I rely on the things of this world.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And thankful for that. And so, but yeah, I think that's just that's what I had written down for our topic today. I kind of connect it to Independence Day, freedom, and what the Bible talks about it. And so it can be hard because our culture gives us all these ideas of what it should be, what it's supposed to look like. You should be able to go and do whatever you want, you're free for this. But if you've given your life to Christ, then you have a different kind of freedom. It's a freedom that comes over with responsibilities. And the Bible speaks in several places of don't use your freedom for selfish ambition or for desires of the flesh. It's hard to do though. When you look around, you're like everybody else is you know living for themselves. They're living, you know, for all these things, and we're living for something bigger and greater, and sometimes it's hard to see that. But yeah, anything else you'd add to that? I don't know.
SPEAKER_01No, sounded perfect.
SPEAKER_03Sounded great. Perfect then.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna go talk about it all weekend if you want to.
SPEAKER_03That's fine. Happy Fourth of July. You know, let me tell you about the 4th of July.
SPEAKER_04Let me tell you real quick some fun facts about the 4th of July.
SPEAKER_03And about Paul.
SPEAKER_04And about Paul.
SPEAKER_03So appreciate you tuning in for this one. Had a couple of interruptions there, but we made our way through it.
SPEAKER_01Hopefully, you made it through it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, thanks for listening. Uh, let's pray and then
Prayer For True Freedom And Closing
SPEAKER_03we'll be good to go. God, thank you so much for this time. Once again, thank you for those listening to their lives. And and yeah, just keep everybody safe this weekend. We're out, we're celebrating, we're having a good time. And as we do, help us to remember true freedom that came through Christ, that we are free from guilt and shame and from from death. And that, yeah, it's uh it's a something to be celebrated because of you, but don't leave it there that you know there's something more after that. We're saved and we're free for greater things. Loving our neighbors and and encouraging one another through this life when it's hard. And then as we celebrate Independence Day, yeah, it's great that we have this country and it we're free to do all the things we're allowed to do, and you know, we're it's a blessing. But in that, in our faith, we're fully dependent on who you are and your love and your grace. And so thankful for that. And uh in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right. Thanks, Brittany, for joining me, and we'll see you guys next time on Rush Hour.