WEBVTT 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.120 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:08.240 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.400 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:18.000 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:26.320 MetaCurch, thanks so much for streaming with us today. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:28.000 If you're new with us, my name's Clayton. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:33.119 I'm the lead pastor here, and we have a really special service planned for you guys today. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:40.320 We're living in this crazy time in our world, and of course, everything has changed right now in 2020. 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:49.520 And so part of what has happened is milestones that have existed for centuries on end have been completely skipped over. 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:54.079 And probably the most obvious is the milestone of graduation. 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:59.840 Now we believe that these transitional moments in people's lives are incredibly important. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:06.079 It's almost like a door that you walk through, and once you've walked through it, there's really no going back. 00:01:06.159 --> 00:01:17.840 And if we don't take the time to stop and acknowledge these milestones, then it's almost like we have moved people into a new chapter in their life without ever actually turning the page. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:37.120 And so I know a lot of you who graduated high school or college this year, you're in this weird phase where either you didn't get a commencement ceremony, you didn't actually get to graduate, or maybe you did, but it was a strange version of it, and you didn't get someone to really stop and speak directly to you about this time in your life. 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:45.359 And so ever since the coronavirus hit, we've really been praying about how we might be able to stand in the gap for those of you who have graduated. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:49.920 Most of you know by now that we hired this year a new next gen pastor. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:53.040 He's helping us think through how to start our youth program. 00:01:53.120 --> 00:01:58.959 And uh, Ryan Roberts, his heart is for this next generation of students who are coming up. 00:01:59.040 --> 00:02:02.879 And so, I mean, he has really led this initiative to get us to today. 00:02:02.959 --> 00:02:07.920 And at the end of what I have to say, we're gonna actually be highlighting our graduates. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:17.120 And so if you are family or friends who have jumped onto the stream so that you can see the person that you love and honor them, I hope you will stick with us till the end. 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:19.840 Here's what we believe at MetaCurch. 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.280 We believe that you were made to move. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:24.240 We believe that. 00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:27.120 It's actually the microscript for our movement. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:30.960 We say we meet together and we move together. 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:32.639 You actually have purpose. 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:37.919 It matters that God put you here on earth and he put you on earth for a reason. 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:50.000 We could point at any part of scripture to find this, but one of my favorite is in 2 Corinthians 5, it says, Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:51.120 We plead. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:52.960 This is our job, our purpose. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:02:57.599 We plead on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:02.479 It matters that you're on planet Earth and God has work for you to do. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:05.680 You were made to move. 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:16.319 However, if you're graduating right now, and this is a big transitional moment, those of you who are graduating high school, you are moving into adulthood, you're moving into college or career. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:22.319 Those of you who are graduating from college or university, you are now moving into this next phase of your life. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:24.960 These are huge, huge milestones. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:30.319 And there is a difference in the next phase of life that you're walking into. 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:37.120 Up until this point, you have been led and guided to continue to grow. 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.120 Growth has been an imperative if you graduated this year. 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:42.639 It's kind of obvious. 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:50.560 If you don't grow, you don't make it from fifth grade to sixth grade to 10th grade to 11th grade, eventually to graduation 2020. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.080 But things will change. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:06.319 In high school, people have a very vested interest in you graduating, in you continuing to go up grade after grade, class after class, to get out of your basics and into your real areas of study. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:11.360 In high school, they're holding your hand and they're hopefully taking you through the steps. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:15.199 But you're walking into a new chapter if you're going into college. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:18.160 In high school, they almost won't let you fail. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:20.319 In college, they will. 00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:44.959 In career, there is really no growth outside of yourself and hopefully some good managers and good companies and good bosses, but the vast majority of workplaces that you step into, nobody's gonna be holding your hand. 00:04:45.120 --> 00:04:47.040 Nobody's gonna be walking you through your promotions. 00:04:47.199 --> 00:04:51.680 Nobody's gonna be making sure that you inherently get to the top. 00:04:52.720 --> 00:04:58.000 At some point, as we walk through these milestones in our life, we have to take on more responsibility. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:04:59.839 There is more autonomy. 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:05.439 You make more real choices and real decisions for your very real life. 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:13.279 And I'm sure every one of you has some people who are 10, 15, 30 years ahead of you, and you see them and they're stuck. 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.399 They're not moving because they're not growing. 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:19.920 Growing has been implied up until this point in your life. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:20.959 You're gonna grow. 00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:26.720 You're not gonna stay in kindergarten forever, you're not gonna stay in elementary school forever, you're not staying in middle school forever. 00:05:26.879 --> 00:05:29.040 You're gonna continue to grow and to move. 00:05:29.199 --> 00:05:30.319 You were made to move. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:32.720 To move, you have to grow. 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:38.560 And so as we set out to do this commencement service today, here's how I thought about my sermon. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:47.839 I thought, what if there was a university who had a list of speakers that they wanted at their graduation ceremony to give the commencement address? 00:05:48.000 --> 00:06:03.839 And what if all of those people all fell ill at the same time and they completely ran out of options and there was no one else, and everyone else on earth lost their voice, and I was the only person left, and now I get to speak at a university because they're out of options and they've lost their mind. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:04.959 And so here I am. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.519 I'm in a gown or a suit and tie, I look fancy and have a funny hat on. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:11.439 What would I want to say? 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:15.839 And that is how, for better or for worse, I wrote today's message. 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:19.839 Not as much a sermon as it is a commencement address. 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.879 This is directed at you, graduates. 00:06:23.040 --> 00:06:30.240 However, this message is for anyone who is stuck because you were made to move. 00:06:30.399 --> 00:06:33.279 This will be the most practical message I've ever given, ever. 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:35.839 I believe there are four things. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:41.839 You can call them actions, you can call them habits, you can call them characteristics, you can call them whatever you want. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:53.040 There are four things I'm gonna teach today, and if you do these four things, you will grow and you will live out your mandate, your God-given purpose to continue to move. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:54.319 You've got work to do. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:56.639 And so let's look at four ways to get it done. 00:06:56.800 --> 00:06:57.839 Would you pray with me? 00:06:58.160 --> 00:07:00.160 God, we love you, and uh I thank you. 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:03.279 God, I thank you for all of these graduates. 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.480 It's such an incredible accomplishment. 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:15.920 And by the time you're on the other side of graduation, you can almost look back, and it's like those 12 or 13 years of school went by so quick. 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:19.519 But when you're in it, it feels like you'll never get out of it. 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:22.399 When you're in 10th grade, it feels like you'll never be a senior. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:25.439 The beginning of senior year, it feels like it'll never end. 00:07:26.399 --> 00:07:27.680 God, it was so much work. 00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:30.959 For our college graduates, God, what an accomplishment. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:42.639 And so, God, as they move into this next phase, this next chapter, as they move through this milestone, this transition in their life, God, I believe that your desire is for them to grow. 00:07:42.800 --> 00:07:44.319 And when they grow, they will move. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:50.480 And when they move in the ways you've asked us to, they will have a significant, significant impact on the world around them. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:54.639 And so, God, show us very practically today four ways that we can move. 00:07:54.720 --> 00:07:56.959 And we love you, and we pray this in Jesus' name. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:07:57.920 Amen. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:02.399 The first way that we're gonna ask you to move is to get up first. 00:08:02.720 --> 00:08:03.600 This is the first one. 00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:04.879 Get up first. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:11.519 I'm telling you, these will be the most pragmatic solutions in your life, and this first one is the most pragmatic of all. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:18.240 What I'm literally asking you to do is to beat everyone else in waking up in the morning. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:19.680 Get up first. 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:31.199 Whoever you're surrounded with, whether it is your peer group, whether it is your co-workers, you be the one who sets their alarm at least 10 minutes ahead of everyone else. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:34.159 We see this as a habit that Jesus often had in his life. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:39.519 In Luke 4, it says, when it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place, but the crowds were searching for him. 00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:43.360 They came to him and keep uh and tried to keep him from leaving them. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:44.720 Jesus would get up early. 00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:47.519 He would get a jump on the day, he would get a jump on the on the crowds. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:55.440 He knew that he needed some alone time to center himself, to set his mind on things above, to connect with his father. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:09:09.840 And if he didn't have some alone time, if he woke up right into the busyness of his day, right before the next event, right before class starts, right before breakfast, right before everyone else wakes up, there wouldn't be time to center himself in the day. 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:24.399 In Romans 12, 2 it says, Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:34.879 If we are left on autopilot as sinful creatures, we will instantly drift towards conforming. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:39.200 It's a powerful force in our world to conform, to compare. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:48.320 And once we have compared and said they have what I don't have, they look how I don't look, they have status I haven't attained, man, they've got it going on here, here, and here. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.639 Once we compare, we conform. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:59.759 And instead of being the person God created us uniquely to be, we set out to be just like everyone else around us. 00:09:59.919 --> 00:10:01.039 It takes work. 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:09.840 Paul wrote to the Romans to not be conformed, but be transformed by renewing your mind. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:17.120 Our lives are busy, and many people struggle to slow down. 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:28.960 As believers in Jesus, when the polls go out, it is an unbelievably low percentage of people who spend any significant time actually reading Scripture. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.399 That's a big deal. 00:10:30.559 --> 00:10:32.559 Because we all want God to speak to us. 00:10:32.879 --> 00:10:34.879 Because when God speaks to us, he leads us. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:36.720 And when he leads us, we live in our purpose. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:41.039 And when we live in our purpose, we feel the significance that we are supposed to fill in Christ. 00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:44.240 And it's not mysterious. 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:46.639 God speaks to us through his word. 00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:49.759 And yet, most people aren't reading his word. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:53.200 Simply because most people don't have time. 00:10:54.240 --> 00:10:59.759 The vast majority of Fortune 500 CEOs wake up before 6 a.m. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:20.159 You can read study after study after study of people who have found that if you just get a few hours back in the beginning of your day, that they live healthier lives, they exercise more regularly, they suffer from less depression, they have more focus, they're more centered, and those who are spiritual live a more dynamic spiritual life between them and God. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:22.399 Get up first. 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:25.519 Now, some of you are going into college, and college is meant to be a lot of fun. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:27.679 And you're probably not gonna want to load up with all 8 a.m. 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:28.879 classes, and that's okay. 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:37.120 And this isn't supposed to be a source of guilt, but at some point in your life, as you are maturing and growing and advancing, it is going to become important. 00:11:37.279 --> 00:11:38.879 This is like a litmus test. 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:40.399 Who wants it the most? 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:42.480 Who wants to really live out that purpose? 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.759 Who wants to really see God just completely intertwined in their daily existence? 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:56.000 Get up first, renew your mind, set your priorities for the day, get a fresh perspective. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:58.080 This is a separator. 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:04.080 It seems simple to set an alarm, but most people will not do it. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:09.120 And I don't believe that any of you were created to be most people. 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:16.399 You were created to be the powerful mover in Jesus' movement, who God put you on earth to be. 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.200 The first principle in being made to move is to get up first. 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:23.919 The second is to read everything. 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.240 Get up first and read everything. 00:12:26.399 --> 00:12:32.399 Proverbs 4, 6 through 7 says, do not abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:34.720 Love her and she will guard you. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:41.759 Wisdom is supreme, so get wisdom, and whatever else you get, get understanding. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:46.320 This is a plea to not just live your life in ignorance. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:56.320 What you have learned through 12 or 13 years of primary education is not enough to rest on for the rest of your existence. 00:12:56.480 --> 00:13:05.200 What you learn in a few years of college, much of it will need to be questioned through the lens of what God actually has to say about this word. 00:13:05.600 --> 00:13:10.720 Just because you have intelligence doesn't mean that you have wisdom. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.000 And so, first, read scripture. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:18.720 It is the words of God, and these are the words that have changed everything. 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:25.360 Our series that we just got out of was about justice and how before Jesus there was no justice. 00:13:25.519 --> 00:13:33.120 We are crying out for post-Jesus justice based on equality and kingdom concept, how heaven will be someday. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:41.759 These are the words of God that have instructed people on the path towards purpose that He's placed in our life, first and foremost. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:43.840 Read scripture. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.360 And second, read everything. 00:13:47.679 --> 00:13:48.960 Be a reader. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:52.159 And I know you're like, man, I'm just not good at reading. 00:13:52.240 --> 00:13:53.200 I don't like to read. 00:13:53.279 --> 00:13:54.399 I'm a slow reader. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:55.200 Guess what? 00:13:55.360 --> 00:13:58.720 The way you get better at reading is to read. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:00.080 It takes practice. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:04.159 You want to be good at the yo-yo, you gotta buy a yo-yo and you gotta yo it. 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:05.200 What do you do with a yo-yo? 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:06.639 Do you yo-yo a yo-yo? 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:07.840 Is it a noun and a verb? 00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:08.799 I don't understand. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:12.960 But you gotta do it a lot, up and down, sleep, walk the dog, cradle the baby. 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:15.120 You gotta do the whole thing if you want to get good at it. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:17.759 You can't just say, Oh, I'm not good at yo-yo, I'm not gonna yo-yo. 00:14:17.840 --> 00:14:19.440 You gotta yo-yo to get good at yo-yoing. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.200 Man, why did I use that as my example? 00:14:21.279 --> 00:14:25.519 Here's what I'm trying to say: you wanna be a good reader, you have to read. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:28.080 You have to read. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:32.960 Leaders are readers, and here's why. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:46.480 Because reading is an acknowledgement that there is information, inspiration, and wisdom that is outside of you that you are humbly, humbling yourself enough to take in. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:49.919 When I think about books, it blows my mind. 00:14:50.159 --> 00:15:07.279 Because it is the greatest minds from every field, from every demographic, from all of time, that have taken all of the wisdom, all of the knowledge, and all of the experience they have and distilled it down in under 300 pages for you and I to consume. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:20.240 Most of the times when you read a research-based book, you are taking someone's 20, 30, maybe 50 years of experience and work and you're reading it in 12 chapters. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:22.000 It's an opportunity. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:25.200 And bro, you don't even have to buy books. 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:28.240 You can get a library card for free. 00:15:29.120 --> 00:15:33.759 Read everything, and reading will give you knowledge. 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:40.320 And when you take that knowledge and you apply it to what you're reading in the scripture, let me tell you something you're gonna see. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:53.600 Number one, you're going to see God and his ways and his works affirmed in everything that is happening in the humanities and the sciences and the social sphere and neurology and biology. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:01.360 You'll say, listen, I'm reading all of this from these worldly authors, and it all is affirming what I'm seeing in the pages of scripture. 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:19.200 You'll start seeing that God is not some abstract thought that kind of tangentially guides your life, but that God is in everything, that he wants you to see him in everything, that he wants to be a part of everything, that he is transcended, that he is with you and among you. 00:16:22.159 --> 00:16:28.879 People who are willing to get up first, people who are willing to read everything, just those two. 00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:31.360 We've got four values we're gonna talk about today. 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:34.559 But people who do those two things grow. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:36.320 You almost can't help it. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:41.679 Especially if you're getting up early to center yourself with God and you're starting from reading scripture. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:45.600 When you do those things in your life, you will grow. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:49.200 And when you grow, you're enabled to move. 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:52.559 And when you move, you live out your purpose. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:17:00.000 When you live out your purpose, you will live the significant life that God put you on earth to live. 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:06.160 As you walk through this transition, as we pass this milestone in your life, get up first. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:07.680 I'm challenging you. 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:10.000 I'm challenging you to be the first up. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:18.880 Get up first and read everything: history, science, fiction, nonfiction, sociology. 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:19.680 Read it all. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.759 Go to the New York bestseller list, look at nonfiction, just pick them, read them. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:26.480 Business books, leadership, organizational models. 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:28.799 You can learn something from everything. 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:30.000 I'm gonna say that again. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:35.359 You can learn something from everything, and learners are leaders. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:38.000 Get up first, read everything. 00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:43.200 The third thing I'm going to ask you to do, to continue to move, is to own your suffering. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:49.440 We're moving now out of the less practical and more into the philosophical. 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:51.680 Get up first, that's just setting an alarm. 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:56.720 Read everything, that's getting a library card and spending some time or buying an audible subscription. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:59.680 Now I'm gonna ask you to own your suffering. 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:07.200 James, the half-brother of Jesus, said this: consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials. 00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:20.240 Because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 00:18:20.640 --> 00:18:31.759 Maturity, growth, movement, being complete, not lacking, James says, Scripture says, this requires owning your suffering. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:44.160 The difference between a normal story and a great story is whether somebody does everything they can to avoid their suffering or whether someone is willing to embrace it. 00:18:44.400 --> 00:18:55.920 No one would go to a movie theater and watch a movie about someone who woke up and was already rich, they're a trust fund baby, and they've got money, and nothing goes wrong, and everything's great, no relational problems at all. 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:03.279 Their job is good, their relationships are good, friendships are good, nobody dies, there's nothing to fight for, and then the movie just ends. 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:05.839 That will be the worst movie of all time. 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:07.200 What do we want to see in a movie? 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:08.960 We want to see conflict. 00:19:09.119 --> 00:19:12.319 We want to see tension, we want to see the hero's journey. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:20.799 And the hero's journey is that something happens that is devastating, something has to be fixed, a problem has to be solved. 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:33.599 It is the journey of owning their suffering, coming to terms with it, and ultimately having a resolve that makes the most epic of stories. 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:38.559 These are the movies that we spend our money to go and see. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:50.079 And yet, in our own lives, we have an idea that our best life will be lived by avoiding any suffering at all cost. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:55.920 The reality is, you don't get to choose whether or not you're going to suffer in this life. 00:19:56.640 --> 00:19:57.759 You will suffer. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:19:59.599 It's coming. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:06.480 We're in a broken world, and Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:11.200 You don't get to choose whether or not you suffer, you only get to choose how. 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:16.640 Most people spend their time avoiding their suffering. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:21.759 And what happens is they become victims to their suffering. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:28.319 When you live as the victim, you take your suffering and you try to redirect it. 00:20:28.480 --> 00:20:36.720 And so maybe you redirect it through pride or advancement, and you just think, if I can outwork this suffering, then I won't have to deal with it. 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:40.960 And maybe you go a different route and you try to numb it or to medicate it. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:48.720 And anytime suffering comes, you reach for the bottle, or you reach for a joint, or you shoot up, or you just find a way to numb yourself from it. 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:55.119 Maybe you just reject it and you live in active denial of what is actually going on in your life. 00:20:56.640 --> 00:21:04.400 The victim of the story is the one who does everything they can to ignore and push away their suffering. 00:21:04.640 --> 00:21:07.119 It is the hero that owns it. 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:12.559 To be a hero, you must own your suffering. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:15.599 Most people are stuck. 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:32.480 If you look around at the world around you, the people around you, as you guys are moving into adulthood, as you begin to see people, not as these mythical adult figures, but as peers, you will see that most people are stuck. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:36.079 And this is what suffering does. 00:21:36.559 --> 00:21:51.680 People can't see an end to it, they don't know how they got in, and they can't find a way out, they have no perspective for it, they have no way to think through it, and so it stunts their growth, it impedes their maturity. 00:21:52.799 --> 00:21:56.000 And the antidote is to accept it. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.640 To accept that there will be suffering. 00:21:58.960 --> 00:21:59.839 Jesus told you there would be. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:02.720 In this world, you will have trouble. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:09.519 But Jesus said, take heart, for I have overcome the world. 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:11.039 Why do you get up first? 00:22:11.279 --> 00:22:15.839 To center yourself, to renew your mind, to set your mind on the things above. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:27.440 Because when you start your day with the perspective that no matter what comes at you in this world, Jesus has already overcome it on a cross that you may live in the suffering right now, but glory will be your end. 00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:31.039 When you can see that, you can own your suffering. 00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:32.720 You can see it as temporary. 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:43.440 And now you take your suffering and you leverage it and you use it to strengthen yourself, to produce endurance, maturity, to be complete, lacking in nothing. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:50.880 Paul said in Romans 8:18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing. 00:22:51.119 --> 00:22:52.480 They're not worth comparing. 00:22:52.640 --> 00:23:00.000 I shouldn't even put them in the same sentence with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:03.119 At MetaCurch, we call this a pilgrim's perspective. 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.519 To live with the end in mind, to understand that we are citizens of heaven. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:08.559 We get up first. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:09.119 Why? 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:10.880 Not because we want to be the CEO. 00:23:11.039 --> 00:23:12.640 If that's your goal, that's fantastic. 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:19.920 We wake up early to center ourselves, to have time, to have time to do the hard work, internal work, to spend time with God. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:24.160 We read everything, but first and foremost, we center ourselves in Scripture. 00:23:24.319 --> 00:23:25.279 It's a reminder. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:29.680 That you don't have to defeat the suffering that's in this world. 00:23:29.839 --> 00:23:31.119 You can own it. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:35.279 Because it was already defeated for you by your Savior. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:36.480 We get it first. 00:23:36.640 --> 00:23:37.759 We read everything. 00:23:37.920 --> 00:23:39.359 We own our suffering. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:40.640 And that's a big one. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:48.319 That will be the difference between the majority of people who hit a certain point in life and stay stuck and those who continue to move. 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:53.119 And last, we wade into the awkward. 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:57.359 You know, I decided about a year ago, because I'm not a good swimmer, I've shared this before. 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:00.079 And by not a good swimmer, I mean I don't really know how to swim. 00:24:00.160 --> 00:24:02.960 I kind of fake it now, and I've learned a lot because my kids are really good. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:06.960 So I've watched them, and there's a lot of motivation because I gotta be able to help them. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:10.079 If they're drowning, you know, when they were little, I gotta at least be able to get in and do that. 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:11.680 But growing up, I couldn't swim at all. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:16.000 I almost died like a dozen times in just local swimming pools. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:30.079 And the hardest part of getting in the pool, because I was so scared of the water, was that you walk down the steps and you slowly, slowly and awkwardly get in, and the water is freezing, and you just kind of, you just kind of wade in. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:33.839 I decided a year ago, I'm never wading into water again. 00:24:33.920 --> 00:24:37.920 I will cannonball into any water I'm ever gonna get in because that's the way to do it. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:39.200 To just get in. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:53.279 And whatever your best version of life is, whatever your purpose is, whatever significance is out there for you, I promise you it is on the other side of awkward. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:55.200 You just have to get in. 00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:59.279 You have to be willing to wade out into the awkward. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:02.640 Sometimes awkward can feel like suffering. 00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:05.359 Those emotions are very closely related. 00:25:05.680 --> 00:25:08.319 But something can be awkward that doesn't hurt you. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:12.799 It just feels impossible to get into. 00:25:13.599 --> 00:25:18.079 In Matthew 14, Jesus walked on the water. 00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:25.680 The disciples were fishing and there was a storm and they looked, they thought they saw a ghost, and pretty soon they realized it was Jesus. 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:32.000 In 28, Lord, if it's you, Peter answered, Command me to come to you on the water. 00:25:32.160 --> 00:25:33.200 That's so crazy to me. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:35.759 Because first of all, they're seeing something that no one has ever seen before. 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.720 They're seeing Jesus walk on top of the water. 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:45.920 And I just, the faith of Peter, for his first thought to be, if Jesus can do it, I bet I can do it. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.440 That's a crazy thought to me. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:49.599 I'm not gonna try to get myself out of the boat. 00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:51.599 I'm gonna try to get Jesus into the boat. 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:54.160 But Peter says, Command me to come to you. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:55.920 And Jesus said, Come. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:01.839 And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water. 00:26:03.519 --> 00:26:12.079 Peter did something that from that moment on, and from that moment previously through all of human history, no one had ever done. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:15.359 He walked on the water. 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:22.079 A story that 2,000 years later, on the other side of the world, we're still talking about today. 00:26:22.559 --> 00:26:26.240 In verse 30, Peter saw the strength of the wind and he was afraid. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.960 And beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. 00:26:29.200 --> 00:26:36.079 And immediately Jesus reached out his hand and he caught hold of him and he said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt? 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:40.640 And Peter gets a bad rep in the story because he ends up sinking. 00:26:41.599 --> 00:26:47.279 And it's like, man, if you had the faith to get out of the boat, how did you not hold on to your faith? 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:57.039 But here's the deal: in order for him to experience the miracle of walking, he had to fight through the fear of sinking. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:01.039 There's no way you can have it both ways. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:06.720 Every single time that Peter had ever gotten out of a boat, he had gone down into the water. 00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:14.319 And this one time he has this brief moment of believing that he can step out of the boat and do what Jesus is doing. 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:19.759 Everything God has for your life will be on the other side of fear. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:42.880 If you live the rest of your life avoiding fear at all cost, not getting out into the awkward, not willing to risk it, scared of humiliation, worried about what others might think of you, then you will live in one one-hundredth of the actual potential that God has placed on your life. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:46.400 The significance of your life is outside of the boat. 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:48.400 It's on the other side of the fear. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:52.000 It's in the willingness to wade into the awkward. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:27:55.839 The fear of failure will keep you from achieving your potential. 00:27:56.000 --> 00:28:00.480 The fear of rejection will keep you from asking your future spouse out on a date. 00:28:00.720 --> 00:28:05.279 The fear of standing out will keep you from setting that alarm and getting up first. 00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:10.319 The fear of your own capability will keep you from reading everything. 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:20.160 And the fear, the fear that maybe the world is just too much for you will keep you from owning your suffering. 00:28:20.720 --> 00:28:23.440 The life that you have, you can do them all, man. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.079 You can set an alarm and start getting up early. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:29.359 You can start reading some books, downloading them on Audible. 00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:48.400 But if you are not willing to own the suffering that comes your way, to trust that Jesus has it, to trust that there's something for you on the other side of this life, if you're not willing to get past fear and wade into the awkwardness of life, you will always fall short of why God put you here on this earth. 00:28:49.279 --> 00:28:50.799 You're gonna fall. 00:28:51.759 --> 00:28:55.359 I'm not saying that when you wade into the awkward, it's not gonna be awkward. 00:28:55.519 --> 00:28:56.160 It will. 00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:57.200 It will. 00:28:58.079 --> 00:29:01.519 I'm not saying it's not gonna be scary, that you're not gonna have fear. 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:07.440 This isn't, this isn't a conversation about just have some courage, be a little braver. 00:29:07.599 --> 00:29:12.720 I'm asking you to have the faith to wade right into the middle of the awkwardness. 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:20.880 You're gonna know so many people in your life who do not know Jesus, who do not have hope, and can't answer the question of what comes on the other side of this life. 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:23.759 Will you wade into the awkward? 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:31.440 Someday you might be raising kids and your kids will be doing what all of the other kids are doing, and your kids aren't called to do what all of the other kids are doing. 00:29:31.599 --> 00:29:34.240 Your kids are called to follow after Christ. 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:40.079 Will you wade into the awkward and be those parents that set those limits and have that structure? 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:45.759 You may be asked to compromise your values at work or among your peers. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:47.920 Are you gonna wade in? 00:29:48.079 --> 00:29:54.400 Are you willing to risk the awkwardness to live the life that God has given you to live? 00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:58.000 How do you keep moving forward in life? 00:29:58.240 --> 00:30:02.000 How do you live a life that is made to move? 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:12.000 You get up first, you read everything, you own your suffering, and you wade into the awkward. 00:30:13.839 --> 00:30:22.720 There has never been a person who applies all four of these values to their life that has lived less than a significant life. 00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:35.039 You cannot do these four things in these ways, in a spiritual condition in your heart, and not get closer to the purpose that God has placed inside of you. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.559 And you're gonna get so much advice in life. 00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:45.119 And so much of it is gonna be good, and then a lot of it, just to be real, a lot of it is gonna be absolute trash. 00:30:45.279 --> 00:30:48.160 You're gonna get a lot of trash advice on how to get ahead. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:31:03.119 And if you'll just sell this certain product and then get two people under you, and they get two people under you, and you're gonna fall for it, and you're gonna get in a pyramid scheme, and you're gonna try to get rich quick, and you're gonna date the wrong people, you're gonna have all kinds of problems, all kinds of suffering. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:18.960 You're gonna get told all the different ways to be successful and significant, but if it isn't rooted in Scripture, then you're being told how to move by someone who did not make you to move. 00:31:21.200 --> 00:31:33.200 If you will get up first, if you'll read everything, if you'll own your suffering, if you will wade into the awkward, embrace your fear, embrace your suffering, embrace wisdom, embrace learning. 00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.920 Realize that you have a significant life to live and live it. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:48.640 You will always grow, you will always move, and you will be the kind of person that changes things in this world. 00:31:49.680 --> 00:31:50.640 Let me pray for you. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:55.839 God, I lift up these graduates, and this is just advice. 00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:04.960 God, these are things that I've seen in your word, these are things I've seen, the powerful impact of in my life and in the life of others. 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:11.359 I wish I could say that I knew personally and deeply every single one of these graduates. 00:32:11.519 --> 00:32:12.640 I don't. 00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:14.319 But you do, God. 00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:15.839 You made them. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:21.680 They're here on purpose, they're here because they have a purpose. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:26.880 God, I pray that uh something I said today would stick with them. 00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:29.279 God, I pray that it would be meaningful to them. 00:32:29.440 --> 00:32:32.079 We love you, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:32.960 Amen. 00:32:35.839 --> 00:32:38.640 Thanks so much for listening to the message today. 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:44.000 If this was helpful to you and you want to help us get the word out, you can subscribe to this podcast. 00:32:44.160 --> 00:32:47.119 You can rate and review or share it with your friends. 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:54.079 If you want to get connected further with what MetaCurch is doing, you can go online to metachurch.tv. 00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:56.480 There you can learn how to take next steps. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:33:04.400 You can learn where our different venues are at if you ever wanted to visit, and you can also give financially to help push this movement forward. 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:08.079 Man, I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.