WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:21.440 Well, good morning, Awakening Church. 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:23.199 Great to be with you this morning. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:24.160 Welcome if you're new. 00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:25.359 My name's Ryan. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:27.359 Thrilled to be with you. 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:30.239 Great to be back preaching today. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:34.640 This morning, we're kicking off a brand new series called Presence. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:35.759 Would you say that with me? 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:36.640 Presence. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:38.640 Oh man, you guys are awake. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:39.759 Fantastic. 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:45.840 God's antidote for hurry, anxiety, and loneliness. 00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:49.759 And as we begin, I just want to begin with a pause. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:51.119 Would you do this with me? 00:00:51.280 --> 00:00:52.799 Just kind of get settled. 00:00:53.119 --> 00:00:55.439 Maybe both feet on the ground. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:00:57.600 Take a deep breath. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.920 If you're comfortable, even close your eyes. 00:01:05.760 --> 00:01:08.000 Let your soul settle in. 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:18.159 For a moment, set aside the stress of the season, worries and concerns that you're carrying. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:20.959 The endless to-do list. 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:28.480 And right now, would you invite the Holy Spirit into this moment to meet with you? 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:36.879 This is a holy moment. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:41.120 In Jesus' name. 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:47.199 Why do we hurry? 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:54.639 I mean, why do we rush from one thing to the next? 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.240 And why is it that even when we have a spare moment, we feel it? 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:08.479 In Silicon Valley, we tend to measure life by how productive we are, not how present we are. 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:09.840 Isn't it true? 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:14.479 By what we're doing and not who we're becoming. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:19.360 We have forgotten that we're human beings, not human doings. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:25.439 And so here we wear busyness like a badge of honor, don't we? 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:32.000 We ask this how much can we squeeze into our day? 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:41.919 Gotta optimize, prioritize, and get as much done as efficiently as possible. 00:03:42.719 --> 00:03:47.840 We live in what sociologists call the age of acceleration. 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.599 It's bigger, faster, maybe better. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.639 It is better in some ways, in other ways it's not. 00:03:54.719 --> 00:03:58.319 For most of human history, change has happened incrementally. 00:03:58.879 --> 00:04:01.599 Today it happens exponentially. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:09.039 Today we experience major culture shifts happening in years and now sometimes in months. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:13.759 Technology is reshaping our world at warp speed. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:15.120 Let me just give you a few examples. 00:04:15.280 --> 00:04:17.680 Well, you remember, no, you don't, neither do I. 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.560 Electricity, the invention of electricity. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:26.639 We traded with electricity, the rhythm of creation for the rhythm of production. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:34.879 Before electricity, we lived, the people lived by the cadence of sunrise, sunset, evening meant stop, darkness meant resting. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:39.199 The average person slept 10 to 11 hours a night. 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:40.480 Think about that. 00:04:41.600 --> 00:04:46.639 Electric light extended the day, expanded productivity, ignited the modern work cycle. 00:04:46.800 --> 00:04:48.720 Work was no longer tied to daylight. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:50.319 It could happen 24-7. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.399 Today, the average person is lucky to get seven hours of sleep a night. 00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:02.319 From electricity to travel, the world got smaller and hurry got bigger. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:06.959 For most of history, your entire world was about 30 miles wide. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:11.279 You traveled at the speed of your feet, or perhaps a horse. 00:05:11.519 --> 00:05:16.000 Then came the two great innovations, the car and the plane. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:25.360 Today you can wake up in San Jose, be in Paris by the morning, a journey that once took months, now simply 11 hours. 00:05:25.920 --> 00:05:29.199 Commercial flight, by the way, just think about how fast this has changed. 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:34.720 Commercial flight was for the elite until the 1980s. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:36.959 Then it became affordable, mainstream. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:44.560 This past Thanksgiving holiday alone, 10-day span, 31 million people hopped on a plane. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:51.519 And the car, by the way, didn't just give us mobility, it accelerated the pace of everyday life. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:56.720 Many of you commute what once took an entire day to travel. 00:05:57.279 --> 00:06:07.839 And somehow we're still behind, still in a hurry, trying to carve our way and get the fastest to uh wherever we're headed to. 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:13.519 And then comes the computer, which promised freedom, by the way, but delivered pressure. 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:19.839 1977, the first personal community uh computer hit the markets, and ad said this. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:21.439 Listen to this, this is amazing. 00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:25.439 Ad said technology will cut the work week in half. 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:29.839 More leisure, more margin, more rest. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:33.279 This one's gonna, you're gonna love this one. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:41.199 By the 2000s, Americans will only work 20 to 25 hours a week. 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:43.600 Well, how'd that work out? 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:49.279 How that worked out is what anthropologists called the productivity paradox. 00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:54.399 Every tool designed to save time ends up filling that time with more work. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.399 Then came the internet in 1995. 00:06:58.560 --> 00:06:59.199 Think about this. 00:06:59.360 --> 00:07:05.120 30 years ago, only 15% of households people had access to the internet. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:06.480 And it was a novelty. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:07.360 It was dialed up. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.800 And you waited for hours for anything to download. 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.759 Most of you don't even understand that world. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.800 Because today you're expected to respond instantly. 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.040 What used to take a week now happens in a day. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:33.920 Once we hired a team is handed to one person, and then once work left the physical office and lived on a laptop and now on our phones, it follows us everywhere we go, doesn't it? 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:40.639 What's once promised freedom now delivers unbelievable pressure. 00:07:40.800 --> 00:07:45.519 Faster work created higher expectation at a non-stop pace. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.759 And then the phone came along. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:50.560 No, the phone's been around for a long time. 00:07:51.279 --> 00:07:54.079 It promised connection, but it delivered distraction. 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:59.759 And if you want to put a hashtag next to that, anxiety as well. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:04.800 We didn't notice it at the time, but the smartphone didn't just speed up our lives, it rewired them. 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.279 See, growing up, so I was born in 1981. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.480 Growing up, we had what this thing is crazy, it's called landlines. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:14.160 And you had a phone and it had a wire connected to it. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:25.680 If you wanted privacy, you took the phone with the wire and you went into around, because it extended really long, and you went into the bathroom or into the hallway to get a little moment of privacy. 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:30.079 But the problem was someone else could pick up the other phone and listen in and interrupt. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:37.200 Car phones, they were a luxury item that you saw on TV and for the wealthy. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:52.399 2007, the iPhone entered the scene, fitting the entire world in your pocket, and then in 2010, Instagram, and we enter the age of a rise of curated comparison-driven life. 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:57.039 The shift wasn't just technological, by the way, it was neurological. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:03.039 The average adult checks their phone 96 to 144 times a day. 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:07.279 Young adults, it's 150 to 190 times today. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:12.399 This tiny device meant to serve us now shapes us. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:22.240 Neurologists tell us constant stimulus retrains the brain to crave distraction over depth, speed over stillness. 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:31.120 Jonathan Haidt, in his landmark book, The Anxious Generation, calls 2010 to 2015 the great rewiring. 00:09:31.840 --> 00:09:36.320 During that period, anxiety and depression doubled among teens. 00:09:37.039 --> 00:09:40.639 In person time with friends dropped 30 to 40 percent. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:46.159 We've become the most connected people in history and the loneliness. 00:09:47.600 --> 00:09:59.120 And all of this is before the next great technological leap and revolution which we're in, which is AI, which we're adopting faster than any other technology in human history. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.360 Life is sped up and our souls can't keep up. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:11.759 Life has sped up, hasn't it? 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:15.840 And every year, doesn't it feel like it gets faster? 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:20.480 And our souls can't keep up. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:25.200 How do you catch your breath in a world that is running at right next speed? 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:36.399 And what if what if what your soul desperately needs is closer than you realize? 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:39.919 This season is an amazing season, by the way. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:41.120 I gotta clean these. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:11:08.639 God's presence with us, God stepping into our mess, not God against us, not God apathetic towards us, not God distant or aloof. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:10.720 No, God is with us. 00:11:10.879 --> 00:11:12.960 Think about this incredible reality. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:17.600 God is always, already present with you. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:27.200 God is already, right now in this moment, wherever you go, already, always present with you. 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:28.240 The question. 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:30.240 See, we celebrate it at this time. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.759 The question isn't how do I get more of God? 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.000 The question is, are we present with Him? 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:41.759 Am I present with Him? 00:11:42.080 --> 00:11:50.639 You see, the longing for your soul, the antidote for hurry, anxiety, and loneliness is actually found in eight words. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:57.200 In fact, the series is one sentence, three weeks, one sentence, eight words. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:12:01.519 We'll go some other places as well, but it's just these eight words. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.080 Psalm 46, 10 says this. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:05.759 Would you read it out loud with me? 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:11.360 Be still and know that I am God. 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:15.679 That's it. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:21.679 It's as simple and difficult as that. 00:12:23.039 --> 00:12:25.600 Be still and know. 00:12:26.960 --> 00:12:36.799 Like what your soul longs for, what your soul needs in our technology, rapid, high speed life. 00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:38.879 Be still. 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:42.480 And know that I am God. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:44.639 Be still is the Hebrew word Rafi. 00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:48.399 It means to put an end to a state or activity. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:49.440 I love this. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:50.879 To sink down. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:53.600 Relax into. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:58.159 Another way you could read this verse is relax. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.159 Relax into the presence of God. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:10.159 Relax, sink deep, and know personally who God is. 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:19.200 The soul was made to rest in God, like a tree, rest in the soil, like a child, rest in her mother's arms. 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:23.919 You were designed, you were made for the presence of God. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:27.200 What your soul hungers is his presence. 00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:36.159 And yet we satisfy and satiate it with so many other things that never fulfill us and keep us wanting. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:37.919 And no. 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:41.120 That's the Hebrew word yada. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:49.840 It's this deep, intimate, personal understanding, not just factual knowledge, it's knowledge by way of experience. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.240 B still addresses the hurry. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:57.679 This knowledge, as we'll look at next week, addresses anxiety that we're experiencing. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:11.279 The invitation isn't just to know about God, know facts about God, it's to know him personally, intimately, profoundly, in a way that shapes your daily life. 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:12.799 And then I am God. 00:14:12.960 --> 00:14:19.919 In Psalm 46, this word God is the Hebrew word Elohim, but it also uses his personal covenant name, Yahweh. 00:14:20.080 --> 00:14:25.279 Elohim is the supernatural being who originate and rules over the universe. 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:27.840 God's creative activity. 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:33.360 And Yahweh is his personal covenant name, his faithful active presence. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:37.039 This addresses the issue of loneliness. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:45.840 Being still puts us in our proper place in the presence of God, which means he is God and I am not. 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:47.679 I am not in control. 00:14:48.080 --> 00:14:52.720 I do not hold the universe together, but he's got it, doesn't he? 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:54.000 So I don't have to. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.360 He is all powerful, all-wise, all-knowing, all good. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:03.120 God is faithful, active, and present in my life. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:16.960 Anxiety, loneliness found in eight words, be still and know that I am God. 00:15:17.440 --> 00:15:29.840 This is how I came to hear this phrase, and it just profoundly began to resonate with my soul of like, okay, this is this is what my soul needs. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:38.960 We must learn to be present to the presence, our Heavenly Father, in the present. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:54.000 We must learn in our day and age, we must learn, it's something that we have to take an action of learning, to be present with the presence in the presence. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:16:00.639 In fact, Brother Lawrence says it this way the most holy and necessary practice in our spiritual life is the presence of God. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:11.759 That means finding constant pleasure in his divine company, speaking humbly and lovingly with him in all seasons at every moment, without limiting the conversation in any way. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:16.399 In fact, spiritual formation isn't getting more of God. 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:18.240 You ever prayed those prayers? 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.039 God, I just I need more of you. 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:28.159 And I get what we're saying about, but you can't get more of him because he's given himself fully already to you. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:34.960 It's becoming more aware of the God who's already with you. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:45.039 It's learning to be present to the ever-present one in this present moment. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:56.159 Now, if this, Ryan, is the antidote to hurry, anxiety, and loneliness, why do we still struggle with loneliness with stillness? 00:16:56.399 --> 00:16:59.279 If this is it, if it's this simple. 00:16:59.679 --> 00:17:06.720 In fact, Dallas Willard, the great uh philosopher, he wrote, hurry is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life in our day. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:10.319 You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:19.119 And many of you know this quote because this guy, John Mark Colmer, wrote a book based on this quote, the ruthless elimination of hurry. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:21.519 Yeah, you've heard, you've heard it, haven't you? 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:22.960 It's a bestseller. 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:27.519 It was a bestseller, and here's the funny part is we're still struggling with hurry. 00:17:28.559 --> 00:17:35.200 We underlie things, and yet we still struggle to put them into our daily practice. 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.119 Let me talk and give a few reasons why we struggle to put them in our practice. 00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.599 The first, oh, this is so um, yeah, it is what it is. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:44.640 It's on the nose. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:47.759 Being boring is uh being still is boring. 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:54.480 We are losing the ability not only to embrace boredom, but to value it. 00:17:55.599 --> 00:17:58.480 Today, boredom is bad, isn't it? 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:02.880 In the pre-digital era, we were bored all the time, by the way. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:07.680 Car rides, we did not have phones or tablets or movies or anything else. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:15.839 You just stared out the window and annoyingly asked your parents, are we there yet every six minutes? 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:22.799 TV, you only had 11 channels, and if you missed your show, you missed it. 00:18:22.960 --> 00:18:28.559 There was no on-demand summer days, by the way, you were just sent outside to play. 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:31.599 Your parents had no idea where you were, by the way. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:36.640 My dad used to say this: boredom is the pathway to creativity. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:40.559 I hated that as a kid, but there's truth to it. 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:47.359 When you have nothing to do, you start to get creative, you notice things you didn't notice before, you have space to actually think. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:52.400 Boredom is not bad, and by the way, boredom is not unproductive. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:58.720 Psychologists tell us that when the mind stops receiving stimulus, it shifts into reflection mode. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:03.519 The very space where prayer, listening, and clarity are born. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:10.559 Boredom is the doorway to attention, and attention is the front door to the presence of God. 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:16.079 Boredom is the doorway to attention, and attention is the front door to the presence of God. 00:19:16.160 --> 00:19:25.839 In Scripture, God meets people in silence, in the waiting, in the space, in the stillness, in the places we now avoid. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:35.039 In the age we're always on, we need to intentionally embrace boredom for the sake of our minds, our hearts, our souls. 00:19:35.200 --> 00:19:40.880 And as parents, we gotta be okay with having our kids be bored and drive us nuts for a little bit. 00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:42.960 It's actually good for them. 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:47.920 First reason we struggle with being still is being still is boring. 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:50.400 Secondly, being still is hard. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:52.559 Boring is hard. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.599 Distraction is our default, isn't it? 00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:02.160 We have elevated productivity, and so we interpret uh being still as unproductive, don't we? 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.079 We must always be active, always going, always on. 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:12.400 The world is discipling us into distraction, fragmentation, and speed. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:14.880 So listen to that. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:29.440 The world is discipling you, training you on me, cultivating distraction, fragmentation, and speed. 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:33.599 Uh this week Spotify released their unwrapped, uh, Spotify Unwrapped. 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:36.319 It's where you give a rundown of what you listened to all year. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:37.920 How many minutes did you listen? 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:41.119 The top podcasts, top albums, number one songs, and more. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:42.720 Here's mine, by the way. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:46.720 Um I listened to 41,311 minutes. 00:20:46.880 --> 00:20:49.359 That's 28 days of listening, by the way. 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.559 Uh, some of you have less, some of you have more, okay. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:57.039 Uh my top albums, we must respond, Bethel, Evolve, Imagine Dragons. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:58.559 My wife's like, that was a shocker. 00:20:58.640 --> 00:21:00.640 I'm like, it's my workout music, okay? 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:09.519 Uh Sob Rock, John Mayer, which I'm a big John Mayer fan, Move of God, Top Artist, Bethel, John Mayer, Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Imagine Dragons. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.319 All of us got this this week that are on Spotify. 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:16.720 And if you're on social media on Instagram, everyone was posting it. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:19.200 And how many minutes and what was your musical age? 00:21:19.359 --> 00:21:21.440 Mine was 28, my wife was 24. 00:21:21.599 --> 00:21:23.519 Um, yeah, we're still hip with it. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:24.079 Okay. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:30.319 Now, can you imagine if Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube didn't unwrap? 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:34.160 How many minutes did you spend? 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.039 What was the most viewed videos? 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:43.279 The world is dis disciplining us in distraction, fragmentation, and speed. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:45.440 Jesus invites us into a different way. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:49.759 Stillness, wholeness, presence. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.559 It's what your soul is craving. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:22:02.960 Richard Foster, in his uh just classic, The Celebration of Discipline, writes this the biggest The biggest problem we have today is distraction. 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.759 He is writing this in 1998, by the way. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:12.559 The biggest problem we have today is distraction. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.880 People are just consumed with muchness and manyness. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.839 God will let us be distracted if that's what we choose. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:27.359 If we want to be attentive and present, there is no way. 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:30.319 Being still is hard. 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:34.720 Listen, you have a lot to do. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:39.839 You have demands, you have pressures, you have people that need you. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:48.880 Being still, we are to be still not because there's nothing to do, or because you've completed all your tasks. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.440 They just didn't make the cut this year, but I do love you too. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:23:00.559 Um, my buddy Brian does not, so I don't play it as much anymore. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:02.799 Okay, that's another story for another time. 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:05.119 Being still, listen to this. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:09.759 Be still, not because there's nothing to do. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:12.960 There is always more to do. 00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:17.680 Be still, not because you completed all your tasks. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:22.640 Be still precisely because there is too much to do. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:26.000 There is more than you are able to accomplish. 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:42.799 Stillness is an act of trust, a declaration that he is God and you are not, and he holds the whole world in his hands, and you do not, and he will take care of you. 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:46.079 We still know that I'm God. 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:51.200 Being still is born, being still is hard, being still takes practice, by the way. 00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:58.640 It will feel unnatural at first, awkward, slow, a waste. 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:06.000 At the beginning, it will even be difficult. 00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:09.200 Feel unproductive. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:12.799 There won't be any massive insight, probably. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:23.920 You're often just fighting to quiet your soul while your mind jumps from worries to do's to take times to get like your mind still. 00:24:25.599 --> 00:24:28.240 It's honestly a lot like working out. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:31.839 Where in the beginning you're just sore. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:39.279 But as you stick with it, you begin to experience the fruit of it. 00:24:39.920 --> 00:24:42.160 That's why we created those presence kits. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:47.359 We had handed them out last week, and we're creating a rhythm of just daily being still. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:54.720 If you didn't get one, we have a few left in the back, uh, but we do have a card, and we want you to just take it daily. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:58.720 I'll talk more about it, but we want you just daily or texting out a verse. 00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:07.680 You can uh sign up for that, uh verse in the morning, just to be still and to be present, to just begin to put this into practice. 00:25:07.839 --> 00:25:12.160 We must learn to be present to the present in the present. 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:22.319 Um, in college, I had this um heard about people that were like, you know, practicing silence and solitude. 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:25.519 And already in college, like my soul's hungering for this, right? 00:25:25.839 --> 00:25:27.680 Just realizing the pace and the pressure. 00:25:28.400 --> 00:25:37.759 Um and so I I you know go like, okay, I'm going to I'm gonna do an hour of silence and solitude. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:40.960 And I get excited, I'm like, I'm gonna do an hour, I'm gonna start doing an hour every day. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:42.000 This is awesome, right? 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:50.000 I'm like, and and there's a little of this like college-age pride, and then I'm like, I'm an amazing Christian, and you know, look at me, I'm doing an hour of silence and solitude. 00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:54.079 I sit down, and I felt like an hour, but only five minutes at the past. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:25:58.960 I made it to like seven minutes. 00:26:00.160 --> 00:26:06.960 And Larry Dunn's a pastor at the church that uh I attended, he's one of the kindest, most godly guys. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:16.640 Um, and I remember uh sitting down and just sharing my heart, like, Larry, I want to do this, and um like I couldn't even make it like ten minutes. 00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:18.960 And he said, Ryan, Ryan. 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:26.240 Trying to be still and silent for an hour is like trying to run a marathon without training. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:30.000 Like you just can't do it. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:33.119 Like being still takes practice. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:35.839 Why don't you just start with five minutes? 00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:38.960 Why don't you just start with ten minutes? 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:45.599 And as your soul settles into the rhythm, you'll begin to crave and desire more time with God. 00:26:45.759 --> 00:26:48.240 Build it slowly that way. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:51.680 In fact, that's what many of us need. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:53.599 We have this ideal of what should be. 00:26:53.759 --> 00:26:54.880 Start in the real. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:03.039 Being still is boring, being still, you know, is hard, being still takes process, just take five minutes, ten minutes. 00:27:03.519 --> 00:27:08.240 And here's, I think, the number one reason why we struggle with being still. 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:11.680 Being still is a soul reveal. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:18.319 It's in the silence when you can finally hear what's really going on inside inside of you. 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:23.680 Silence finally gives space for the soul to speak. 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:30.240 Silence exposes what noise covers up, doesn't it? 00:27:31.359 --> 00:27:35.119 We live noisy lives so we don't have to deal with what's going on. 00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:45.599 We use noise, we use scrolling, we use hurry to avoid grief, fear, insecurity, past wounds, loneliness, conviction. 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:49.440 If we just stay busy enough, we can escape it. 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:56.640 There's this, I remember talking to a firefighter years ago. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:28:02.160 And he was talking about what they do when they step onto the scene. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:08.319 And, you know, you step onto a chaotic scene, maybe it's an accident, maybe it's a fire. 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:23.039 Um what they do is counterintuitive because what I would think is the minute you step onto the scene, you rush to where you see the greatest need, you hear the loudest cry, and you address the biggest problem. 00:28:23.119 --> 00:28:24.480 Like that's what you should do. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:28.480 And what he tells me is they do something called a size up. 00:28:28.720 --> 00:28:31.759 Sometimes they call it a 360 size up. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:41.119 Before they rush into the scene, uh they stand often in front of their engine or just on the scene and they size up the scene. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:48.799 Because what he told me, he said, Ryan, because sometimes the loudest cry isn't the biggest need. 00:28:50.799 --> 00:28:58.319 Because the one who's silent that can't cry is in more need than the one who can at times. 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:11.920 And so they take a moment to size up, to evaluate, to survey, to see the scene, and then after sizing up, then they begin to move in. 00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:24.079 Being still is a soul to size up, and the noise of our world and all the pressures and demands. 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:32.000 The minute we're still, it begins to help us see what's actually going on inside of us. 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:48.319 And it can be hard at times, and there's times where we resist it, but it is the place where God wants to speak to you, and where He wants to bring healing and wholeness to you. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:59.920 That all the noise around you is drowning out the voice of God? 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:04.720 Well, how do we embrace stillness in an age of distraction? 00:30:05.119 --> 00:30:08.559 In fact, I'm gonna lead us into a place of stillness. 00:30:09.359 --> 00:30:23.839 I want to give you just three steps to the stillness, and then I'm I'm asking, I'm pleading, I'm begging, I'm desperate here, that we would do this daily as a church. 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:29.039 Daily, not not like I'm like just the the dose. 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:33.519 So I'll give you a daily practice, a daily rhythm, ten minutes out of your day. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:37.279 You can give ten minutes to God to being still in his presence. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:38.079 You can. 00:30:38.319 --> 00:30:39.359 You're gonna choose the time. 00:30:39.440 --> 00:30:43.359 I'm not saying when, I'm an early morning person, but do it daily. 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:44.880 All right. 00:30:46.079 --> 00:30:49.440 Three steps to stillness, and then I'll just give the daily practice. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:53.519 First, simple, simply physical stillness. 00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:55.279 Physical stillness. 00:30:55.839 --> 00:30:59.359 Find a quiet place, no tech distractions. 00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:03.680 It can be on the couch, it can be in the car, it can be in the bedroom. 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.039 If you've got small little kids, it's probably when they're asleep. 00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:20.880 One of the places that I I love as far as stillness is just I have this little table, it's a kitchenette table, and in the morning, it's my space. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:22.559 That's it. 00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:28.720 And every other time it's it's not a good space, it's not quiet, but I have just a space of stillness. 00:31:28.799 --> 00:31:31.599 Some of you, you can do this in a coffee shop. 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:32.960 Some of you can. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:34.400 You can do it in nature. 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.599 Just find a quiet space, make it easy. 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:43.200 Turn a place that's every day into a sacred place in your home or your car. 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:45.119 Physical stillness. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:49.440 And as you get physically still, then move to mental stillness. 00:31:51.119 --> 00:31:58.079 I keep with me just a little um journal in my to-do list. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:06.960 Because chances are the minute you start to get still, your mind starts to race to your to-do list and things you have to do, and I just write them down. 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:16.400 I set it aside, and I know I won't forget it, and then I go back, and then you have these distracting thoughts, and then you just address it, and I'm gonna push through. 00:32:16.559 --> 00:32:28.880 So we move from physical still where we just need to get our body still, address the mental clutter, mental stillness, and then move to emotional stillness, because that's when the soul begins to speak. 00:32:29.599 --> 00:32:38.400 Those things begin to bubble up, and you begin to hand over to God your fears, your hurts, your unforgiveness. 00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:46.319 You hand over self-righteousness or things that have made you angry, anything that you're holding on. 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:54.640 You just begin to bring them to God in his presence, and you make this a daily practice. 00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:57.359 It looks something like this. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:00.720 Simple first. 00:33:00.960 --> 00:33:02.079 Stop the scroll. 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:05.680 Just stop the scroll. 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:07.119 You can, by the way. 00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:16.400 The way I do it often is I keep the phone in a different room because this has discipled me really well. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:21.440 I'll just grab it and I'm like, oh my goodness, I have to check my email. 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:23.599 Oh, I have to check my bank account. 00:33:23.759 --> 00:33:25.279 Oh, I have to check the calendar. 00:33:25.440 --> 00:33:27.039 Oh, I have to check Instagram. 00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:31.920 I got to Instagram last because it's probably what I checked first, and I was too ashamed to say that first. 00:33:34.160 --> 00:33:35.599 First, stop the scroll. 00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.400 You can put your phone or device on, do not disturb. 00:33:39.440 --> 00:33:42.799 Second, find a space of peace. 00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:45.279 That's that physical stillness. 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:50.799 In your box, you have a candle. 00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:56.000 If you didn't get a box, you can get a candle. 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:59.839 Often saints throughout history have lit a candle. 00:33:59.920 --> 00:34:01.200 I don't know if I can light this thing. 00:34:01.440 --> 00:34:02.079 There we go. 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:10.320 Just as a visual reminder of the presence of God. 00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:16.239 That God is already, always present with you. 00:34:16.480 --> 00:34:27.119 And it can take an ordinary moment in an ordinary space, and you welcome the presence of God, and it moves it into a sacred space. 00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:40.320 It can take that little kitchen table or the couch or your bedroom or your car or just that quiet moment at your office in your cubicle. 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:47.760 And it just takes that moment and it just accuse the soul of like, no, this is a space of peace. 00:34:49.039 --> 00:34:52.719 And then this is very very practical. 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:54.639 Set a timer for ten minutes. 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:06.239 And you just set it for ten minutes, and you turn your attention to God. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:08.800 We are texting out scripture. 00:35:11.760 --> 00:35:15.039 Be still and know that I'm God. 00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:20.000 And you invite the Holy Spirit to speak to you. 00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:27.840 Can we do that this morning? 00:35:30.239 --> 00:35:35.519 Not just talk about being still, but have a moment. 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:39.920 A sacred space of peace. 00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:46.719 We're going to take the next several minutes and I'm going to let your soul settle in. 00:35:47.599 --> 00:35:50.000 And then we're going to continue in worship. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:58.880 And as we do, each Sunday, we're going to partake in communion to remind ourselves of God with us, God for us, his presence. 00:36:01.599 --> 00:36:08.400 In this moment, the God of the universe longs to be with you. 00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:12.159 Longs to hear from you. 00:36:13.440 --> 00:36:15.280 Longs to speak to you. 00:36:20.719 --> 00:36:23.039 Take that deep breath again. 00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:44.159 Can even put your hands on your lap with your hands faced open as a posture of reception. 00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:45.039 Opens. 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:53.840 Relax into the presence of God. 00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:48.079 Commanding your soul, be still. 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:55.840 Identify those anxious thoughts, the words and know that He is God. 00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:57.760 All powerful. 00:37:58.320 --> 00:37:59.039 Always. 00:37:59.519 --> 00:38:00.000 All God. 00:38:00.719 --> 00:38:01.360 All God. 00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:07.599 He holds the universe together. 00:38:13.840 --> 00:39:52.400 Always present us. 00:40:59.920 --> 00:41:01.679 Be still, my soul. 00:41:02.079 --> 00:41:03.039 Be still. 00:41:03.840 --> 00:41:04.639 Relax. 00:41:11.920 --> 00:41:13.920 Jesus, we want to know you. 00:41:18.480 --> 00:41:20.320 We want to know you personally. 00:41:40.239 --> 00:41:41.360 You've got us. 00:41:46.800 --> 00:41:49.760 So as we continue, would you quiet us with your love? 00:41:59.920 --> 00:42:01.039 Jesus' name. 00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:08.079 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:42:08.239 --> 00:42:12.639 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:42:12.800 --> 00:42:14.880 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:21.039 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash card.