The Worlds Okayest Pastor
Faith. Life. Real Talk.
I’m a pastor with a deep passion for teaching God’s Word and helping people discover a meaningful relationship with Christ. But I’m also human—living in the same world you do, facing the same ups and downs.
This space is where faith meets everyday life. I don’t want to ignore the struggles we all face—whether spiritual, emotional, or practical. My hope is to walk alongside you, offering truth, grace, and guidance for both this life and the one to come.
Let’s grow together.
The Worlds Okayest Pastor
You Are No Longer Strangers: Finding Your Place in God's Family
What does it truly mean to belong? Drawing from the powerful story of Michael Oher in "The Blind Side," this powerful message explores our fundamental human need for connection and how the church fulfills that longing as a spiritual family.
The speaker unpacks Jesus's remarkable promise in Mark 10:28-31, where followers who sacrifice relationships for His sake receive "a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children." This isn't metaphorical—it's a tangible reality that believers experience through their church family. While following Christ may involve loss and even persecution, the spiritual family gained is worth infinitely more.
Looking at the early church model in Acts, we see believers sharing meals, possessions, and lives together, truly becoming "of one heart and mind." This close-knit community stands in stark contrast to our modern tendency toward isolation and independence. The message challenges us to move beyond Sunday-only relationships and create intentional connections that mirror family bonds.
The heart of belonging comes through treating fellow believers as family—older members as parents, peers as siblings. Like the Tuohy family who didn't just provide Michael Oher with temporary help but fully embraced him as their own, we're called to fully incorporate others into our lives. When major life events occur—births, deaths, illnesses, celebrations—church family shows up, providing support that reflects Christ's love.
Ultimately, true belonging begins with a relationship with Jesus. If you're seeking connection and purpose, take that first step toward the family that will never abandon you. In God's household, as Ephesians 2:19 reminds us, we are "no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people." Welcome home.
There was a movie in 2009, and it was called the Blind Side.
Speaker 1:How many of you have seen it? Yeah, all right. So there was Michael Orr, who went on to be a great tackle for the Baltimore Ravens of all teams, but this was when he started out. He started out pretty much fatherless, homeless, just wandering the streets. And there was this family, the Toohey family, and very well off. Both parents were professionals. They had two children. But Leanne Toohey had a heart when she saw Michael Orr wandering the streets, cold, looking for some place to be warm.
Speaker 1:And this iconic scene in the movie where he goes up to Michael and says where are you going? And he says going to the gym. Why are you going to the gym? The gym's closed. And he says going to the gym. I said why are you going to the gym? The gym's closed. And he says it's warm. And she asked him do you have a place to stay tonight? And he kind of shook his head yes, and he says don't you dare lie to me. I don't know if you remember the scene and he said no. So they took Michael into the house.
Speaker 1:That led to a relationship they end up adopting Michael and just very you would not think that. You look at the two, michael and the family. They just didn't seem like they would fit. But he went on as he worked out and he ended up playing football. They worked hard to get his grades and then the story is that he ends up being drafted into the NFL, accepted into this family and they great story, right, great story, sacrifice and belonging. That's there.
Speaker 1:When I talk to you today and this is going to be a conversation, I'm going to hit some things that is going to feel really personal Because it is Belonging. All of us have this. All of us have a longing. We're built by God to belong, and especially when new things happen, new beginnings like moving Marriages, get a new job, go to school how many of you remember that freshman year or that fifth grade year going into middle school or high school for the first time? Know all your friends from the previous one Not there, right, moving into a new community, starting into a new church, having a sense of belonging, loss and grief. Right, it hits us, hits us hard, you feel alone, you feel you know, wow, this is deep. But again, that need for longing. Kids go to move out of the house. You get that empty nest, getting that sense of belonging. Celebrations right you have baptisms, you have weddings these are all great things, but you want to do it with somebody. Sometimes there are crises that hit us, there are shame that hits us. We find ourselves in tough, tough situations. You have that need of belonging. Key insight here is that we're wired to belong In every season of joy or sorrow.
Speaker 1:The church is meant to be that family. You know, rick, and we grew up at the same time here. Just about You're a little ahead of me, right, but it's obvious. I mean that we, our mothers, would. I mean we could get corrected by anybody's mom and we took it okay, but we were loved by anybody's mom and that is a generational thing that continues today. When I look at the people that's in here, okay, and that's a beautiful thing we're going to be in.
Speaker 1:You can prepare your Bibles in Mark, mark, chapter 10. And we're going to start with verse 28. What makes this church a beautiful thing? It's not the worship time that we spend in these walls. It's beautiful, but that's not what makes this church beautiful. It's the family of Christ that extends beyond these walls, and so that's what we're going to do when we get into God's Word. So read with me, please, mark 10, verses 28-31.
Speaker 1:Then Peter spoke up. We have left everything to follow you, truly, I tell you. Jesus replied no one who has left home or brothers or sisters, or mother or father or children or fields for me in the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age Homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, along with persecutions In the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last and last. First, you know Jesus.
Speaker 1:Peter first off is saying the cost of following Jesus. You know, you've got to picture this point in time. Jesus is, he is a rock star. Everywhere he's going there's a crowd that's following him. He just crossed over the River Jordan south of the Galilee. He's a big crowd of people that's there. This is just following up from the rich young ruler when he realized what does it take to follow Jesus? And that's when Peter said, hey, we gave it all up. There is a cost. There's a cost of following Jesus and Jesus, though he never hides the cost of following him, though he never hides the cost of following him, he's always. He also never leaves a sacrifice unwarranted.
Speaker 1:Christian life may involve loss. You may have friends before you who are Christian, that no longer want to be part of you because it's just a different way of life. It's a different perspective. It turns life on its head Because it's just a different way of life. It's a different perspective. It turns life on its head. But those who are, maybe the friends that you've lost, you've gained, and that's where we're getting at. There's a spiritual family. Now. This is the heart of this message. Jesus promises those who lost biological family security. This is not metaphoric, this is tangible. It's real what Jesus is promising here Now.
Speaker 1:Persecution can come. We see the church that's under attack. You may get joked about the way you live your life at work or in your community. It happens. The early Christians experienced it. They were ostracized. I mean, it was fed to the lions right for entertainment. This was big-time stuff. To say you were a Christian could cost you your life. I'm thinking we're blessed to live in America, right, we have freedom to worship the way we want to do, but it does have a price. But you also have the gift of eternal life that comes through knowing Jesus. Eternal life that is abundant.
Speaker 1:Yes, following Christ brings you into a church family and you see it every day. But there's still going to be hardships. That's going to be here. Man, isn't it great to have a church family. When those hardships come, it's incredible. Jesus, at the end of this, flips it. He flips the world's priorities. He says those with social or religious privileges will be last, those who are seemingly insignificant will be first when it comes to entering the kingdom of God. We're all going to get there, the same, all of us. We're all the same. Now, when we follow Jesus, we're adopted into something bigger and, as you know, a new family of God as father, one another, brothers and sisters. And that leads us to the church family Now, in the movie Leigh-Anne Toohey, she just didn't invite Michael to dinner, she didn't just get him a bed, she didn't just get him a coat, get him a meal and be done.
Speaker 1:She invited him into the home and made him part of the family. That's what the church is called to do. There are people that we don't know yet, that are looking for something, that are going to come through those doors, and we need to be there for them and be prepared. And we look at the early church, and the early church in Acts modeled this in Acts 2, 42-48. They shared their meals, their possessions, their time, their family. When was the last time you had a meal with somebody in the church? Right, sharing time together playing around a golf. I love the. Where are you going today, al, after church? Oh yeah, it's weird, lori and I never know where we're going when we come here for dinner, but half the time we run into Sandy and the group and Essie and Rick.
Speaker 1:You know, it's really neat, isn't it to have that special bond that after church they go and they have dinner together. Right, these are special things. It's sharing life together. All believers were of one heart and of one mind, and that doesn't happen if you're just coming here and listening. It helps, right, but we need to be sharing with each other. And I'm telling you I'm talking to myself, okay, I really am. I saw what it's modeled to be like and I try to be there. But, man, this is a tough day that we live in. We have demanding jobs. We also have instant gratification when we come home. Right, we can air conditioning, you can turn on the TV, you can watch any movie that you want. Right, you can get yourself entertained. Man, that's empty, though it's not as full as when you share it with somebody. That's special. That's family Now filling the gaps. So we all have a role In the Toohey family. It was really neat.
Speaker 1:There was a little kid named AJ. You guys remember that kid in the movie. He loved his big brother, right. And there's a really cool thing when all these big colleges came to recruit Mike Warr, they were in the living room and they're trying to recruit him, right? Well, aj is like the negotiator. He's like what can you do for me? Right? He wants a sideline pass, he wants to walk onto the field, he wants to lead the team. He's really, really special, but he had a role in the family. Right, the dad had a role. It's really really special, but he had a role in the family. Right, the dad had a role. The mom had a role. We all know where I'm heading with this.
Speaker 1:In 1 Timothy 5, verses 1 and 2, it says treat older men as fathers, older women as mothers, younger people as siblings. This is a two-sided thing. You look at the Blythe's Line movie there's Michael and there's the Toohey family. It's two-sided thing. You look at the Blindside movie there's Michael and there's the Toohey family. It's two-sided.
Speaker 1:In the church. Right, there's you having a need to belong and then there's the rest of the church that's trying to meet that need, to make you feel that way. Seek it out. Seek out relationships. If you're looking for that, you're like, oh man, I really want this, seek it out. Seek out relationships. If you're looking for that, you're like, oh man, I really want this, seek it out. There's everyone in here who's looking to become a closer friend to you. Create that opportunity, be that big brother, be that father figure that someone's looking for. We all come to those situations where we have that need.
Speaker 1:In Proverbs, I love this. My oldest brother, bill, named this thing. We started golfing 30 years ago. We started getting together Ohio guys, christian guys and West Dan. That was 30 years ago. We started getting together Ohio guys, christian guys and West Virginia guys and we started just hanging out after the first round and just sharing and praying for each other, and so it got named Iron Sharpens Iron. Proverbs 27.17,. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. That's what church is about Sharpen each other up, learning from each other, making each other better. These are finding peers, finding siblings within the church. Not everybody has that. I've been blessed to have a great family. No offense, dan, but what I'm going to say, but these elders that I serve with I mean real close brothers there Okay, it becomes something special.
Speaker 1:You know it, all of you here have felt it. We need to make sure that that's a focus of ours where we're heading, what we're doing and how we're doing it. Jesus modeled it. Jesus modeled it. Romans, chapter 12, it talks about many, many parts, but yet one body. We all have a role to do. We all have something to do within our church and it's a beautiful thing, something to do within our church, and it's a beautiful thing Now being the family.
Speaker 1:And the two of these didn't wait for someone else to act, but they stepped in, and so should we. You know belonging. When you think of the word, it's a verb, right, you think about it, it's a feeling, but I want to turn it into an action item of the church Talking about family values. It should be an intentional, intentional relationships, someone who's looking for Jesus, and they find the relationship and they come to the church family. We need to be there for them. Those need to be intentional. Belonging needs to become an action verb, creating that culture of belonging.
Speaker 1:We can do that when I look at the, if we can turn with me, please, to Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 19. You are no longer strangers but fellow citizens and members of God's household. You know, dan, you mind if I share about our time working together, all right. So, dan, I think it's been two years since we've known each other, probably right and complete different paths right before we got to know each other. But Dan and I have been doing some work together and it's really cool because I'm getting to know Dan, dan's getting to know me. It's really cool because I'm getting to know Dan, dan's getting to know me. I can tell you that Dan is. He likes Philly cheese, subs from Subway, hard working, great work, ethic. He loves his family and is seeking life how to live life as a Christian right. I look at the similarities of Dan and I and it's been really cool to do and I cherish those times that we've spent together.
Speaker 1:These are what the church is about people, and I love when I look at Dottie and the way that you embrace people as a mom and a grandma across this church. We know Dottie and the heart that she has and I look around here and I just People that I know, ron, you'll go pick somebody up and take them somewhere. All we have to do is ask, right, I mean, my goodness, I mean, these are roles that we have and it's a special thing that we hold on to and that we have. Let's not forget that, especially whenever we have something big in our life right, a new birth, a death, a marriage right. We need to share that together. As a family, we need to be there for one another. I mean, you all are aware of my father's passing and it was so cool to see the church reaching out while he was sick and we were leading up man coming to visit with him and praying with him. Those are special memories for us. Right, it carries on and we want to be there.
Speaker 1:Just ask for prayers for your mom and we're going to give them. And you know what? Right now, I want to pray for you. Okay, let us pray. I want to pray for you. Okay, let us pray. Dear Lord, we just come here right now and we know that we all have a need. Right now, one of our loved ones' mom is not well. We just ask you to be with her. Give her peace at this time. One of our loved ones' mom is not well. We just ask you to be with her. Give her peace at this time. Let your Holy Spirit be there, be with the family, be with us to be there to comfort, to provide strength, but just to be there, to have the courage to just stand there and be in the sorrow together. But we know we have hope through you and I ask you now just for us to continue to just be together as a family. Yes, we pray in Jesus' name, amen, supporting this message of belonging.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of things. You can look at it what a church family does, being adopted into a family, the hospitality that comes, being one body working together. Inheritance that comes through becoming a Christian and following Jesus Christ, and the reversal of how you see the world flips on its head. Some of those things are not easy, they're not comfortable, but I want to miss make sure that we are totally aware that we can do it together and that's a beautiful thing. You know, all of this starts with a relationship of Jesus Christ. This doesn't happen. Churches, this is just one building the world. Christianity is out there. I look at Dennis Arnold and what he meant to my life. He was already not part of this church whenever I was a young kid but man. At times I would be involved with him at church camp, youth rallies. He was always there, encouraging and moving me on on. Think of Kathy Taylor, who influenced my wife and I so much in our beginnings of our life Never part of this church, but part of the body of Christ. They're out there.
Speaker 1:God is a powerful thing, but it all starts with that relationship with Jesus. If you're seeking to get closer, if you're seeking an answer, if you're seeking belonging, it starts with that relationship. Pray, call out to Him, ask Him to be part of your life. It might seem foreign prayer man. You can pray to Jesus.
Speaker 1:To me this is like breathing, having that close relationship, anyone in your life. That's closer than any relationship you'll ever have, the relationship with Jesus, and he loves you. God cares so much that he sent his son. No matter what you've had in your life, no matter what. He has grace enough to forgive you of your sins and it flips your life upside down. It gives you hope, it gives you direction, not a simple life, but it's the answer. So if you have a decision to make today, I want to extend that to you, whether it's a rededication of your life or whether you want to give your life to Jesus. This is the time. We're the family of believers that are here. We're here to welcome you in and to support you and to live life alongside. So let us pray, then we will have our song.