SPEAKER_00: Hey, this is Andrew Demazio, lead pastor of Rose Church here in Portland, Oregon.
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to our podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Our mission here at Rose is building big people, becoming like Jesus in community while growing in our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Whoever you are, wherever you are, I pray today's message challenges you and encourages you on your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for listening.
SPEAKER_00: Enjoy today's podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're gonna get into uh the word today.
SPEAKER_00: And um, again, if you're new, my name is Andrew, and uh we're so honored to have you.
SPEAKER_00: All the overflows, nurse moms room, family room, wherever you're at, the nurse of this building.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being here and uh sitting and standing, wherever you're at.
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, throughout the month of you know July, we uh it's called Summer of the City.
SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of stuff planned, hence all the kids' stuff today, and next week we have a bunch of stuff planned.
SPEAKER_00: But it's also kind of an opportunity for me to uh throughout the month to kind of uh talk about things that are in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: We're not on a real necessary series uh through this month.
SPEAKER_00: And uh this happens every once in a while where I will have a thought or an idea that I want to share.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but then something else is just rototilling, bouncing around my heart that I that I really can't ignore.
SPEAKER_00: And uh today's one of those days, and um, every once in a while I'll do this um in my devotions in my study.
SPEAKER_00: I'll just take one book of the Bible, whether it's Romans or Hebrews or whatever, and I'll just read it the whole book in one day.
SPEAKER_00: Just sit there really slowly and just really dive into one book.
SPEAKER_00: And I did that uh this last week in 2 Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: I just sat there and took some time working my way through this book called 2 Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: And uh there's just these two verses, three verses that jumped out to me while I was praying and studying through that book that I just can't really get out of my heart.
SPEAKER_00: And so today's gonna be a bit different.
SPEAKER_00: Today's not going to be uh a typical sermon uh um like I normally would, but today's really gonna be an impartation from my heart to yours.
SPEAKER_00: And um, I really hope uh the things I'm gonna share today are gonna impact you and your heart and how you think about God, and uh, especially if you're far from God.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're here today with a loved one or neighbor or girlfriend that decided to come to church today, and you're like, man, I'm not a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe I've been in church my entire life, or maybe raised in a different religion, this is so new to you.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we're we're so glad that you're here, and I do believe that God is going to speak to you today and deposit something in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And so we're gonna read today out of 2 Corinthians chapter 2, sorry, chapter 3, 2 Corinthians 3, verses 1 to 3.
SPEAKER_00: Just three verses really short.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, just these a few words I'd like to bring out uh in this sermon today.
SPEAKER_00: 2 Corinthians 3, 1 through 3.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're jumping mid-rant, and I'll explain the rant that's going on between Paul and this church.
SPEAKER_00: The book of 2 Corinthians, a little bit of a context, is Paul's by far most emotional letter.
SPEAKER_00: Like, if you go read 2 Corinthians today, uh he's he's taking shots toward them, they're taking shots at him.
SPEAKER_00: Like, it is a deeply emotional uh because Paul and this church have had a lot of issues going back and forth.
SPEAKER_00: They're arguing, they've lost some stuff, there's some church drama, there's some people Paul's mad at, there's some people that are mad at Paul, uh, some people have left the church.
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of crazy stuff going on in this church.
SPEAKER_00: And so if you think uh church drama is new, it's been going on since the church started, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh church and drama kind of go together.
SPEAKER_00: So uh so Paul and this church are just going back and forth.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, there's actually four letters.
SPEAKER_00: We don't have the other two, but we have first and second, there is a third and fourth that Paul addresses.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, my other letter.
SPEAKER_00: Did you get my first letter?
SPEAKER_00: So there's other letters that are going back and forth, and this is Paul's by far most emotional one, and you'll see in a few verses, uh, and I'll give you some context here in a moment on what he's talking about.
SPEAKER_00: But here we go.
SPEAKER_00: Verse one says this.
SPEAKER_00: Are we beginning to commend ourselves again?
SPEAKER_00: Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation?
SPEAKER_00: We'll address that.
SPEAKER_00: Letters of recommendation to you or from you.
SPEAKER_00: You are sell, you yourselves are our letter.
SPEAKER_00: Written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God.
SPEAKER_00: Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.
SPEAKER_00: I want to zoom in on that verse three one more time.
SPEAKER_00: You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry.
SPEAKER_00: Right here.
SPEAKER_00: Written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God.
SPEAKER_00: Not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Today I want to talk and just share from this theme living letters.
SPEAKER_00: Living letters.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray as we jump into the word today.
SPEAKER_00: Father, I thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you for these few verses.
SPEAKER_00: Just these three verses that we're gonna unpack today, God.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for this story in this church in Paul and this church in Corinth, God, just everything going on in this letter is deeply profound.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I pray for every every person on the sound of my voice today in this room overflows other rooms, God.
SPEAKER_00: Where your spirit reign and rule in this room.
SPEAKER_00: We open our eyes, we open our heart, our mind to receive your word today.
SPEAKER_00: God, let your word be like seed to the soil.
SPEAKER_00: I'm bringing forth 30, 16 a hundredfold.
SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you for today.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you for moments in your presence, God.
SPEAKER_00: Holy Spirit, I'm praying that you would be active and speaking to people's hearts today, God.
SPEAKER_00: I pray these things in the mighty name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And everyone said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Um, many, many moons ago, I was a freshman in high school.
SPEAKER_00: I went to a Christian school, K-8th grade.
SPEAKER_00: And uh anyone else raised in a Christian school?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, like six of you.
SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of you are normal.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I was raised in a small Christian school.
SPEAKER_00: It was a K-12 school.
SPEAKER_00: And in that K-12, I don't know, it's probably 300 students, 250 students, in the entire K-12.
SPEAKER_00: And this is back in the like 90s, friends.
SPEAKER_00: Not like modern Christian school, like Jesuit and Special Catholic and like these other like Catholic Christian whatever schools.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is an old school 90s Christian school where we would sign, your parents would sign, this is no word of a lie, that when you signed up to go to the school, your parents also signed off that the principal and any teacher could spank you.
SPEAKER_00: This is big facts.
SPEAKER_00: And I got spanked by a lot of teachers back then.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so this is Christian school.
SPEAKER_00: But my dad was the pastor of the church, my dad was the president or principal of the school, and he was my baseball coach back then.
SPEAKER_00: And so by eighth grade, my dad was like, This is too much, you are getting kicked out.
SPEAKER_00: So he dismissed me from the school.
SPEAKER_00: This is real.
SPEAKER_00: After he spent me, he dismissed me from the school.
SPEAKER_00: So and I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_00: And so he sent me to Kloakamas High School.
SPEAKER_00: And so, you know what I was from Kloakamas Thai?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, hopefully we didn't go to school together because I was probably mean to you.
SPEAKER_00: So um, so I went to Kloakamas Thai.
SPEAKER_00: So, freshman year, I step on premise, literally not knowing anyone.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I went from a small little Christian school to this massive high school.
SPEAKER_00: And uh my dad was like, you should play football just to get some friends, like, because football starts in July and August.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, sure.
SPEAKER_00: So I started playing football, but I was the basketball player.
SPEAKER_00: So I was just waiting for basketball season to start.
SPEAKER_00: For those who know, basketball goes from November till March.
SPEAKER_00: And so I went out for the freshman team and made the freshman team, ended up starting for the freshman team.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a big deal.
SPEAKER_00: But um just like I'm like 14, you know.
SPEAKER_00: So I start for the freshman team, and and uh and we're pretty good.
SPEAKER_00: Uh mean mean me and Carson, Matt, and all my friends on the team, and and we end up being like undefeated our freshman year.
SPEAKER_00: We get to the the league championship game versus West Lynn.
SPEAKER_00: So to all those that went to one to West Lynn, you're dismissed from the church.
SPEAKER_00: But uh so we play Westlin.
SPEAKER_00: And it's a very close game.
SPEAKER_00: We played them earlier and once, it's a very close game, championship game, right?
SPEAKER_00: And you know this in like high school sports, like all the varsity guys are watching, right?
SPEAKER_00: So the varsity team is there, like all the parents are there, and and uh we we end up being down one with like seven seconds to go.
SPEAKER_00: Call timeout, we have our huddle with Coach Griffin.
SPEAKER_00: So Coach Griffin, he sits there and he goes, All right, we've we one final shot.
SPEAKER_00: Who wants to take it?
SPEAKER_00: And everyone's like, look in.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I'll take it.
SPEAKER_00: I'll do it, I'll shoot it.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's like, okay, switch all this play up, right?
SPEAKER_00: And now I'm like, I'm 14 years old, 15 years old, and so I'm like, this whole, it's a movie scene for me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, we're walking out, girls are screaming, like it's a whole, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, that didn't happen.
SPEAKER_00: But you know, in my mind, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like, babe, it's only been you my whole life, I promise, only been you.
SPEAKER_00: Even since I was 14, only you.
SPEAKER_00: So um, so right, it's like this is a movie scene for me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like the varsity team's there, like it's championship game, we're down one, I walk out, like I'm I'm hyped.
SPEAKER_00: Come off this double strain, get the ball, see the clock going down, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I shoot, it's going in slow motion, like the whole thing for me, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like I shoot and I miss.
SPEAKER_00: And we lose.
SPEAKER_00: We lose by one.
SPEAKER_00: And I was devastated.
unknown: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Imagine just being 14, brand new high school.
SPEAKER_00: The varsity team's there, everyone's watching.
SPEAKER_00: I asked to take the shot.
SPEAKER_00: I missed.
SPEAKER_00: Devastated.
SPEAKER_00: I remember sitting in the locker room crying.
SPEAKER_00: All my teammates are walking out, and I'm just like, I'm gonna have to go to school tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: People are gonna say something.
SPEAKER_00: Why make the team next year?
SPEAKER_00: Right, I'm like 14 years old.
SPEAKER_00: Going through.
SPEAKER_00: My dad already left, and uh, you don't have to take a bus home.
SPEAKER_00: You know, so I'm sitting in the back of the bus and the season's over, and I'm just in it, right?
SPEAKER_00: And and we I get to the bus and get a ride home.
SPEAKER_00: And uh sorry late by by now when I get home and there is a letter on my pillow from my dad.
SPEAKER_00: Um for those of you who don't know, my dad was an author, you know, wrote, I don't know, 40, 50 books, whatever it was, has two masters, a doctorate.
SPEAKER_00: Like my dad was a very learned writer, um, you know, academic person.
SPEAKER_00: And so throughout my life, my dad has written me letters um about life and you know, whatever.
SPEAKER_00: So I get home and I'm still just like losing it, and there is a letter on my on my pillow, and it's a letter from my dad about how proud he is of me and what he thinks of me, and you know, this whole letter.
SPEAKER_00: Um and I and I kept that letter um my whole life.
SPEAKER_00: Look away, mom.
SPEAKER_00: So um this this is usually in my office that's fr uh framed and hung up, and I I kept this letter my whole life, and you know, I'll be 40 here in a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: Um hence the gray beard, and um you know, and I and I read it every once in a while.
SPEAKER_00: I don't read it all the time, but it hangs up in my office in my study at my house, and um you know, letters carry weight.
SPEAKER_00: What's shocking about letters is they are weightless, but they're weighty.
SPEAKER_00: In what world can something that literally does not carry weight at all, you can't measure this.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, but you can measure this.
SPEAKER_00: Letters carry weight.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've ever received a letter from a doctor or from a friend or someone overseas, like when you go to the mail and you open it, it's like, oh, this these words are not words.
SPEAKER_00: Letters carry weight, they carry weight in our day and age, but so much more significantly back then.
SPEAKER_00: Back then, there is no LinkedIn, there is no job review stuff, there is no job history, there is no credit score, there is nothing like that.
SPEAKER_00: All you have is someone else's words about your life.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: So in the ancient world, you would have a letter from someone with a stamp or a signet ring or a signature or something that would prove that you would show up.
SPEAKER_00: Go ahead, I have a letter.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not what's on your life that gets you in that room, it's the letter that you hold.
SPEAKER_00: It's the person that has given you authority.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul brings up in this letter, he goes, Are you asking me for a letter of recommendation?
SPEAKER_00: Because what was happening is Paul left Rome and was in Corinth, different nation, different part of the different area, and he starts a church in the city of Corinth.
SPEAKER_00: And some Jews get really upset because they go, Hey, you're from Jerusalem.
SPEAKER_00: Where's your letter of recommendation?
SPEAKER_00: You aren't supposed to be here.
SPEAKER_00: We run this, and these these apostles are asking Paul, where's your letter?
SPEAKER_00: Where's your accreditation?
SPEAKER_00: Where's your authority?
SPEAKER_00: And look what Paul says back.
SPEAKER_00: Verse 2, he's like, You think we need a letter of recommendation?
SPEAKER_00: You're my letter.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, he tells the Corinthian church, I don't need a written letter, I have a living letter.
SPEAKER_00: The church that has started, the church that's been birthed, is my living letter.
SPEAKER_00: Today I want to talk about the idea that you are God's living letter.
SPEAKER_00: You are God's living letter.
SPEAKER_00: And if a letter that is weightless could carry weight, how much more in your life?
SPEAKER_00: If something like this could carry that much weight, how much more should the weight that you hold in this life that God has written on your heart, not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God.
SPEAKER_00: And that you are a living letter.
SPEAKER_00: You're a living letter.
SPEAKER_00: Look what William Barclay says, great scholar, about these three verses right here.
SPEAKER_00: He says, There is a great truth here.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this, which is both an inspiration and an awful warning.
SPEAKER_00: Every individual is an open letter for Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: All Christians, whether they like it or not, are advertisements for Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Look at this.
SPEAKER_00: The honor of Christ is in the hands of his followers.
SPEAKER_00: We judge a shopkeeper by the kind of goods sold.
SPEAKER_00: We judge a craftsman by the kind of articles produced.
SPEAKER_00: We judge a church by the kind of men and women it creates.
SPEAKER_00: And therefore, people judge Christ by his followers.
SPEAKER_00: When we go out into the world, we have the awe-inspiring responsibility of being open letters, advertisements for Christ and His church.
SPEAKER_00: Long before they ever read a Bible, they will read you.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, for some people, they will never read a Bible.
SPEAKER_00: You are the only letter they will ever read.
SPEAKER_00: And now, no one's saying this to you, but understand that when they interact with you and your home and your marriage and your Twitter account and your Instagram account and who you date and who you marry and how you tip and how you act and how you eat out and how you go with your friends and where you go.
SPEAKER_00: You are a breathing manuscript.
SPEAKER_00: You are a living letter that people are interacting with every single day.
SPEAKER_00: So, to those in the room that are not a believer, I think this is a good Sunday for you to consider what it would mean for you to become one.
SPEAKER_00: Because there has to be weight behind these words.
SPEAKER_00: See, I could read this letter to you today.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to because it's none of your business.
SPEAKER_00: But I could read this to you and you would cry because it'd be emotional, but you don't hear his voice, I do.
SPEAKER_00: The weight of relationship is for me behind these words, not for you.
SPEAKER_00: Because there's weight behind these words.
SPEAKER_00: Is there weight behind yours when people read your letter?
SPEAKER_00: Is there weight?
SPEAKER_00: Is there density?
SPEAKER_00: Is there texture?
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he says.
SPEAKER_00: This is not written on stone.
SPEAKER_00: It's written on living human hearts.
SPEAKER_00: So again, this is flattened.
SPEAKER_00: It's just words on a piece of paper.
SPEAKER_00: Now, of course, we believe this is living inactive, don't get me wrong, but this is a flattened parchment.
SPEAKER_00: You and I are not friends.
SPEAKER_00: There's texture, there's emotion, there's life.
SPEAKER_00: So today I just want to impart this thing that's been rattling in my mind and heart to you today, on what would it mean for you and I to realize and act like we are a living letter?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, just just it won't be on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: This is just me talking.
SPEAKER_00: So if that's true, if what I'm proposing today, perpetuating through this pulpit, if what I'm laying at your feet today is true, I have a few questions for you.
SPEAKER_00: If you are a living letter, first question, what story are people reading?
SPEAKER_00: When people are interacting with you and your letter of life, what are they reading?
SPEAKER_00: What is the story that you are communicating?
SPEAKER_00: Is it a story of anger?
SPEAKER_00: Resentment, loss, disparaging circumstances.
SPEAKER_00: Is it a letter of resentment and bitterness?
SPEAKER_00: Is it a resentment of could've, should have, would've, didn't?
SPEAKER_00: Or is it a letter of peace and joy and patience and kindness and goodness?
SPEAKER_00: Is the letter, are you the main character in the letter?
SPEAKER_00: How many eyes are in your letter?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I did this and I married her and I got this job, and I graduated from this school, and I got this degree, and I have this, or is it God did this and God did that and God gave who who's the main character of the story of your life?
SPEAKER_00: What story is being told?
SPEAKER_00: See, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Uh what would be your magnum opus in this room?
SPEAKER_00: All the chefs and cooks in the room, what would be the meal?
SPEAKER_00: Right, the president of your company or the first time you're meeting your in-laws or the first date at your house, what would be your meal?
SPEAKER_00: All the cooks in the room, what is your magnum opus of like, oh, if I had to cook a meal, this is it?
SPEAKER_00: I know for Julia, I'd make her make her homemade spicy vodka sauce, homemade faccia bread, glass of wine, like top shelf, like what for all the artists in the room, what clothing of merch, what photo, what song, what lyric, what poem, what design, what social media campaign would be your Magnus open for the business people in the room, what portfolio I got this person, I signed this on, I'll receive this kind of money.
SPEAKER_00: What for you in your life right now, if you had to put something forth to show your worth, what would it be?
SPEAKER_00: A degree?
SPEAKER_00: Home, bank account, social.
SPEAKER_00: Like, what would be your thing that you would bring forward?
SPEAKER_00: This is this carries my weight.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Have you considered that you are God's magnus open?
SPEAKER_00: You are God's greatest accomplishment.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: For he has raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly places, heavenly realms, because we are united with Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see?
SPEAKER_00: One translation says, We are trophies of grace.
SPEAKER_00: So think of it this way: the next time that somebody wants to challenge God on his work, he points to you, saying, You want to see grace, go read that story.
SPEAKER_00: You want to see kindness, go read that story.
SPEAKER_00: You want to see redemption, go read that story.
SPEAKER_00: You are the thing that God points to when he wants to show off his work.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of you, I got me talking about the pastors in the room.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: If you are saved, transformed, made righteous, clean in his name, every single one of you, God can point to you saying, You want to see my work?
SPEAKER_00: You want to see what I do around here?
SPEAKER_00: Go read that story.
SPEAKER_00: Go read that letter.
SPEAKER_00: You want to see my grace?
SPEAKER_00: Look where I found her, where she is now.
SPEAKER_00: You want to see my power?
SPEAKER_00: Go read that man's story, where he came from, how he got here, what go?
SPEAKER_00: You want to see my work?
SPEAKER_00: Or in other words, you want a letter of recommendation?
SPEAKER_00: Go read her story.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need no letter.
SPEAKER_00: I don't need words on paper.
SPEAKER_00: You wanna you want to see my work, my letter of recommendation?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I have a living letter.
SPEAKER_00: I have a breathing manuscript that you can go read and find out who I am.
SPEAKER_00: When people come to interact with your story, friends, what are they hearing?
SPEAKER_00: What is the story that you are telling?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is the thing.
SPEAKER_00: It comes down to the story you've been telling yourself.
SPEAKER_00: You are perpetuating the story that you think is true.
SPEAKER_00: The story you tell yourself, the more that you tell it, even if it's false, becomes real because it's become repetitive and the norm, and you are perpetuating what you think is real.
SPEAKER_00: So I also want to like dive into the what have you been telling you?
SPEAKER_00: So I, uh, for those who don't know, we have three kids.
SPEAKER_00: Uh this fall I'll have a 13-year-old, an 11-year-old, and a five-year-old.
SPEAKER_00: Which is insane.
SPEAKER_00: I want to have a 13-year-old.
SPEAKER_00: Um but my youngest, uh, he's four.
SPEAKER_00: He'll be five in September.
SPEAKER_00: And um he's something else.
SPEAKER_00: He he makes me laugh uncontrollably.
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, he's in this stage, he's like, you know, he's gonna be five.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, I'm five now, I got it.
SPEAKER_00: You know, so the other day he's like, Dog, I gotta go poop, can you help?
SPEAKER_00: I was like, take him over to the bathroom.
SPEAKER_00: He goes, No, you stand outside, I got it.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, all right, that's why you stand outside, and apparently the toll paper was all gone.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: So he gets in there and goes, Is this some kind of sick joke?
SPEAKER_00: So he's in he's he's unbelievably funny.
SPEAKER_00: And so those of you who don't know, here's a photo of him from Kids Camp.
SPEAKER_00: Um, here is his perpetual mood.
SPEAKER_00: Um that there he is, in all of his glory.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, here's also a video for Emmanuel's ring camera.
SPEAKER_00: Watch it one more time.
SPEAKER_00: Notice how he like winds up to hit Santa.
SPEAKER_00: And then notice how he turns back and goes, watch it again.
SPEAKER_01: Watch.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, hi.
SPEAKER_00: So so he's he's he's funny, but he uh he's he's the best.
SPEAKER_00: He's in this um it's interesting watching him grow and become a human.
SPEAKER_00: His his mind and his memory and his emotions, like watching him develop has been quite interesting.
SPEAKER_00: I was too young when we had crews.
SPEAKER_00: I don't remember him at this stage.
SPEAKER_00: I was 20, I was I I had two kids by 25.
SPEAKER_00: So I was just too young when when those kids were that age, and so like now being older and watching him develop is quite interesting.
SPEAKER_00: And watching how he talks to himself is fascinating.
SPEAKER_00: Like the other day, he's in this like weird lying stage right now to get his older siblings in trouble.
SPEAKER_00: At least 10 times a day, he's like, Dad, can you spank with his butt?
SPEAKER_00: Um at least like 10 times a day, can you spank with his butt?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so there are a day I'm like I'm studying for this sermon.
SPEAKER_00: I'm on I'm at the computer at my desk and they're over in the couch, and and Cruz like shoves him and he and Rhodes like falls off the couch, you know, in the most like dramatic Italian fashion in the whole world.
SPEAKER_00: It just like falls off, and you know, and and he he comes over to me weeping.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sitting right here.
SPEAKER_00: Cruz choked me, and then he kicked me and he shoved me off the couch, dad.
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, bro, I watched the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: He just shoved you off the catch.
SPEAKER_00: No, Dad, he choked me.
SPEAKER_00: And I go, I didn't see it.
SPEAKER_00: He goes, It happened so fast.
SPEAKER_00: He's like, No, he choked me.
SPEAKER_00: And this kid is seriously distraught.
SPEAKER_00: Legitimately, this is what's playing in his mind, and he's acting like it's true.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are doing the same right now.
SPEAKER_00: The story you are telling yourself is not what actually happened.
SPEAKER_00: But you're living like it did.
SPEAKER_00: So when people come to interact with your living letter friends, what story is happening?
SPEAKER_00: What story are you perpetuating?
SPEAKER_00: What story are you telling your I'm getting there, Venus?
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna get there, I promise.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I saw really prophetic this week.
SPEAKER_00: You know, like when you go to a kid's you know paper or whatever, and there's just scribblys everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: And they act like they wrote a name or something, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's like look at whatever.
SPEAKER_00: I wrote my name, it's just scribbly.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, the the chapter you're in right now, people are reading your story now, and all this is scribbles.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why I felt really deep from the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: It's because you and the author are fighting over the pen.
SPEAKER_00: And people reading your store your story right now are like, where did where did you go?
SPEAKER_00: And where that what is what word is that?
SPEAKER_00: And where did like they're trying to follow the lineage right now, they're trying to follow the story.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, it's just all scribbles right now.
SPEAKER_00: It's because you and the author are fighting over the pen.
SPEAKER_00: Because for some of you, you are more committed to being the author of your story than him.
SPEAKER_00: No, I'm gonna write this.
SPEAKER_00: This is what I dreamed.
SPEAKER_00: This was my ten-year plan.
SPEAKER_00: This is what my dad did, this is what my mom did, this is what we do around here.
SPEAKER_00: And you have not relinquished the control of your pen yet to go, you're a better writer than me, you're a better storyteller than me, you're a better description than me, you're a better wordsmith than me, you're a better visionary than me.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you take over my pen and write my story?
SPEAKER_00: To all those in the room today that do not serve Jesus, and your story has not gone how you wanted it.
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you about a man that can step into your story mid-chapter and take over the authorship.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna rewrite a whole new story that you have never fathomed in your life.
SPEAKER_00: But it's gonna take a relenting ability to give up control.
SPEAKER_00: Say, God, you're right.
SPEAKER_00: The story's not going how I thought it would go when I was 22, when I was 55.
SPEAKER_00: This is not the story I was writing, but God has begun writing a story, and this is what you need here.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible says that Paul says, it was not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God.
SPEAKER_00: Which tells me that someone is here today, the people that walked out don't own the ink.
SPEAKER_00: The people that left don't own the ink.
SPEAKER_00: No one gets to write your story but him.
SPEAKER_00: Not the ex-wife, not the old business partner, not the old friend, not anybody else in this life has the authority or the ability to grab the ink and write your story, for your story is not one of ink, it is one of the spirit of God, not on stone, but on human hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, friend, you need to understand today, you are a living letter.
SPEAKER_00: So, what's the story?
SPEAKER_00: What's the story?
SPEAKER_00: What is it?
SPEAKER_00: What have you been retelling?
SPEAKER_00: See, some of you, you you are so obsessed with an old chapter, you're at you're acting like that's the whole story.
SPEAKER_00: Like people are walking into your life right now at chapter 11.
SPEAKER_00: Well, have you have you read chapter 3 yet?
SPEAKER_00: As if the story ended in chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: As if that last downfall was the whole story.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are so locked into what happened that you have forgotten that God has been riding, God has been moving, God has been orchestrating, God has been riding further, and he's way down here.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, no, no, no, no, but chapter three, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that chapter never happened.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that chapter wasn't painful, I'm not saying that chapter rewired how you think about your story.
SPEAKER_00: All I'm saying is that chapter is not the story.
SPEAKER_00: So stop treating it like it is.
SPEAKER_00: When people come and read, what are they reading?
SPEAKER_00: Men have had some bad chapters.
SPEAKER_00: Men have had some little moments I wish no one knew about.
SPEAKER_00: Men have had some seasons of loss and pain.
SPEAKER_00: But that's not the whole story.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I pray if you read my story from start to where it is right now, it would sound something like Psalms 23:The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want.
SPEAKER_00: He leads me by still waters and he makes me lay down and green pastors.
SPEAKER_00: Go and walk to the valley of the shadow of death.
SPEAKER_00: I will fear no evil, for he is with me.
SPEAKER_00: And his mercy is good.
SPEAKER_00: Follow me all of the days of my life.
SPEAKER_00: It would sound something like his mercy is gonna new every morning.
SPEAKER_00: It would sound something like he is pleading me by streams of water, and I will bear fruit in all seasons.
SPEAKER_00: It would sound something like I am the head and not the tail.
SPEAKER_00: It would sound something like there is no condemnation for all those that are in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It would sound something like I am chosen favor, like it would what is what is the storyline?
SPEAKER_00: What is the scarlet thread?
SPEAKER_00: It's not even you need to start telling people, just keep reading.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was a rough season.
SPEAKER_00: Made some tough decisions.
SPEAKER_00: Stick around.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I feel the Holy Ghost.
SPEAKER_00: I like calling the Holy Ghost, it sounds better.
SPEAKER_00: See, there are some of you that people in your life, they walked out at chapter three because it was too much for me.
SPEAKER_00: And now that God kept writing, they went back in at chapter 10.
SPEAKER_00: It's super painful when people quit on you in the lowest moment of your life.
SPEAKER_00: They went back in when you hit the mountaintop again.
SPEAKER_00: See, but there's there's there's chapters in this story, but chapters don't mean it's the story.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, we're still on our first question.
SPEAKER_00: What's the what's the story?
SPEAKER_00: What's the story?
SPEAKER_00: Who's the author?
SPEAKER_00: Truthfully, what do you think about that?
SPEAKER_00: Who's the author of your story?
SPEAKER_00: I was at dinner with a a guy the other night.
SPEAKER_00: I was asked him this question, I was like, if you had the pen, what would you write?
SPEAKER_00: And he goes, I'd be too scared to start, because it'd be so much worse than what he would write.
SPEAKER_00: Do you do you actually believe that God is the author of your story?
SPEAKER_00: Or is it a bunch of eyes?
SPEAKER_00: I did this and I did this and I did this, and I went here, and I got this, and I made this money, and I got the whoa, who's the who's the character in the center of your story?
SPEAKER_00: Who's the author?
SPEAKER_00: Of your story.
SPEAKER_00: So you you'll be really scared to make certain decisions if you think those people hold the pen of your life.
SPEAKER_00: To all those in the room that are Christians today, friend, there is but one author.
SPEAKER_00: There is but one craftsman, there is but one narrator, there is one director of this film, and it's not you.
SPEAKER_00: And you should thank God.
SPEAKER_00: See the beginning when you're like immature in Christ and he starts taking control, you're like, oh, wait, wait, wait.
SPEAKER_00: And then once you join the journey, and you could have been it's like you take it, you take it, you got it, I don't want it.
SPEAKER_00: Like, you start understanding I can't write this.
SPEAKER_00: Because you would never write the story how he would write it.
SPEAKER_00: How I've ended up on this stage, and what my what my life has looked like the last 38 years, I would never write up a day in my life.
SPEAKER_00: But I'll never rewrite it either.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sitting here for a second because I feel like God is talking to some people.
SPEAKER_00: Who's the author of your story?
SPEAKER_00: Seriously.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you are young enough still that you think you're good enough to do this.
SPEAKER_00: I'm 25, I got this.
SPEAKER_00: You don't got this.
SPEAKER_00: Talk to an older saint in the room.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean older like 30 or 40, I mean like 60, 70, 80.
SPEAKER_00: That have been serving Jesus for 50 years.
SPEAKER_00: And they will tell you, you don't got this.
SPEAKER_00: And you don't want to.
SPEAKER_00: For you are his living letter.
SPEAKER_00: If letters carry weight, how much more?
SPEAKER_00: If letters that are weightless carry that much weight, how much more should the letter of your life carry weight?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is happening, my friends.
SPEAKER_00: Every day.
SPEAKER_00: When you're out at work at life, and going to Chris Stapleton concerts, people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: You're at restaurants, people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: How you date, people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: What you post, people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: How you act, people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: How you work at your job, people are watching.
SPEAKER_00: You are a walking, living letter.
SPEAKER_00: So what's the story?
SPEAKER_00: I pray it be one of God's faithfulness and mercy and goodness and kindness.
SPEAKER_00: It's called um leave it on the cutting room floor.
SPEAKER_00: That's his face.
SPEAKER_00: This phrase that you use.
SPEAKER_00: And the concept is that when you're writing a manuscript or a show or a book or a poem, doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: There's always things that you should just leave out.
SPEAKER_00: It was good.
SPEAKER_00: You liked it, it just didn't belong in the story.
SPEAKER_00: You didn't want it in the story.
SPEAKER_00: And there's this phrase, I'll leave it on the cutting room floor.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, if you were the author of your story, you would leave some stuff on the cutting room floor, and God's like, no, no, no, that's coming in the story.
SPEAKER_00: Can we just leave that part out?
SPEAKER_00: No, son, that's that part's going in the story.
SPEAKER_00: Can we just wide out that that chapter?
SPEAKER_00: Can we just backspace delete?
SPEAKER_00: No, son, that's going in.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's gonna be some people that read your story that need to hear.
SPEAKER_00: C.S.
SPEAKER_00: Lewis says this that deep friendship started at the moment where one person says to the other person, you two.
SPEAKER_00: For some of you in this room, there are others in this room that need to hear your story.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see that the scars heal one day.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see that joy comes in the morning.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see that the night will too pass.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see there is a life beyond the devastation.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see.
SPEAKER_00: You are the living story they're waiting to read.
SPEAKER_00: But if you're trying to hide that chapter and hide that part, you're not robbing you, you're robbing us.
SPEAKER_00: Another story that I could read to go, okay, you made it, I can make it.
SPEAKER_00: But that's how you navigated that.
SPEAKER_00: I could do that too.
SPEAKER_00: This is why community is so, so, so important beyond this thing called Sunday church.
SPEAKER_00: It's all the stories being written, it's all the letters being read at the kinect groups and the coffee shops and the hikes and the hangs.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's not just humans getting together, it's letters being read, letters being written with the author himself, not with think, but by the living Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: Friend, for you are a living letter.
SPEAKER_00: Let us act accordingly, let us live accordingly.
SPEAKER_00: That when we leave this building today, our letters are being read.
SPEAKER_00: For this is a great inspiration and a warning.
SPEAKER_00: What are they reading?
SPEAKER_00: What is this city reading?
SPEAKER_00: Let's elevate a bit more.
SPEAKER_00: If Rose is writing a letter, what are we writing?
SPEAKER_00: If Rose is a living letter, what is the city reading right now?
SPEAKER_00: If our ministry has been a blessing to you at all, whether through the podcast, online, or through socials, would you consider partnering with us financially to help us continue blessing people and reaching people with the gospel of Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to do so, you can go online to rosechurch.org slash give.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for partnering with us and helping us continue to do what God has put in our hearts here for you.