Seeing God Move in Everyday Life

Join Cyle, Matt, and Ryan as they explore the power of authentic community and recognizing God's active presence in daily life. From coffee shop connections to small group dynamics, the hosts share personal stories about building meaningful relationships and staying attuned to divine movement. This conversation offers practical encouragement for anyone seeking deeper faith connections during the Christmas season and beyond.

Transcript

 Hello and welcome to the HOTLCast. I'm Cyle. I'm here with Matt and Ryan today. Hi Ryan. 

Hello, Cyle. 

Ryan just preached at the Jackson campus for the second time. You become an old hat at this stuff, this kinda stuff. 

Prac, practically a professional. 

That's exciting. So you're right there, 

man. 

Yeah, we're, we're glad that you can do that.

That helps us, uh, just. Have space to do other things as pastors, and I know we appreciate that, uh, that you could just help us with those things. Right? Actually had to cover me for a little bit of day because someone overslept. Uh, I didn't oversleep. The alarm went off. We woke up. Patty stopped the alarm.

Normally I snooze it. Nine minutes goes off again. She just said, stop. So when I heard the alarm go off again, it was Rob Freeman calling me at 6 0 9. Like, where are you? And at that point I was like, oh no, I gotta go. But I was really comfy with my dog in bed and uh, so I got there. Ryan was leading. So thanks Ryan for, for bailing me out.

It was, it is fun to sit in a different chair. I kind of felt today how people feel at church. When they don't sit in their normal seat, because I'm always in that seat. Like for years I have been in that chair it feels like. And there's one big chair at Four Corners Coffee, and Ryan was in that chair. And so I was in the O the the back and I was like, this feels odd.

So I felt outta place, but that's how people feel at church. I dunno if you've ever felt that way, Ryan. 

Well, I mean, it kind of felt odd. Me sitting there leading Bible study with you in the big chair, you in the crowd, you know? So not. I, I'm sure it felt weird for some people there. I mean, it isn't weird from a space like, oh no, Cyle's listening to me.

I don't, I don't feel like that, but a sense of like, like this, this something doesn't seem right here. Mm-hmm. You know? 

Yeah. 

I know that for me, there was one time I had come into the Bible study over in the conference room and somebody had already taken I the seat that you sit in during staff meeting over in that corner.

I would always sit there for bible study. This is 

a seat of authority. 

Yeah. I came in there one time, I sat in a different seat and James is like, okay, this is not okay. This whole room is off balance right now. 

Yeah, it's so funny. We, we attached so much to a space that doesn't matter. So 

we do, 

it was actually really nice.

Uh, I wanna start moving around in seats of, that's what I kind, I thought I should just sit in different seats each week. 'cause I usually sit first. Um, I usually just skip paying for my coffee, get my coffee, go sit down, and then I pay at the end. Um, that way everybody else can get it and I can sit down first.

So I'm gonna start doing that. I'm gonna keep doing that, but I'm gonna sit somewhere else and then just see what happens. Yeah. So we'll see. 

Some people just watch, like to watch the world burn. 

Yeah, I 

do like, it's the anarchy of it. 

I don't, I like change, but it was just kinda weird today for the change.

But, uh, also, so it's Thursdays, we, we filmed these on Thursdays right now. We might change that day in the new year. We'll see. But. I today. So I've met a, I've got a new friend. I would, I don't know if we're a friend, we're acquaintance, so we're becoming friends. Her name's Shelly. She is the owner of the, she's not the owner.

She, she corrected me 'cause I made a video. Her daughter is the owner, but her daughter lives in the state of Washington. So effectively Shelly's acting owner because she's running the new Lou's pizza, new and improved. And so I've been connecting with Shelly. Just I, I try to do that when new businesses open up.

I try to show up and just say, Hey, I'm a pastor in community if you need anything. And uh, so I did that with her. Well, we just kind of started connecting. She's super generous person. She gave the church this coffee. Machine that's sitting over here, this, this espresso machine that's like a 2,500 machine, it needs cleaned.

But um, she's like, I was gonna clean this, but if you want it, you can have it. We're gonna buy a new one. And so she just donated to us out of the blue. Nice. First time I met the lady, so just a heart of gold. And um, so I followed up with her afterwards and when I followed up with her, she wasn't there. So I called and said, Hey, is Shelly there?

She's in the ho was in the hospital for a week. So like, she didn't know anybody, so I just like was texting her. How you doing? Can I pray for you? So I've been trying to just kind of network with her and connect with her. So I stopped in a day 'cause she offered me, you stop by, I'll get you, I'll let you try our coffee.

When I get my coffee machine, my espresso machine. And then she has breakfast, pizza. So coming to staff meeting, I'm like, I need to stop by. Like I told her I would. So I pop in and then Patty's texted me. 'cause Patty's on the way to church with me to do, do work for children's ministry. And she's like, uh, her text today is this.

It's really funny. I'm, I was supposed to be at Stephanie at nine o'clock. At 9 0 4. I'm still talking to Shelly and the text from Patty says, are you enjoying yourself? Because she says, I look in the window and you're eating a piece of breakfast pizza, drinking a coffee when you're supposed to be out in the car.

We're supposed to be at Stephanie. And I said, well, like I'm doing ministry. This is like, this is where the conversation went. She offered me pizza, offered me a coffee. Like I'm, yes, I could be at the meeting, but I'm really trying to like, just let her know I care. We care. We're here for her. And so I was texting Cody, Hey, I'm, you know, start without me.

And it was just a really great conversation. She's just a sweet person trying to network with people. So if you're listening to this, go stop in a lu, say Cyle sent you. And just say hi to Shelly and you don't have to buy anything, but if you want to, you can try, try pizza, try breakfast pizza, try the coffee.

It's really good. She's a super friendly person. I, I've told her Lou's was bad for a long time there. The last, you know, six or seven years. Six, seven, see, you can't help it. It really was six or seven years, but it's been bad for a long time and I'm, I'm, I'm hopeful and, you know, excited for what they're doing there.

'cause it's on my drive to church every day. So. 

That's true, 

but it's cool. So meet Shelly, she's a nice person, but that's kinda, that's new and different, but I think we need to do more stuff like that in life. Like I didn't, there's, there's not really a gain other than I got a free pizza and coffee. I didn't go there for that.

And that, I don't really think there was any gain of just getting to know Shelly other than the fact that we're in the same community. We're trying to reach the same folks. With services. Ours is just a relationship with Christ. Ours is, hers is a relationship with pizza. But um, yeah, just connecting with people.

But I think it's important for us to do that. I think we've kind of encouraged, we have three weeks off of Bible study, well, two weeks off 'cause of the holidays. So I just encourage the guys that on my Thursday morning Bible study, like. If you need it, somebody just have a coffee. Let's, let's be there for each other the next two weeks, whether we meet or not as a group, we can still do church, we can still be the church.

So I think that's important. And I think we talk at staff meeting how important it is, right? To just have those small groups and have those kind of more intimate relationships where we are telling people the things in our life that maybe you don't say to the whole group, but you, your struggles, your, your frustrations, your successes, those type of things.

Well, you think about that, Ryan. 

Yeah, yeah. No, I, no, I, I think, I think that all makes sense. I mean, actually, I, I was listening to you talk and then I, I had this like, squirrel moment happening because I realized I'm supposed to start a, a text thread with my. Wednesday night Bible study guys, for which we talked about last week and I didn't do it.

So if you're listening, I'm sorry. This is 

confession. James and Marshall will be, they typically tune in, 

so Hi guys. Yeah, I, you know, they'll hear it. So, but, but yeah, so no, I, I don't know. I had a score moment there thinking about that, but that's what we were talking about last night, you know, Hey, we're not gonna have Bible study and, and that kind of spurred that, but.

Yeah, I think that's important. You know, I 

mean, yeah. 'cause your next two would be Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. It's the same problem we have. Our next two would be Christmas Day and New Year's Day. And that's 

same at Jackson, would be Christmas 

Eve, new Year's Eve. So, 

yeah. I, I told them we can meet, but it, you know, everybody unanimously, unanimously said they had something going on.

I'm like, I have stuff too, but if you need to, we can do 

it. I mean, Christmas Eve services happening here, so 

that's why I said, though, we'll hear the music going here. Yeah. You know, but 

yeah. 

Well, that's cool. 

Yeah. The big thing for me is, I mean, and you know this too because you've probably heard it from like Andy Stanley and a whole host of other pastors, that what happens in church is more important in circles than in rows.

Mm-hmm. You know, that the idea of learning and studying and everything like that, that happens on Sunday morning is fantastic. It's great for knowledge, it's great for edification, it's great for, you know, that learning experience, but real community. The real idea of getting connected with somebody else and being the body of Christ, being the Ecclesia that it talks about in scripture, that the entire mentality behind that, you're not gonna get as much of that on a Sunday morning as what you ever would whenever you're sitting around somebody else's house.

Uh, Kerry Nal, I think it is, talks about it as refrigerator writes, where someone can just kinda walk into your home and, you know, you don't serve them anymore. You know, they just kinda walk in. Right. Grab something outta your. Fridge and, you know, sit down and talk. That's what it needs to be. And I think that the life groups and the small groups and the Bible studies that all of those are what is driving us that direction and giving us that opportunity to be able to lean more into that type of culture.

Right. And those refrigerator rights, I, I've given those people, I'd say, you know, you get three times being a guest in my house with a near family. The problem is people have been taking me up on that. Chris Vid just walks in randomly at times. Like, Hey, I'm here. Get a drink and then takes off just, we'll swing by when he is driving by, get a glass of water.

Just because I say that, I'm like, yeah, I don't care. Come on in. Um, you know, but like the whole life groups have come over on their way home from life groups. So I think people will take up on that. That's good. Like I, yeah, to me, that's fine for me, but I don't know if everybody else appreciates as much as I do.

So, but yeah, 

you have to have at least a little bit of the gift of hospitality to be able to kind of get to that level with it. Yeah. 

Yeah. I'm like, let's stay and play a board game. I don't care. 

Yeah. So, 

uh, no, it's, it's totally a, a, a god thing to have those people in your life. And I mean, that was our, our conversation today.

We need more, we need more of those small groups and so mm-hmm. And I would say for our bible study, our men's bible study, it's not really a circle, it's like a seashell. That's the, that's the shape. It like fans out like, like one of them fancy seashells. Yeah. You know what I'm talking. The ones that are flat and like fan out at the end.

Yeah. The pretty seashells. Yeah, whatever 

I, I was thinking about, there's an official name for that type 

of show. I have no idea 

what 

it 

is, 

but 

I don't either. 

Yeah. Mine is often shaped more like a g it just depends on how many people come. 

Yeah. 

See, like, 

you 

know, 

what, what, what shape is your Bible study?

Um, it looks kinda like a fried egg because it's kind of an 

oblong 

weird circle of shapes. Exactly. We set up for a certain number of people and then inevitably, you know, people, two more people come in and more people come in and more people come in. And we used to meet in the conference room at Jackson until we outgrew it, and that room has like 13 seats in it.

So once we hit 15 and then 17, and I think we had 19 one week, like we were, we're now in one section of the sanctuary where we just. Pull the chairs over. But you know, as people kept walking in, you know, just certain people would scoot their chairs out further, so it just kind of balloons out from there.

I think we need to do a sermon series called Shapes, and we need a shirt that's hot. And it's the different shapes of the groups that we have, and we need to ask all of our Bible study leaders what shape is their group in. Wouldn't that be cool? 

That's an interesting idea 

because yours would be a G. Ours would be a clam shell.

Yours would be an egg. 

Yep. 

I think that'd be cool. Let's do that. This is the way we're gonna remember is we just did in this podcast, somebody's gonna hold me accountable that when January would be like, remember you saw they probably podcast that T-shirt's coming. So, yeah, 

but it, it is, it is pretty. 

And you could add that to the, it's hollow, y'all.

Yeah. Hollow shapes. Yeah. 

Sorry, Ryan, go ahead. 

No, no. Yeah, no, I was just saying that, I was just thinking that, you know, that is where, you know, like the magic happens for me and, and. Where, where I really connect with people isn't in those groups. Right. And, and it, it's so iron sharpening iron, I, I don't know if that occurs that way for you guys for, but for me, I feel like, like I'm showing up and most time I'm like, I'm like waiting for, for, for, um, you know, Steve to say something or, um, or Tom to say something or, you know, really.

Any guy in that room has so much wisdom. Mm-hmm. So, 

yeah. 'cause we got a shape going right now. Either fish hook or candy cane, whatever you wanna say. Right now. We've got Nick over there on the camera. We got us here. So, yeah, I, I like hollow shape. 

Speaking of great, big, huge thank you to Nick for doing this 

today.

Yeah. Nick's here filming guys. So. Yeah, we appreciate it. He's behind the camera. Mark's actually working on Christmas, so, uh, we're, we don't have him in here today. This is not the first one. He is not been on, so 

That's great. Yeah, he's not over in the corner. There's like this absence in the room. 

I'm missing that like little jovial giggle that happens.

That's right. Yeah. Over 30 seconds. We can't poke at anymore, you 

know, and it's not a honeymoon thing. He's like actually working, he's just across the hall right now. 

Um, so total change of subject. Something crazy happened in my life last night and, uh, something I've been actually thinking about for the last few weeks, and then outta the blue or, so we know we're playing board games every night and that's, that's not a thing, it's just that we're doing that for advent every night.

We're sitting now as a family playing a board game. Um, we're like 17 days in, which is great. It's been fun. 

The videos are awesome. 

Yeah, it's, it's a really good time. But during the board game, I get a message on Discord, which if you know what Discord is, it's just another social media basically. Uh, and I get it from a guy I haven't talked to in years, so, and he's back at Free Fire and he is like, we want you back.

And so if you don't know, during COVID, I became quite famous across like this hemisphere, um, for playing a, a video game, mobile game, streaming it, broadcasting it on Central America, south America, the us and, uh. It was crazy. It was a really great time. I got all these free trips and stuff. Well, life went back to normal.

COVID died down. People went back to jobs. The company had some loss of territories and they kinda struggled. So I just kind of moved on to other things. Well, now they're doing well again, and they, so they're reaching out and said, Hey, would you come back? So that was kind of my night last night. So I was like, I looked at Carver, said, do you want to go back and play that game again or not so we'll?

We'll see where that goes. But that was kind of fun thing. So 

that's what I was kind of waiting for is are we gonna have the announcement now or is it just still, I 

dunno know. So we'll have to see. So I told 'em I'd be interested in doing it not as much as I did before. Um, they really want more content than live streaming, so that would be a better fit for me.

But we'll see. That was really a fun thing. It was a fun season, especially with all these middle school boys now that we have at church. Like it would really be really fun for, I could see Carver really thriving right now with all these Yeah, these middle school guys he's hanging out with in youth group.

And kind of mentoring. I think it'd be a fun thing to see him in that role now that he's 19 and not a 16-year-old anymore when he was trying to do it before. So it'd be, we'll see where life goes. But it was kind of a fun, God has a way of kind of repairing you in advance with things he's opening doors for.

And when the message came, it was just kind of funny because it was like. I've really been thinking about this and I'm praying about this outta the blue. And then like, should I do this again? And then like all of a sudden this message comes and like from a guy that I would never expected it, like he left the company and all this stuff.

So 

Wow. 

So it was wild. So that's just kind of crazy in my life. But God is, is moving. I mean, I had a call this morning after Bible study where I called Rob Freeman, our chairman, and I, I was telling him some God things that happened yesterday and I'm like, Rob, here's the thing, like God continues to show up in huge ways.

People don't get, as, people don't see it as much as I get to as the pastor. Um, especially because I'm involved at the church, but I'm also at Somerset. Big things happen in both places, and so I, I feel like right now, the last year. I get to see more because I get to see it in the context of my own life. I can see my mom, you know, miraculously healed from cancer.

I gotta see it here at the church and people's lives. We've had miracles happen. We've had people's lives transform. We've had people come out of addiction. And then I go to the to the camp and I see the same kind of thing happen there and different people's lives. There's a lot more people connected to that community.

So there's a lot of different ways I hear about it and it's just, and then with the Star Theater, that's a whole different thing, but I was at the Star Theater talking with. Steve, the director he was telling me about this amazing thing that happened with his wife was healed in a black church choir service that was happening in their building that they were just watching.

'cause they're a friend of, of one of the, the principals actors in a play who act is part of that church. And like she was healed from this like two year disease that she had and like, and he's just telling me all about it. And I just, I see all these things God's doing and I wish. People could see that more.

Yeah. 

And I feel like I'm privileged to be in the position that I'm in in different ways to see that more and more and more. But then I don't, it's easy for me not to question the movement of God in the world. But then it also makes it hard for me to, I think, understand when people don't see it. Because it's like, I don't understand how you don't see God moving.

That's all. I mean, look, God's doing all these amazing things all the time. And so how do you guys process? What you're seeing God doing versus the struggle of maybe not seeing God moving. 

You wanna go first? You want me? 

Uh, sure. I'll talk. I go for it. Um, you know, I, I, I think for me and, and how I have it in my life situation and, and what, what life has looked like for me, I, I've had a lot of, I've had a lot of profile and struggle.

I've spent a lot of my years in the wilderness and so, um, mine and life didn't start to change until I just started. You know, until I completely submitted, until I became obedient to God, and then God's like, oh, good job. You know? And, and so I, I think it exists in a place now where, yeah, me too, Cyle. I see it all the time.

Mm-hmm. And I'm like, no, this is beautiful. And, and the world's like, no, this is horrible. And no, this is literally beautiful. You know? And, and yeah, I, I think for me. I have so much compassion. I talk to a lot of people who struggle with, with addiction and really just like process addiction and, and being able to, to see where they're at and go.

I had a great conversation just the other night with, with a guy and it's like, like, I know it feels impossible, but trust me it is, it is not through God. Right? Like all things are possible. Yeah. And, and so it, it's, it's interesting. How, how, yes. You see all that and you see it in the world, like, how can they not see this, but 

Right.

They don't wanna see it because they're, they're extraordinary, you know? 

Yeah. And I, I mean, I think that connects to, like what we were preaching on Sunday in Brooklyn was Luke one, and there's this famous verse that gets thrown around, but people don't realize what it's often talking about. It's Luke one.

I think it's, uh, let's see, verse 20. So what we were talking about, we're talking about the kinda the angels in the Christmas story from Cody talked about Joseph and the Angel. I talked about Mary and the Angel Sunday, but there's this verse where, you know, the angel comes up and greets Mary and says, greetings Mary or Hail Mary.

Um, and he's, it's really this joyous greeting and he's telling her, Hey, you're gonna be the mother of of Jesus. And she's like, well, how can this be? I'm a virgin. He's like, don't worry. You're gonna have this miraculous baby. It's gonna be the son of God, and also your cousin, Mary Elizabeth is gonna have a son.

She's been bearing her whole life, but now she's gonna have this son in, in fact, she is six months pregnant and, and in verse 37 it says, for nothing will be impossible with God. And we, we understand that concept. Scripture, but we often don't understand that in our own life when we're talking to people, like for me, when you see God show up and do these amazing things, well yeah, God, God can, God can heal people.

God can do miracles and nothing's impossible with God. We say that all the time. Do we really live it? Like when I talk to couples who are fighting, you can, you can fix this. You really can. 'cause nothing's impossible with God. But we have to also be able to embrace that and allow that to change us and lead us through.

I think that's where we get. So held up in our own stupidity, our own selfishness, that we don't allow God to be God. We wanna be our own God. And we get in the way of God doing amazing things and seeing God move. And I think the problem is people don't necessarily see God 'cause they're not looking, they're looking so hard at their own mirror.

Instead of looking at God, they miss or they don't see what God's doing. 

Yeah. I think the thing that I've noticed with that and the people that I spend time with historically have been, if you say that to somebody who has never had an experience like that either where they've been on the fringes of it and witnessed it for themselves, or where they've never actually gone through something like that, it feels to them like you're gaslighting them, right?

Like it feels like this. Far off concept that, yeah, it says that in the Bible, but that was true then. It's not really true now. Right? But whenever you are on the front lines in many ways, like pastors are, and the things that we do, and the people that we talk with, and the things that we get to see when you are watching for it and you're paying attention to what's going on around you, you can find it everywhere and anywhere, right?

But you have to be open to being able to pay that level of attention to it, because if you're not quieting your heart. Quieting your mind and saying, where did this really come from? You are going to do just like the rest of the world does, and attribute it to any other number of things that could exist when all glory and honor, right, for that particular event, should be rightfully going to God.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that's the, that's the big thing that. I, I think people get so focused on the story of Mary and Jesus, and they think it's about Mary. It's really about Jesus. Mm-hmm. Everything in the Bible is about Jesus and His glory. Even the story about Mary, it's really not about glorifying Mary.

It's about glorifying Jesus is the answer to the prophecies that Mary had lived her whole life in faith too. And that she's now gonna be part of that story. Mm-hmm. Realizing that that's gonna come through true through her. And she gets to be part of this. And that's where the angel's like, great, have great joy about this.

God's gonna move and you're gonna see all this amazing stuff. And I think the, the part problem is we miss it. 'cause we're not, we're not, we willing to be part of the story. We're willing to be part of our own story and we need to be part of the bigger story and, and allow God to place us and move us so that we can be used and then we can see him move.

And I think there's a freedom in that. But I think it's also scary for people. 'cause that means they, they're letting go of control of their life, their situation, their attitude, their behavior, whatever. And that's hard to do in a world where we're supposed to have full control of everything around us all the time.

Agreed. 

It's like that limited nature of being human and trusting the unlimited nature of God and how we always, we have, we as humans have a tendency to just, just lean on our own understanding and, and just. Choose that suffering and, and only to, to find out that it doesn't work. 

Right. 

You know? 

Yeah. No.

So that's, I hope this Christmas season, if you're listening to this, um, we got there over the roundabout way, but nothing is impossible with God. And God is, I'm telling you, God is actively moving in the world. And if you're not seeing it, you might not be looking in the right direction, or you may not be living in the right way that you're able to experience and really see God moving.

And maybe that's the thing you need to focus on this season is how can I stay more attuned to my God, his word, and his people in a way that I can see the movement of God in my life. And it transformed my heart, my mind, my understanding, and then the way I then react to the world. And I think that's what I'm trying to live for in 2025 and beyond.

And am I always perfect? No, I don't think any of us always are, but I'm, I'm striving for it and I hope you can strive for it too this Christmas season. Merry Christmas and happy hot Days from your family here at Heart Lakes. We'll see you Christmas at on Christmas Eve.