October 6, 2025 • 22 mins
What if your soul is carrying more than it was made to hold? Between constant headlines and endless scrolling, we’re all feeling the weight of a world that never powers down. Today we slow the tide and step into John 14, where Jesus speaks straight to anxious hearts. Philip asks for a sign—“Show us the Father”—and Jesus answers with a deeper invitation: to see Him, listen to Him, and be kept by His Word when everything else shakes.
We walk through the farewell discourse with fresh eyes, exploring why the Word precedes the works, and how that order changes our everyday resilience. Together we name the trap of faux omnipresence, the drift toward believing “anything” in distress, and the quiet courage of be still and know. From there, we get practical. We talk about taking our hands off what we can’t control, cultivating a real relationship with Scripture, and learning to delight in God rather than our fears, our feeds, or the need to be right. These aren’t vague ideals—they’re simple habits that retrain attention, deepen trust, and steady our steps.
We also press into a piercing question: are we content to know about God, or are we becoming people God knows—shaped by His voice, responsive to His lead, and guarded from stumbling by what He has spoken? If your heart feels thin from carrying too much news and too little hope, this conversation offers a grounded path back to peace. Listen now, share it with someone who needs a reset, and if it helps you breathe a little deeper, subscribe and leave a review so others can find it too. Your words help our community grow.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Man, I can't promise last time I can see people again
for the final time.
Uh thanks, Jenny.
It is our privilege and pleasurethis morning to have a guest
speaker, our good friend, PastorLorraine, who pastors up in
Zimmerman, not too far away withher past with her husband Neil,
who's there now getting readyfor their service this morning.
But I met Pastor Lorraine yearsago, I think around COVID, and I
just we became friends.
I th I th I'd call her friend.
(00:20):
And uh I love what she's doingup there in Zimmerman and lives
in my neighborhood, or I live inher neighborhood rather, and uh
it's just a ton of fun to seeher and her husband and family
there as well.
Angels with us this morning, herdaughter, and it was so good to
have the three of them thismorning.
Um but she's been a guestpreacher here a number of times.
She comes once a year.
I get to steal her away fromrestoring lives, and she comes
down with us and she's got agift.
(00:41):
I mean, she's a gifted preacher,and I told her at the 8 o'clock,
I said we gotta keep it a littletighter because we've got a
strict schedule.
But at the 10 o'clock, I said,feel free to bring this, you
know, the thunder and do yourthing.
Uh if you know Lorraine, sheloves that some talk back, so
feel free to talk back if youwant to ch you know, if you want
to uh, you know, expressyourself her voice.
Okay, she loves that kind ofthing and is used to it.
And uh, so would you please thismorning give a warm central
(01:03):
welcome to Pastor Lorraine?
I remember this time at thepodium.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
Yes, thank you.
All right, good morning,everyone.
Good morning, good morning, goodmorning.
And I am truly honored.
Um, I gotta start my timer hereas well.
Truly honored to be here thismorning with you.
I know that um you know it'salways nice to be in another at
(01:38):
another pulpit, but I've alsohad the honor of having Pastor
Ryan speak at our church, andit's been a blessing when he
came.
But I thank you.
My family's not here, and so ifI am new to you, I apologize.
Normally I have a little thingof introduction for myself, but
I kind of uh bypassed that todaybecause I wanted to just get
(02:01):
into the word.
I know that my time is short andI'm used to preaching at least
40 minutes or so.
So I'm like, something's gottago.
So if uh you don't know me,sorry.
Um, but I'm glad to be here.
I do pastor, co-pastor atRestoring Lives Community Church
um in Zimmerman.
We celebrated 10 years uh lastmonth, and um so we're excited
(02:26):
about that.
And so uh, you know, the churchhas been there uh since 1931,
but uh my husband and I havebeen there for a short time,
about 10 years.
Um we've been married for 34years, we'll be next uh Sunday,
and then we have two kids.
So um so that's a little bitabout me this morning.
(02:47):
Um, but before I get into that,I want to declare a scripture.
Um it's from 1 Chronicles 29,and it is um, I want to make
sure I have my do I have it on?
You know what?
Just put it on.
No, I got it.
I got it.
I'm talking to myself.
It's like I had practiced thefirst service, and I'm like, I'm
(03:08):
gonna get it right this time.
All right, so um I want todeclare a scripture this morning
because no matter what you mightbe going through, no matter what
you might be experiencing, nomatter what challenge you may
face, this stands to be true.
And it says, Yours, Lord, is thegreatness, the power and the
(03:29):
glory, and the majesty and thesplendor, for everything in
heaven and earth is yours.
Yo, Lord, is the kingdom.
You are exalted as head overall, and exalted here in Central
Lutheran Church.
(03:50):
Amen.
And so one of the other thingsI'll just call out, because I
substitute teach in the schooldistrict.
So it's funny because I'verecognized some faces of kids
that have been in my class.
Yep, she's holding her headdown.
And um, so they've never, I'msure she's like, wait a minute.
Yep, this is this is daily.
(04:10):
Um, but anyway, but I so I haveto laugh when I see these faces
because it does um, and yourkids are wonderful.
All right, so we'll keep goingbefore I get in trouble.
But I've been invited to talkabout um the questions, and I
know that you've had startedthis series a few weeks ago.
(04:34):
Just questions that Jesus askedthat are still pertinent and
important today.
And one of the things I wantedto share because I uh read this
article from STER, which is Stanto Reason, they're an
apologetics group, and it'sabout tragedy overload.
That it acknowledges that we arein difficult times.
(04:57):
Because of the advancements oftechnology, news, radio,
internet, we are saddled withsorrow near and far.
It used to only be that theevents that happened in our
lives or in our family, in ourwith our within our friends,
within our communities, it usedto be that was the only thing
(05:20):
that we would have visibilityto.
But today with the internet andsocial media, we get to see
everything.
They titled it as a almost likea faux omnipresence, faux
omnipotence, meaning that we cansee everything and we might feel
(05:42):
like we understand everythingthat is going on everywhere
across the world.
And guess what?
If you miss something, guesswhat?
You can watch it being recorded.
And so the point that thisarticle made is that we were not
made for this, right?
(06:05):
We don't have the bandwidth, butGod does, and that's why I
wanted to open up with thatscripture that you, Lord, are
the greatest, that you are aboveall.
And so it might be where you arethis morning, you might be
experiencing something that youthink is way too big for God.
(06:28):
I got some news for you.
Nothing is too big for God.
Nothing is too big for God.
And so this morning, as we gointo the scripture, we're
looking at the gospel of John.
And John, as a gospel writer, isvery specific about declaring
who Jesus is, that he is and wasin the beginning, above all and
(06:53):
beyond all.
And in this chapter 14, this iskind of the farewell discourse.
In this chapter, we hear Jesustelling the disciples, I'm
leaving, I'm going to pray aplace for you, but I'm coming
back.
And they say, You're going whereyou're going.
We don't know where you'regoing, right?
(07:13):
And he says, You know where I'mgoing.
No, we don't.
And he says, Well, I am the way,the truth, and the life.
And then we he talks about hisrelationship with the father.
And if you read in chapter 14alone, there's 22 references to
father.
Do you think he was trying tomake a point?
(07:36):
And then Jesus says, Philip,excuse me, interrupts this
discourse and he says, Show usthe father, and we will be
satisfied.
And Jesus said, Have I been withyou all this time, Philip?
(07:57):
And you still don't know me?
You know, this request probablydisappointed Jesus because he
spent what three years with themas the disciples.
And he's saying to them, if yousee me, you see the, you see
God, you see the Father.
It's almost Philip is saying,like, I see you, but I I need I
(08:20):
need something else.
And so I was asking God, whatshould we focus on?
What do you want me to focus on?
What do you want centralLutheran to hear?
Because we can talk about theTrinity all day long.
And I'm like, Lord, do we reallyneed to?
Do you really want me to getinto that?
But the Lord said the word.
(08:42):
You see, the disciples had beenfascinated and had seen all the
things Jesus did, all of theworks that he did, but had they
listened carefully enough to theword, his word.
You see, in John 1, the bookopens with, in the beginning was
(09:04):
the word, and the word was withGod, and the word is God.
And then the word became fleshand dwelt among us.
Before there were any works,there was the word.
And so Philip's question show usthe Father.
(09:29):
You know, he's frightened.
He is in a sense of fear anddoubt.
He's sad, he's worried.
Jesus is leaving.
Like, what are we gonna do?
He needs more assurance.
Isn't that how we are sometimeswhen things happen to us?
(09:54):
Or when we are burdened withsomething, we don't know what to
do.
Lord, I just need to hear yousay something.
Just show me something.
We're just looking for thatextra assurance when we're going
through difficult times.
The risk that we face, though,when we go through times is that
(10:21):
in times of distress, it's notonly that we believe nothing,
it's rather that we becomesusceptible to believing
anything.
Anything.
And why do you think it wasimportant for Jesus to speak?
So now it becomes necessary forhim to break through their
frightened hearts as he istrying to break through our
(10:44):
frightened hearts, our fearfulhearts, our doubtful hearts.
He is breaking through with theword to tell them what is going
on, to tell them where he'sgoing, to tell them what is
going to happen, but also toassure them that they don't need
to be troubled, they don't needto worry.
(11:10):
And so this morning, I believeGod is breaking into your hearts
and wanting to give you words ofencouragement or words of
challenge.
And the first one is be stilland know that I am God.
You see, sometimes we create ourown chaos.
(11:31):
Amen.
Amen.
With our impatience, our ownworries, our fears, our doubts.
We like to be in control.
Or maybe because we're justneglecting our spiritual
practices, our worship, ourprayer time, our word, our
(11:55):
community.
But God is inviting us to knowhim.
This is the baseline.
Know him, let him haveownership, acknowledge his power
and surrender the results tohim.
Meaning, take your hand off it.
(12:15):
Whatever it is that you'retrying to manage and control and
to manipulate, and you we can'tmanipulate God, right?
We try to take your hand on itoff of it and let him be God.
The other point here is that weneed to have a relationship with
(12:36):
the word.
The scripture reminds us, and Ilove this verse.
It says, With my whole heart,God, I seek you.
I don't want to stray from yourcommandments.
I treasure your word in my heartso that I may not sin against
you, is a complete scripture.
(12:57):
You see, to avert the loss oftruth in our life and to quiet
the noise of our circumstances,we need to commit ourselves to
God's word.
Being in relationship, meaningreading it, meditating upon it,
and walking in it.
(13:17):
Relationship thrives in constantconnection.
You see, the word is light andlife.
It's the only thing that cantransform you.
It is the only thing that canchange your heart, that can
change your mind, transform yourmind, transform your thoughts
and your actions, yourbehaviors, and brings it into
(13:42):
alignment with what God haspurposed for you.
We all know that God has apurpose for us.
It was the word in the beginningthat was distorted.
It was the word that was beingdistorted right now.
We're in our experience thatright now.
But in the word, in the end, itwill be the word that lasts.
(14:06):
It will be the word that stands.
We should say amen to that.
It should be, it is the wordthat lasts, it will be the word
that stands when everything elsefails.
God's word stands.
True.
Why wouldn't you want to have arelationship with the word?
Why wouldn't you want to open upthe word and draw into God's
(14:31):
calling of knowing Him?
The other thing is that we needto delight in the Word.
Philip said, Show me the Father,and I'll be satisfied.
I'll be happy if you just showme the Father.
You talk about the Father.
Can I see the Father?
Jesus said, I'm I and the Fatherare one.
(14:52):
We are the same essence.
We're one.
I worked in retail in highschool, and it would irritate me
when somebody would come up tome, you know, as a cashier, and
maybe they're doing a refund andthey say, Can I can you talk to
your supervisor?
Can I talk to your boss?
I'm like, Look, you won't getthe in my head, I would not say
(15:17):
that to a customer.
You know, you're gonna get thesame answer from my boss that
you are gonna get from me.
I thought that was insulting,right?
Even though I've done that whenI've gone into a store, but
that's besides the point.
But Peter, excuse me, Philip issaying, shh, I want to see more.
(15:41):
I need more assurance.
And we are guilty of that.
You see, we take our delight inthe wrong things.
And I was thinking about thisthis morning, and as I was
getting ready, I was nervous.
And I'm like, man, I've donethis before.
Why am I so nervous?
And I all of a sudden myattention shifts to why I'm
nervous.
And and immediately I said,Lord, I'm trying, I'm taking
(16:05):
delight in this nervousnessbecause it's taking my attention
from the truth of your word,right?
From your promise that you'rewith me, right?
That I'm not walking up on thestage and you're not gonna be
there, that I am honoring you.
My attention is drawn away.
When we delight in our fear, weare denying that God said that
he would be with us until theend.
(16:26):
We are denying that he said,fear not, for I am with you.
We take delight in being right,we take delight in our social
media status.
Yes.
We take delight in knowingeverybody else's business or
(16:48):
reporting on someone else'sactions.
We take delight in thecontroversy and the conspiracies
and the drama.
But what God is saying, CentralLutheran, is that He wants you
to take delight in Him and inHis Word.
Right now to Him the scriptureis who by the power at work in
(17:13):
us will accomplish abundantlymore than we could ever ask.
He is a God who knows how todelight.
And then the last thing is thatHe has said these words and
these things so that you willnot stumble.
(17:36):
At this point, as Jesus istalking, he is not so much about
the explaining, because he'sbeen talking the whole time and
sharing who he is and what'sgonna happen, but it's about
them being able to remain inhim.
Words that would keep them,words that would encourage them,
words that will allow them tothrive in difficult situations.
(18:00):
He doesn't want you to stumble,he doesn't want you to lose out
in the end because at the end ofthis life is what we have a
choice at the end of this life.
God is trying to help us to getand make it to the end in
difficult times.
(18:21):
How long have you been with me?
How long have you known me?
How long have we been travelingthis journey together?
And you still don't know me?
You still don't know the carethat I have for you, you still
don't know the promises thatI've made, and then I am a
(18:45):
keeper of my promises.
You don't know when I went tothe cross and I died and I rose
three days, and because that youcan have victory, that you don't
have to walk in bondage, thatyou can be free.
You still don't know me.
(19:08):
The other part of that is thatGod needs to know us, right?
He needs to know who we are.
There's a little joke.
Can I tell this real quickly?
Some of you may have heard itabout a woman who dies and she's
up in heaven and she asks formore life.
And so they give her, say, hey,you're gonna live to about a
(19:32):
hundred.
She goes, Oh, yay.
She goes back and she does allthis plastic surgery.
Because she said, Look, if I'mgonna live to a hundred, I need
to look good.
Well, no doubt, soon after this,she dies.
And she goes back and she said,I thought I was gonna have to a
hundred years.
He said, I don't know you.
(19:54):
You changed so much.
Sorry, it took a little long tocatch you.
He needs to know us, right?
God needs to know us, and heknows us through the
relationship that we have withhim.
I love what Jesus said inMatthew.
Even though it's a strong word,he says there's many that's
(20:17):
gonna come and they're gonnahave their little resume and
say, Look, I did this, I castout demons.
I mean, look at my list, look atthe things that I did in your
name.
And what does Jesus say?
I don't know you.
Depart from me, I don't knowyou.
So as much as it is us knowinghim, he needs to know you
(20:40):
through relationship.
We need to take full account ofour lives in reverence to God,
how we live our lives inresponse to the word of God, to
the spoken word of God, and whathe did on the cross.
That is what God has called usto this morning.
(21:02):
And so I want to remind you aswe're gonna close in prayer.
unknown (21:05):
Yay, I did the time.
SPEAKER_01 (21:06):
Um, as we're gonna close in prayer, I want to
remind you that God he sees andhe knows everything.
We talked about being in hispresence and letting him be God.
We talked about delighting inhim, we talked about having a
relationship with his word,meaning a relationship with
(21:26):
Christ.
And so as I pray today, I'mgonna ask the Lord to just help
us.
Lord, help us to be still enoughto know you.
Let our relationship with you beone of unrelenting faith, hope,
and delight in what you say andnot what our circumstances
(21:52):
dictate.
May our lives reflect thereality of the transforming
power of the cross.
Let us always be thankful thatyou died, that you rose again,
and that you are coming back.
For we are longing to hear thosewords Well done, thou good and
(22:16):
faithful servant.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Man, I can't promise last time I can see people again
for the final time.
Uh thanks, Jenny.
It is our privilege and pleasurethis morning to have a guest
speaker, our good friend, PastorLorraine, who pastors up in
Zimmerman, not too far away withher past with her husband Neil,
who's there now getting readyfor their service this morning.
But I met Pastor Lorraine yearsago, I think around COVID, and I
just we became friends.
I th I th I'd call her friend.
(00:20):
And uh I love what she's doingup there in Zimmerman and lives
in my neighborhood, or I live inher neighborhood rather, and uh
it's just a ton of fun to seeher and her husband and family
there as well.
Angels with us this morning, herdaughter, and it was so good to
have the three of them thismorning.
Um but she's been a guestpreacher here a number of times.
She comes once a year.
I get to steal her away fromrestoring lives, and she comes
down with us and she's got agift.
(00:41):
I mean, she's a gifted preacher,and I told her at the 8 o'clock,
I said we gotta keep it a littletighter because we've got a
strict schedule.
But at the 10 o'clock, I said,feel free to bring this, you
know, the thunder and do yourthing.
Uh if you know Lorraine, sheloves that some talk back, so
feel free to talk back if youwant to ch you know, if you want
to uh, you know, expressyourself her voice.
Okay, she loves that kind ofthing and is used to it.
And uh, so would you please thismorning give a warm central
(01:03):
welcome to Pastor Lorraine?
I remember this time at thepodium.
SPEAKER_01 (01:15):
Yes, thank you.
All right, good morning,everyone.
Good morning, good morning, goodmorning.
And I am truly honored.
Um, I gotta start my timer hereas well.
Truly honored to be here thismorning with you.
I know that um you know it'salways nice to be in another at
(01:38):
another pulpit, but I've alsohad the honor of having Pastor
Ryan speak at our church, andit's been a blessing when he
came.
But I thank you.
My family's not here, and so ifI am new to you, I apologize.
Normally I have a little thingof introduction for myself, but
I kind of uh bypassed that todaybecause I wanted to just get
(02:01):
into the word.
I know that my time is short andI'm used to preaching at least
40 minutes or so.
So I'm like, something's gottago.
So if uh you don't know me,sorry.
Um, but I'm glad to be here.
I do pastor, co-pastor atRestoring Lives Community Church
um in Zimmerman.
We celebrated 10 years uh lastmonth, and um so we're excited
(02:26):
about that.
And so uh, you know, the churchhas been there uh since 1931,
but uh my husband and I havebeen there for a short time,
about 10 years.
Um we've been married for 34years, we'll be next uh Sunday,
and then we have two kids.
So um so that's a little bitabout me this morning.
(02:47):
Um, but before I get into that,I want to declare a scripture.
Um it's from 1 Chronicles 29,and it is um, I want to make
sure I have my do I have it on?
You know what?
Just put it on.
No, I got it.
I got it.
I'm talking to myself.
It's like I had practiced thefirst service, and I'm like, I'm
(03:08):
gonna get it right this time.
All right, so um I want todeclare a scripture this morning
because no matter what you mightbe going through, no matter what
you might be experiencing, nomatter what challenge you may
face, this stands to be true.
And it says, Yours, Lord, is thegreatness, the power and the
(03:29):
glory, and the majesty and thesplendor, for everything in
heaven and earth is yours.
Yo, Lord, is the kingdom.
You are exalted as head overall, and exalted here in Central
Lutheran Church.
(03:50):
Amen.
And so one of the other thingsI'll just call out, because I
substitute teach in the schooldistrict.
So it's funny because I'verecognized some faces of kids
that have been in my class.
Yep, she's holding her headdown.
And um, so they've never, I'msure she's like, wait a minute.
Yep, this is this is daily.
(04:10):
Um, but anyway, but I so I haveto laugh when I see these faces
because it does um, and yourkids are wonderful.
All right, so we'll keep goingbefore I get in trouble.
But I've been invited to talkabout um the questions, and I
know that you've had startedthis series a few weeks ago.
(04:34):
Just questions that Jesus askedthat are still pertinent and
important today.
And one of the things I wantedto share because I uh read this
article from STER, which is Stanto Reason, they're an
apologetics group, and it'sabout tragedy overload.
That it acknowledges that we arein difficult times.
(04:57):
Because of the advancements oftechnology, news, radio,
internet, we are saddled withsorrow near and far.
It used to only be that theevents that happened in our
lives or in our family, in ourwith our within our friends,
within our communities, it usedto be that was the only thing
(05:20):
that we would have visibilityto.
But today with the internet andsocial media, we get to see
everything.
They titled it as a almost likea faux omnipresence, faux
omnipotence, meaning that we cansee everything and we might feel
(05:42):
like we understand everythingthat is going on everywhere
across the world.
And guess what?
If you miss something, guesswhat?
You can watch it being recorded.
And so the point that thisarticle made is that we were not
made for this, right?
(06:05):
We don't have the bandwidth, butGod does, and that's why I
wanted to open up with thatscripture that you, Lord, are
the greatest, that you are aboveall.
And so it might be where you arethis morning, you might be
experiencing something that youthink is way too big for God.
(06:28):
I got some news for you.
Nothing is too big for God.
Nothing is too big for God.
And so this morning, as we gointo the scripture, we're
looking at the gospel of John.
And John, as a gospel writer, isvery specific about declaring
who Jesus is, that he is and wasin the beginning, above all and
(06:53):
beyond all.
And in this chapter 14, this iskind of the farewell discourse.
In this chapter, we hear Jesustelling the disciples, I'm
leaving, I'm going to pray aplace for you, but I'm coming
back.
And they say, You're going whereyou're going.
We don't know where you'regoing, right?
(07:13):
And he says, You know where I'mgoing.
No, we don't.
And he says, Well, I am the way,the truth, and the life.
And then we he talks about hisrelationship with the father.
And if you read in chapter 14alone, there's 22 references to
father.
Do you think he was trying tomake a point?
(07:36):
And then Jesus says, Philip,excuse me, interrupts this
discourse and he says, Show usthe father, and we will be
satisfied.
And Jesus said, Have I been withyou all this time, Philip?
(07:57):
And you still don't know me?
You know, this request probablydisappointed Jesus because he
spent what three years with themas the disciples.
And he's saying to them, if yousee me, you see the, you see
God, you see the Father.
It's almost Philip is saying,like, I see you, but I I need I
(08:20):
need something else.
And so I was asking God, whatshould we focus on?
What do you want me to focus on?
What do you want centralLutheran to hear?
Because we can talk about theTrinity all day long.
And I'm like, Lord, do we reallyneed to?
Do you really want me to getinto that?
But the Lord said the word.
(08:42):
You see, the disciples had beenfascinated and had seen all the
things Jesus did, all of theworks that he did, but had they
listened carefully enough to theword, his word.
You see, in John 1, the bookopens with, in the beginning was
(09:04):
the word, and the word was withGod, and the word is God.
And then the word became fleshand dwelt among us.
Before there were any works,there was the word.
And so Philip's question show usthe Father.
(09:29):
You know, he's frightened.
He is in a sense of fear anddoubt.
He's sad, he's worried.
Jesus is leaving.
Like, what are we gonna do?
He needs more assurance.
Isn't that how we are sometimeswhen things happen to us?
(09:54):
Or when we are burdened withsomething, we don't know what to
do.
Lord, I just need to hear yousay something.
Just show me something.
We're just looking for thatextra assurance when we're going
through difficult times.
The risk that we face, though,when we go through times is that
(10:21):
in times of distress, it's notonly that we believe nothing,
it's rather that we becomesusceptible to believing
anything.
Anything.
And why do you think it wasimportant for Jesus to speak?
So now it becomes necessary forhim to break through their
frightened hearts as he istrying to break through our
(10:44):
frightened hearts, our fearfulhearts, our doubtful hearts.
He is breaking through with theword to tell them what is going
on, to tell them where he'sgoing, to tell them what is
going to happen, but also toassure them that they don't need
to be troubled, they don't needto worry.
(11:10):
And so this morning, I believeGod is breaking into your hearts
and wanting to give you words ofencouragement or words of
challenge.
And the first one is be stilland know that I am God.
You see, sometimes we create ourown chaos.
(11:31):
Amen.
Amen.
With our impatience, our ownworries, our fears, our doubts.
We like to be in control.
Or maybe because we're justneglecting our spiritual
practices, our worship, ourprayer time, our word, our
(11:55):
community.
But God is inviting us to knowhim.
This is the baseline.
Know him, let him haveownership, acknowledge his power
and surrender the results tohim.
Meaning, take your hand off it.
(12:15):
Whatever it is that you'retrying to manage and control and
to manipulate, and you we can'tmanipulate God, right?
We try to take your hand on itoff of it and let him be God.
The other point here is that weneed to have a relationship with
(12:36):
the word.
The scripture reminds us, and Ilove this verse.
It says, With my whole heart,God, I seek you.
I don't want to stray from yourcommandments.
I treasure your word in my heartso that I may not sin against
you, is a complete scripture.
(12:57):
You see, to avert the loss oftruth in our life and to quiet
the noise of our circumstances,we need to commit ourselves to
God's word.
Being in relationship, meaningreading it, meditating upon it,
and walking in it.
(13:17):
Relationship thrives in constantconnection.
You see, the word is light andlife.
It's the only thing that cantransform you.
It is the only thing that canchange your heart, that can
change your mind, transform yourmind, transform your thoughts
and your actions, yourbehaviors, and brings it into
(13:42):
alignment with what God haspurposed for you.
We all know that God has apurpose for us.
It was the word in the beginningthat was distorted.
It was the word that was beingdistorted right now.
We're in our experience thatright now.
But in the word, in the end, itwill be the word that lasts.
(14:06):
It will be the word that stands.
We should say amen to that.
It should be, it is the wordthat lasts, it will be the word
that stands when everything elsefails.
God's word stands.
True.
Why wouldn't you want to have arelationship with the word?
Why wouldn't you want to open upthe word and draw into God's
(14:31):
calling of knowing Him?
The other thing is that we needto delight in the Word.
Philip said, Show me the Father,and I'll be satisfied.
I'll be happy if you just showme the Father.
You talk about the Father.
Can I see the Father?
Jesus said, I'm I and the Fatherare one.
(14:52):
We are the same essence.
We're one.
I worked in retail in highschool, and it would irritate me
when somebody would come up tome, you know, as a cashier, and
maybe they're doing a refund andthey say, Can I can you talk to
your supervisor?
Can I talk to your boss?
I'm like, Look, you won't getthe in my head, I would not say
(15:17):
that to a customer.
You know, you're gonna get thesame answer from my boss that
you are gonna get from me.
I thought that was insulting,right?
Even though I've done that whenI've gone into a store, but
that's besides the point.
But Peter, excuse me, Philip issaying, shh, I want to see more.
(15:41):
I need more assurance.
And we are guilty of that.
You see, we take our delight inthe wrong things.
And I was thinking about thisthis morning, and as I was
getting ready, I was nervous.
And I'm like, man, I've donethis before.
Why am I so nervous?
And I all of a sudden myattention shifts to why I'm
nervous.
And and immediately I said,Lord, I'm trying, I'm taking
(16:05):
delight in this nervousnessbecause it's taking my attention
from the truth of your word,right?
From your promise that you'rewith me, right?
That I'm not walking up on thestage and you're not gonna be
there, that I am honoring you.
My attention is drawn away.
When we delight in our fear, weare denying that God said that
he would be with us until theend.
(16:26):
We are denying that he said,fear not, for I am with you.
We take delight in being right,we take delight in our social
media status.
Yes.
We take delight in knowingeverybody else's business or
(16:48):
reporting on someone else'sactions.
We take delight in thecontroversy and the conspiracies
and the drama.
But what God is saying, CentralLutheran, is that He wants you
to take delight in Him and inHis Word.
Right now to Him the scriptureis who by the power at work in
(17:13):
us will accomplish abundantlymore than we could ever ask.
He is a God who knows how todelight.
And then the last thing is thatHe has said these words and
these things so that you willnot stumble.
(17:36):
At this point, as Jesus istalking, he is not so much about
the explaining, because he'sbeen talking the whole time and
sharing who he is and what'sgonna happen, but it's about
them being able to remain inhim.
Words that would keep them,words that would encourage them,
words that will allow them tothrive in difficult situations.
(18:00):
He doesn't want you to stumble,he doesn't want you to lose out
in the end because at the end ofthis life is what we have a
choice at the end of this life.
God is trying to help us to getand make it to the end in
difficult times.
(18:21):
How long have you been with me?
How long have you known me?
How long have we been travelingthis journey together?
And you still don't know me?
You still don't know the carethat I have for you, you still
don't know the promises thatI've made, and then I am a
(18:45):
keeper of my promises.
You don't know when I went tothe cross and I died and I rose
three days, and because that youcan have victory, that you don't
have to walk in bondage, thatyou can be free.
You still don't know me.
(19:08):
The other part of that is thatGod needs to know us, right?
He needs to know who we are.
There's a little joke.
Can I tell this real quickly?
Some of you may have heard itabout a woman who dies and she's
up in heaven and she asks formore life.
And so they give her, say, hey,you're gonna live to about a
(19:32):
hundred.
She goes, Oh, yay.
She goes back and she does allthis plastic surgery.
Because she said, Look, if I'mgonna live to a hundred, I need
to look good.
Well, no doubt, soon after this,she dies.
And she goes back and she said,I thought I was gonna have to a
hundred years.
He said, I don't know you.
(19:54):
You changed so much.
Sorry, it took a little long tocatch you.
He needs to know us, right?
God needs to know us, and heknows us through the
relationship that we have withhim.
I love what Jesus said inMatthew.
Even though it's a strong word,he says there's many that's
(20:17):
gonna come and they're gonnahave their little resume and
say, Look, I did this, I castout demons.
I mean, look at my list, look atthe things that I did in your
name.
And what does Jesus say?
I don't know you.
Depart from me, I don't knowyou.
So as much as it is us knowinghim, he needs to know you
(20:40):
through relationship.
We need to take full account ofour lives in reverence to God,
how we live our lives inresponse to the word of God, to
the spoken word of God, and whathe did on the cross.
That is what God has called usto this morning.
(21:02):
And so I want to remind you aswe're gonna close in prayer.
unknown (21:05):
Yay, I did the time.
SPEAKER_01 (21:06):
Um, as we're gonna close in prayer, I want to
remind you that God he sees andhe knows everything.
We talked about being in hispresence and letting him be God.
We talked about delighting inhim, we talked about having a
relationship with his word,meaning a relationship with
(21:26):
Christ.
And so as I pray today, I'mgonna ask the Lord to just help
us.
Lord, help us to be still enoughto know you.
Let our relationship with you beone of unrelenting faith, hope,
and delight in what you say andnot what our circumstances
(21:52):
dictate.
May our lives reflect thereality of the transforming
power of the cross.
Let us always be thankful thatyou died, that you rose again,
and that you are coming back.
For we are longing to hear thosewords Well done, thou good and
(22:16):
faithful servant.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
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