HOTLCAST
HOTLCAST
Preaching, Teaching, & Growing
In this episode of the HOTLCast, Pastor Matt is joined by Pastor Mark, Ryan Craw, and Carver Young, to discuss the exciting new roles and callings emerging within Heart of the Lakes Church. The team shares updates on Pastor Cody’s recovery, reflects on the journey from congregation member to preacher, and explores the challenges and joys of stepping into ministry for the first time. Hear Carver’s experience leading the middle school ministry and preaching his first sermon, Ryan’s story of embracing God’s call despite nerves and doubts, and the wisdom Mark and Matt have gained from years of preaching. Whether you’re a seasoned leader or just starting to serve, this conversation is full of encouragement, authenticity, and practical faith. Tune in for stories, laughter, and inspiration as the HOTLCast crew celebrates growth, community, and God’s faithfulness.
Hello and welcome to this week's HOTL cast. This is Pastor Matt with Pastor Mark and Ryan Ryan Craw. Yep. And Carver, you didn't practice 'em doing their
last names.
Yeah, I totally missed that, but. Hey, we are excited to have you guys here with us today. We are gonna be talking about some really cool things that are happening in the church.
Hopefully you guys, some of you at least, had gone to the campaign dinner. You got some updates about what's happening in the life of Heart of the Lakes from there. But right now, I wanna start off with giving. Anyone who is listening to this, an update on what's going on with Pastor Cody. So he went in for surgery.
He is doing really well. He still has some different hurdles he's gotta overcome, but he's been doing great as far as getting better. You know, the doctors are happy with the progress and the improvement. Um, he's got a couple of chest tubes still that they. Waiting on trying to get removed and to go forward from there.
But he is definitely improved. A lot of pain, though still a lot of prayers are needed. He's got probably about another 24 to 48 hours in the intensive care unit. And then once he's out of there, he's got a little bit more time left in the hospital before he gets to go home. But. All things are pointing in the right direction.
So thank you for those prayers. Up to this point, he is doing better. Keep 'em coming because he, Bethany and the kids can totally still use that. So Mark, did you have any other updates or pieces of information? No, I'm just glad
he's doing better. I'm really personally happy to hear that and see that.
Yeah, it, it's one of those things where you don't know what you don't know sometimes, and it was kind of scary to kind of see someone his age going through all of these things, but yeah.
Yeah. So prayer answered. Yeah, definitely keep praying for him and just know that those prayers are being answered. Things are going well, and we wanted you guys to have that information kind of right there at the top, but that is not what we're here to talk about today. We have Carver and Ryan here, and they have just recently taken on a couple of different roles at the church, and some of that has been because of need and necessity, but it's more because of God's call and him kind of saying, you know, Hey Ryan, go do this.
Hey Carver, you know, this is the direction I have for you, Carver. You've just actually recently been brought on staff working with the middle school ministry, correct?
That is correct, yes.
Yeah. So what has that been like so far for you?
Um, it was a lot at the start. I've kind of gotten into a rhythm. Um, it's been fun to learn in that kind of way, different manner than what I was used to.
'cause I grew up through this youth group. This was the only youth group I've ever known. So it was cool to take on a different aspect of the whole, the ministry as itself as like an overseer and kind of getting things done, doing what I kind of wanted to have done for myself. So it's kind of cool to be in that position where I'm able to do that for these kids.
So it's just, it's been a blast. I've loved to being able to pour into these kids and get to know 'em on a deeper level than I would've any other way.
Yeah. That's awesome. And I also think that the, the dynamic of the people that are here this morning are, is kind of funny as well because we've got Ryan here also, and both of us have middle schoolers that absolutely love Carver.
So that's a really cool, cool connection with that as well. Now, Ryan, for you, you just recently preached your very first sermon at Heart of the Lakes, and you did that at the Jackson campus to a. Amazing response from people. What kind of, what kind of did you feel God leading to for that with you? Like what kind of took you down that path to go from, I, I just wanna be serving God to, maybe he's calling me into this whole preaching thing,
you know?
Man, it's funny, you know, we, you know, of course we talked about this some too, but it, it's amazing to me how profoundly. I ran from this and how I tried to get away and, but I kept looking, but I, but I kept looking behind me as I was running. Then finally I just got tired and I was like, you know what, God, okay, what do you got for me?
And then, so I started doing more and doing more, and I'm like, oh, then, then Kyle asked me to gimme my testimony and then I got such a response in such a way that that was so beautiful that. Something I'd never experienced in my life and, and God is, I just, I just got the bug, you know? I, yeah, I was so, parts of me were pretty freaked out, um, to stand up on that stage and, and, and to talk.
Um, and, and you know what I tried to remind myself? Yeah, it's like 99% God's 1% mine, so yeah. Mm-hmm. If, if I totally bomb it. I, I know where I can tell people they can, they can send their complaints, you know, and, and if everybody tells me it's great, well then I guess we can all thank God for that.
Yeah. So absolutely we can only do what we can do and God has to do the rest.
Right.
Amen to that.
Yeah, and I'm sure Matt has experienced this, but as somebody who preaches, and those sermons where you do bomb, people still for some reason come up when you're faithful and they go like, man, like when you said this, that really meant so much to me and go, oh, it touched
my heart in ways that you just don't even understand, man.
And sometimes you're like. I said that, like those words come out, I, I see how I could see that those words came outta my mouth, but I have no memory of that. So I'm glad God's speaking to you through this. 'cause I walked away thinking like I had so many Sundays out there when I was first starting where I was like, man, that sucked.
That was hot garbage. And people were like, wow, that was wonderful. Thank you so much, pastor. I'm like, oh, oh. Cool. Cool. Good deal. So God's gonna use what you give him, right? Yes. God's going to use it. It doesn't, like you said, it matters much less about how much I have and how much more about what God has.
Yeah. Well, and, and even, you know, I kinda see it all as a conversation now that I'm kind of leaning into the space and God's, god's given me this opportunity to share this. IGI guess we could call it a gift of just being authentic and talking about it. Um, you know, just, just really leaning into that and, and going.
Eh, uh, you know, what do you got for me? Because, 'cause honestly, like I say things, I, I watch my sermon back and I was telling Matt about this, like, I tried to watch it, I watched it on tape, on video. It's not tape anymore, it's video. But, uh, yeah. Boomer, go ahead. You gotta date, date myself a little bit there.
Um, I'm a VHS tape, but, uh, no. Um, when I, when I watched it back, you know, I, I had got some good advice from Lisa of all people. To, to try to look at it as though it's not me and as it's just some, I'm just watching a sermon, like I've watched a thousand of them online and, uh. I watched it, I was like, wow, I don't remember saying that.
Yeah. Yeah.
And from a very humble place, I was like, I can get behind some stuff that this guy's got to say. And so parts of me were hoping it was horrible, and I was hoping that I could pick it apart and, and not like, and God's like, yeah, no, no. It's, it's not horrible.
Yeah. Yeah. And so.
I don't know. It's interesting how, how God works when we just let God work.
Yeah. And now Carver, you're kind of in this club too, because on Sunday you had your first sermon with the youth. And what were some of your takeaways as you kind of walked into that experience with very short notice, like you had maybe a couple of days or something like that to get ready? How did that work out for you?
Um, it was a lot. I got the call on Thursday, like afternoon. Saw that I was preaching Sunday night, which I had never done before, so that was a whole experience. I was really nervous. I was talking about prayer. And so the whole weekend I was just thinking, every time I was nervous I was just sat and prayed.
'cause I was, that's what I was gonna teach about Sunday night. So I figured I should, you know, I need to live that out. Mm-hmm. So every time I was nervous, you know, I was thinking, oh, I don't know if I can do this. Or I was anxious. I just sat and prayed and that helped. And doing that throughout the weekend, I think helped lead up to that Sunday night and what I was preaching about.
'cause I was telling these kids, this is what you need to do. You need to pray. You know, have a conversation with God and this is what I've been doing, you know, the last couple days as I prepare for something challenging that I'm not used to doing. I was kind of worried and anxious about, so I, I thought it was a good experience.
It was a good learning curve for me to do and understand, even with the little bit of time I had to do that. It was, it was definitely something that I enjoyed and I'm hoping to do again. So that's good.
Yeah. 'cause that was the next question. I mean, Ryan already had mentioned, you know, kind of getting bitten by the bug.
You know, where you, you get into that moment, you get into that rhythm. And Mark, I'm sure you're familiar with this too, where, oh yeah. You, you have that first or maybe even second sermon where you get to the point where it's like, oh man. This was really kind of cool. I got to stand up here and these people were listening to what I had to say about God.
I kind of put myself in that position to be used by him, and he took it and he did something with it, and hopefully somebody will take that and grow from it. So I guess the question for you Carver is do you feel like you've maybe kind of gotten a little bit of the whole bitten by the bug sort of thing?
Or is this just something where you're like, I don't necessarily know yet. What are your thoughts?
Um, I don't entirely know. Fair. I think fair enough. I think it was good I got to join the middle school boys small group after I talked on stage and it was cool to see their responses to it in their own manner with a different leader as I kinda just got to sit and watch.
So it was good to see the way they responded to it and it, it kind of reassured me I think a little bit with what I had said. 'cause I. In that moment, I kind of understood that they, they did listen and they did hear what I was trying to get across, and they did make those changes. Like we had 'em set a prayer alarm with their small group that would go off every day at this time.
And they would know that not only are they praying to God, but their friends from their small group and from church are praying to God right around this same time. Yeah. Which is a good way to hold yourself accountable. So they all. They picked a great time. They picked 6 0 7 in the morning, so six, seven.
They're very sad. They love that number. Oh my gosh. So I had told 'em to pick after school, but they picked am so that, that was a, it's been a rough week because of that, but no, it was, it was good. So
I know that for my son who is homeschooled, one of the things he's like, I'm not up at 6:07 AM he is like, I just set mine for 6:07 PM and I call it close enough.
Yeah. AM was
not the, the desired choice.
Yeah. So, Ryan, whenever you. Whenever you think about some of the things that you've gone through, because you and I spoke at length about you doing this kind of in advance and kind of preparing, but I, I gave you a book to read and you kind of went through that process.
What did you learn about yourself in the midst of preparing those, both the sermons that you just practiced in the sermons that just practiced writing and then actually delivering it? What did God kind of reveal to you about yourself?
That's a good thinking question, Matt. Um, you know, I, I think that probably lots of things.
Yeah. Um, you know, I, I, you know, I've, I've went, I have a lot of college. I, I studied history. I, I, I know how to write. Um. You know, I'm confident in my ability to write and, and I'm, and I'm confident in my ability to speak, but I've never actually wrote something that I was going to speak.
Yeah.
And, and it was, it was interesting how, you know, how we, we, we kind of, you kind of taught me how this kinda writing style and, and to, to do that right.
To, to write and then how to bring that to life through a conversation. And I, I think for me, I, I really. I really learned a lot of, of just how to study this and then really just to, to do my part. And then right before, you know, when me and you and Mark, we, we went back there and prayed right before I went on stage and right before it all started and I was like, I just felt it.
I, I just, I, I felt that. Oh wow. Like I'm super peaceful. Like God's totally got me on this.
Yep.
And, and it was interesting, you know, lots of takeaways like, like. Okay. I over prepare parts of me over prepare. I do way more of God's work than, you know, I'm trying to do parts of parts of me. Were trying to do way more of God's work than, than my work.
Yeah. 'cause I wrote like four sermons for that sermon and, and I scrapped 'em all and, and. And then the actual one I wrote didn't really sound much like what I wrote when I said it out loud. Yeah. You know, and, and it even sounded different than when we practiced it two days before that.
Oh yeah. It was much better whenever he, whenever he did it on Sunday morning.
So, I mean, collectively here, I've been preaching for about 15 years. Mark's been about four years. Is that right? Uh, 22,
3
years. Okay, so three years. Okay. Uh, Ryan's got one sermon in that was a little under a month ago, and then carver's got a week. So we're a little bit across the spectrum with kind of how this has played out, and I don't want Mark to necessarily feel left out on this.
So Mark, with your. More, the more experience that you've had with this and the, the path that you've taken going forward, how do you feel like God has changed the way you prepare whenever you're gonna be presenting something for him?
Um, I know like what Carver was talking about with actually praying, I try to see if I can apply the thing I'm talking about during the week.
Yeah. And if I can actually act it out, like there were a couple of 'em that I was like. I felt convicted on. I'm like, oh crud, I struggle with this. And so it was like a, well, I need to practice that. Like being at peace, like I get anxious easily. And there was one I had, I preached on peace and I'm like, hmm.
Hmm. Or like it'll just, there's those weeks where you like it, your week just works out where like the thing you prepared to talk about had something relevant happen during the week and you're like, okay, this seems like a god timing type of deal. And so I feel like I have learned how to be more cohesive with communicating how to be more intentional with how I speak.
Um, 'cause I would, I, I talk fast when I'm just talking. And so I learned to speak with authority with each word, to kind of be more purposeful and also literally just to trust God with whatever else happens. Because like sometimes I may be like, you know, I don't know, I'm, I'm not sure, I still feel uncomfortable, but my prayer always is, God, you're gonna use this no matter what.
So I will do what I can with where I'm at. Let you take care of the rest. Like submitting to God has been one of the biggest things that has helped me make sure I don't get in my own way.
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, one of the things that I pray every, almost every week before I go up and preach, it's some variation of this.
God, I know that I'm not the best person for whatever the role is that you are about to put me in, whether it's, you know, because of my, my lack of whatever the situation might be. You know, God, I know that I am not the best person. But I know that you'll gimme what I need. So I pray right here and now, Lord, just empty me out.
Just completely make me empty. I submit myself to you. Use me today. Use me in this moment not to convey my thoughts, not to convey the things that I've looked at or read this week, but to convey your word to this group of people in the way you want them to hear it. Mm-hmm. And I do that prayer or some variation of it almost every single week before I ever even get up on the stage because I don't ever want it to be about me.
And that's one of the things that, I don't know if you guys know this as you're kind of starting off on this journey, but that's something that some people have had to really fight over the years, is when you've got people coming up to you after church and they're like, oh, you really, you just, you, you did a great job today.
You really did this, whatever. And you have to look at that and be like, it may have been great, but like what Ryan had said, you know, it was 99% God and 1% me. So. I mean,
that's how I, I, that's how I communicate it. Like while, while I'm thinking about my message, while I'm trying to preach it. And then when people talk to me about it, I'm constantly like my whole, like my prayer before with the worship team on Sunday mornings is that all of this points to Christ.
Mm-hmm. Everything that we do, whether it's worship, whether it's announcements, whether it. The sermon, whether it's the community and conversations that we have points towards Jesus, and I'm kind, I am I, I do pray that every week with the worship team before we start our rehearsal even, I'm like, God, take this.
Use this. Let us make it about you way more than it is about us.
Yeah. So Carver is, you've grown up in the church, like outside of. Any of the pastors that work here, have there been any pastors or sermons where you've heard preaching before and you're like, the way they did it kind of landed with me.
Um, not that I can recall at the moment.
I've watched a couple others, especially over the past couple months as I've been kind of preparing to speak more. Um, but none that really resonated with me in that kind of sense. Sure. I guess, if that makes sense.
Yeah, absolutely. Ryan, how about you?
Oh, you're just asking like, like wanna watch online,
whether it's online, whether it's someplace that you've been in person before, or even like a conference if you've ever been to it, or like a, not like a Billy Graham crusade kind of thing, but like there were things in years gone by, like promise keepers and whatnot.
Have you ever been in a scenario where like, man, that. That person, they just really, they connect and they clicked in a way that I really got.
As far as like listening to, right? Like a sermon? Yes. Oh yeah. Lots of them. You know, I mean, I, I listen to a lot of, a lot of sermons online and, and you know, that's the beauty part about the internet, right?
I, I got a idea in my head that's, that's four words and I, I just punch in. Sermon about sharing your own sharables. Oh yeah. And there's like 400 of them, you know, and, and, and, and the internet is so fantastic. It'll, it's so smart. You know, it's much smarter than me that it'll, it'll even gimme stuff that's even close to that.
Yeah. And, and so yeah, one of the, one of the, uh, preachers, I, I really. Um, enjoy listening to, is a guy named, uh, uh, what? TD Jakes. Oh yeah. Yep. Mm. That guy, that guy gets Potter's house,
church. Yeah.
He gets, he gets, he gets me going, you know, I mean, he's got really good messages and I love the energy, you know, I mean, a a anybody knows me, I knows, like I got a little bit of energy and, and just,
just a tad.
Yeah. Yeah. And,
and I, you know, it's passion man, and, and passion recognizes passion and it, it's. Yeah, I'm excited about God too, and so I like to listen to people. Giving God's word, giving God's message talk, getting digging into the Bible and, and really kind of figuring out what it meant then and, and figuring out how we can apply it today.
And yeah, I, I like to listen just as much as I'd like to talk.
Yeah. How about you, Matt? Man, it's, there have been so many that have had influence in one way or another over my years in ministry, and one of them was actually from when I was probably about. Maybe 22 or 23 years old. Um. He was an interim pastor where he would go from church to church and he would just do pulpit supply or fill in and speak for, you know, churches that just needed someone to come in.
His name was Steve Ney, and I don't even know where he is today or anything like that, but he was relatable on a level that I had never seen before. Four or since where he did sermon illustrations where I could tell you everything about the illustration that he did in the sermon, but maybe not necessarily what it connected to in the Bible, which is probably not the best thing.
But I, I remember the point that he was trying to make with it, where there was one where he talked about how. His wife. He's like, I'm meant to be the protector of the family, the protector of the household. And he's like, I'm gonna be honest man. I don't like bugs, he said, but whenever my wife comes to me and says, there's a bug that needs to be killed, he said, I will grab whatever aerosol can I happen to have close by and goes.
Spraying after this bug. He said, not necessarily bug spray, but an aerosol can of any particular item. And he said, so Cindy, his wife, he's like, she had come to me and she's like, there's a bug in the hallway. I don't know what it is. You gotta take care of it for me. He said, so I reached under the counter.
And I grabbed a can of something called Dow Scrubbing Bubbles, he said, and I went after whatever this insect was that was instantly trying to attack my spouse, my beloved, the person that I am here to defend and protect. He said, and I couldn't quite get to it. He's like, I was spraying on the wall up and down the hallway.
He said, now what you may not know about Dow Scrubbing Bubbles is it removes paint. I didn't know that when I started spraying it on the wall. And I remember that he was talking about how whenever you're trying to serve God, that you get, you're given the right tools for the right time, even though it might not be what you think it needs to be.
I remember that that was the connecting point, but the story is the part that I remember the most about that sermon because I'm like, that's hilarious. Like to picture this guy who thinks he's defending his wife from whatever insect happened to be in the house in the moment, and he grabs just any aerosol can.
He's like, it could have been air freshener, it could have been whatever he is like, but no, it's something that happened to remove the paint all up and down the wall of my hallway. I mean, it's things like that where you don't necessarily know what you're going to say from the stage that's gonna land with somebody.
And I'm sure that's true for middle school, high school. Elderly, everyone in between, like there are things that you're going to bring up and things you're going to point out from scripture that no matter how you intend for it to go, it's one of those things where God's gonna take it and he's gonna use it and he's gonna lay on a person's heart for one thing or another.
Steve s is the guy for me, not anybody famous. Most of you who are listening to this have probably never heard of him and maybe never will, but now you know, one of the sermon illustrations that he used. So
yeah, I know for me, Craig Rochelle is one I've really enjoyed. I listened to his leadership podcast as well, which is fantastic.
He's got Life Church, which. Uh, made the u version Bible lab that we all use at our church. His church made it, they have like 43 campuses and I, I admire him a lot 'cause he actually, during the week, he has a counselor, a therapist that he meets with that's purely there to humble him. That is like the counselor's whole job is to be like.
Remember, you're not as big as you think you are. Like that's that, that that hour he has is dedicated towards reminding him of the humble position he needs to put himself in. Because when you're overseeing 43 campuses of people that can easily get to you, and so that's why for him, he like. Establish that like once he's like, I need, I need to remember where I am in, in this puzzle of it all.
So I have a lot of admiration because he took steps like that to make sure that he keeps himself where he needs to be. But his messages have very phenomenal application pieces to him when he's preaching, when he's teaching. He does a lot of points and things that people can take away and utilize very effectively during their week that tie into scripture, that take what the scripture is saying and kind of like our love God, love people.
Like we've took that passage and make it something that our church, our congregation lives out and owns that when they're trying to live life. They say, live God love people, and it rem reminds them of the big picture. So he has a lot of phenomenal ways that he. Is able to reach people and give people things to take with them for the week.
So I don't really have any real life other 'cause Kyle's the main one that in my time of being a person who's actually paying attention to the messages and not a 9-year-old who's scribbling in the bulletin, um, Kyle's been the one in person who has been a huge influence. And honestly, the way I preach and the way I have tried to teach.
But, um, yeah, Craig is one that I am, I really enjoy his, uh, messages and the way
he structures 'em, and I think that Kyle, as that example is true really for all of us here. Yeah, I mean, for me, I, my first sermon ever was on Easter Sunday. It was my birthday, March 27th, and it was with Kyle at a little church plant.
It was in, based in someone's house, and we. Preached together, and it was actually one of the last sermons he preached in the Springfield, Ohio area before he moved up to Heart of the Lakes. So it was one of those scenarios where that's kind of where that piece kind of came together for me, of having, I'd been doing ministry for that point for years, but I hadn't ever stepped up and tried to preach a sermon.
But he sat with me, he worked with me, we talked about it, and he really took me through some of those finer points to where I'm like. There is an art to this. There is a science to this. There is a spiritual component to this, and you have to be cognizant of all three because if you have the art of how to speak and you don't have the science or the spirituality portion of it, you're basically a standup comedian.
And if you have the science of it, you are a great communicator. But if you don't have the art, no one's gonna really be in interested in it. And if you don't have the spirituality, they're not gonna gain anything that's gonna impact them for eternity. Yeah. So you have to, as a pastor, you have to have all three parts, and that is critically important.
So whether you're a person who is wanting to hear. From me or Mark or Kyle or Cody or Ryan or Carver, you are at the right church. This is the opportunity where we want to be able to grow leaders. We want to be able to grow them closer to God, and we want to be able to let their skills shine so that God can use them in the way he is designed so that ultimately they're serving and fulfilling the purpose of the Great Commission.
We thoroughly enjoy letting them do that here.
Yeah. As somebody that's part of this church, it's so cool seeing more and more hands get part of making the pizza, metaphorically speaking that we're all doing this together. There's more people that are part of it. There's more people pouring in that we're all invested in this.
Yeah. That all of us are just a piece of that big puzzle and. I'm thrilled that this is happening, that you guys are both having the opportunity, that we're having more and more people that are stepping up. I know Ryan inspired some people at Jackson campus who are like, we wanna do more. 'cause we see this guy who's stepping out of his comfort zone and doing something uncomfortable, but trusting God and being faithful like.
I'm excited 'cause we're all, we're all working for Christ. We're all working for the kingdom. We're all excited to be pouring into the people and the avenues that we're responsible with so that people can grow, Christ can be seen, people learn who he is and that the gospel can be presented to as many people as we can reach.
And when there's more people that are part of that, like, that's so cool. 'cause I remember when this church was first had Kyle come up and he tried to revitalize it and give a new life again. It was like mostly him and the secretary, and now the staff. We have the volunteers. We have the serving that we have like it.
I'm just, I'm thrilled. I can't wait to see what God does with Heart of the Lakes over the next years at both campuses. I know Brooklyn's about to go to three services. I know we're growing at Jackson. We had the biggest numbers we've had in probably, I think decades is what they've told us at Bible study.
Um, yeah. So like people are on fire, people are seeing how Jesus moves in their lives and they're trusting him and it's just spreading more and spreading more and people can't help but share, and we all are. A blessed to be a piece of that, that God looked at each one of us and is like, Hey, I'm gonna have you be part of this.
Hey, this is your piece. Go be faithful with it. And. I dunno, I'm excited to be here with you all, all you guys, all the people at our church, like, and see how God uses each and every one of us in the future.
It's, it's kind of a beautiful gift, right? Mark? Yeah. That, that, you know, I think it has two sides, right?
It could feel like a burden. Like, oh God, why, why do you keep putting me in all these uncomfortable physicians, you know? Yep. And, and then God's like, uh, yeah. You know about Peter, you know, I know, you know all this. Like, you know, I'm just on the other side of all this uncomfortableness, so, right. And, and.
That's that beauty part, right? Right. Like God gives us that opportunity to share our story. And what I know is when I was lost and I was broken and I was in the wilderness, what saved me was somebody coming alongside me out there in the mud and going, Hey, I used to be lost and broken too. Yeah. Here's my testimony.
Let me tell you about a guy you might not know or somebody you might not know very
well. Yeah, and the long, the longer I've been in ministry, the more I've been able to take it from a burden to a blessing.
Right, right. Yeah. You see that once you see that, because when you're standing in the boat and the storm is going like crazy, it's pretty scary step out there.
Yeah. You know, but once you step out there and you focus on Jesus, like, oh, this is what they were talking about. And then for, I don't know about everybody else, but for me it just always leaves me wanting more. Right. And it wants, God just puts that on me. Just tell everybody, you know?
Yeah. And then when the storm's done, you're like, look what Jesus did that time like.
He probably is gonna do that again the next time too. Like, and just a reminder that God's got me, like it's, it feels easier and easier the more I try to trust in Jesus to be able to actually trust him when it gets hard again. Yeah. Like the more I practice that, the more often I focus on that. I literally talk about it like a spiritual muscle.
Like the things you do in your faith, like your faith is a spiritual muscle. Like if you exercise it regularly and work it out regularly. You have more strength. That doesn't make you a better Christian than somebody who doesn't. That just means you have more strength for when that tough stuff comes and you're more prepared for it than anything else.
I, I call that like the sense of remembering to remember, right? Yeah. I need to remember to remember. Who's number one, right? I have to remember to remember that I'm just an ordinary, insignificant dude. Yeah. And, and, and the more that I'm, that, the more I get to make God
right. Where he right. Who is made by a God that looks at it, looks at you and says, I love you and you have so much value, right?
Because I'm you who master peace, right? Yeah. Yeah. Like. If you get cosmic and like in the actual scale of everything, you're like, man, I'm tiny. Like, and it's like, man, like that's depressing. And then it goes like, no, no, no. Yes, but God sees you individually. You are tiny compared to the universe, but that doesn't determine your value.
God does and like, 'cause like that's the balance. Like you, either you overinflate your own value or over, under, under inflate your value. Whereas God, God's the only one that gets to choose that. We just have to try and. Actually understand what that means for us. So
Carver
Sunday,
what's your topic
for this upcoming, uh, Sunday we're talking about scripture, so, and how we can dive deeper into that.
'cause last Sunday we talked about prayer and how I kind of touched on how it's a conversation with God and how if you're not praying, you're not really having a conversation with God. Now we're gonna talk about scripture, reading the Bible, and kind of being more on the receiving end of that conversation on how God can speak to us through the Bible, which is his word.
So kind of getting both sides of the conversation with prayer and then scripture coming up this Sunday.
That is awesome. I know that Caleb is gonna be looking forward that Ryan, I assume Joe will be too.
Oh, he is listening to it every night. I'm, I'm, I'm sure he'll hear it like. 12 days in a row, he'll listen to it.
So.
Alright. Well guys, that is your opportunity to hear Carver If you are a lodge student and Ryan, mark and I will be available at different opportunities as well. So stay tuned, pay attention to what's going on. We appreciate you listening today and continuing to hang out with us here on the HOTL cast.