January 3, 2025 • 44 mins
Have you ever felt unseen, unheard, or overlooked? In this episode of Between Sermons, we explore the comforting truth of El Roi, the God who sees you—right where you are. Through the story of Hagar and her life-changing encounter with God, we unpack how His presence meets us in our loneliness, challenges, and brokenness. Join us as we dive into practical ways to embrace His care, trust His timing, and find hope in knowing that you are never invisible to Him. If you've ever doubted that God sees you, this conversation is for you.
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Episode Transcript
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Brent McQuay (00:00):
Recording.
Kelli Florez (00:15):
Five, four, three.
Brent McQuay (00:22):
Hey, everybody, and welcome back to another
episode of Between Sermons. And actually, this
is a super special episode of Between
Sermons because it is the Last 1
of 2024. That's right. This is the
end. But don't worry because we're going
to start fresh again next week, 2025.
And actually, next week's episode is also
(00:42):
going to be super special because we
are making a super important announcement that
Sunday. And so you want to make
sure that you are checking out that
message, but also our podcast for. For
that week, because it is going to
be good. But yeah. So here we
are. This is Between Sermons. For those
of you that don't know me, my
name is Brent. I'm the lead pastor
at Christian Life Center. And what we
(01:04):
get to do in this show is
kind of continue our conversation from Sunday.
And really, in a lot of ways,
Sunday is a monologue. There's a person
on a stage talking at a group
of people. And so what we like
to be able to do is turn
that monologue into dialogue, turn it into
an actual conversation where we can get
a little bit deeper, get a little
more practical even. How do we take
(01:24):
what we hear on Sunday and actually
live it out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
throughout the rest of the week? And
so to help us with that conversation,
I'm joined by the amazing co host,
Tyisha Veasley.
Ti’heasha Beasley (01:37):
Welcome. I am so excited to be
here today. It was an awesome message
and I can't wait to dive in.
But before we get started, we have
to welcome our special guest. She is
very special. If you have been to
Christian Life center to visit, you see
the Hope Cafe. And her and her
(01:57):
amazing husband and team is doing a
great job. So let's welcome Kelly to
the show. So, Kelly, are you excited
to be here today?
Kelli Florez (02:04):
I'm excited and nervous.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:06):
And nervous.
Kelli Florez (02:06):
Girl, you got this.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:07):
You look good. You look fabulous. And
yes. And we're here with our. The
host, Brent, so we're gonna have some
fun. The conversation's gonna be good. Before
we dive in. How was your Christmas?
Kelli Florez (02:20):
My Christmas was awesome. I had three
Christmases, so they were all really, really
good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:25):
How did you have three?
Kelli Florez (02:26):
Because we did one for the cafe.
That was the best. And then we
did our family and then we did
my dad's family yesterday. So. Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:34):
So you got like double, triple?
Kelli Florez (02:36):
Oh, I got lots of, lots of
stuff. It was really good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:38):
Lots of love and gift. Awesome. What
about you? Two packs of bread.
Brent McQuay (02:41):
We only had two Christmases, so not
quite at Kelly's level, but we did
Christmas, just my five.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:47):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (02:48):
For. Actually, for Christmas Eve. And then
Christmas, we got to join my sister
and her husband and their daughter and
my parents. So we got to celebrate
Christmas all together. And then actually Friday
night, we did Our first annual McQuay
Christmas Games competition, something my wife has
been wanting to do for a while.
(03:08):
And I keep telling her no because
I'm. I'm the Grinch Bah humbug, apparently.
But no. So she just found a
bunch of games and things on Instagram
that are, like, Christmasy.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:19):
Oh, yeah.
Brent McQuay (03:19):
And so then we actually got. There's
some footage out there of, like, Pastor
Jerry with some whipped cream on his
face. Some. Some great fun was had
by the McQuay family on Friday.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:29):
Oh, I need to see that footage.
Brent McQuay (03:31):
Oh, it'll be posted at some point.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:33):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (03:33):
It's not up yet.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:34):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (03:35):
It'll be there.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:35):
It'll be fun. I think people opening
gifts or even having more than one
Christmas is like a new thing. And
I think I just realized it this
year. I was looking on social media,
and I was like, wait a minute.
People are opening gifts on Christmas Eve?
Like, we did that actually at our
house because we had two Christmases. We.
We did one with just myself, my
(03:56):
husband, and my son. And then we
went to his dad's house and did
it with their family. His got brothers
and sisters. And so I won't say
stuff. They're like, his brothers. They are
his brothers and sisters. But it was
just a great time. But I'm, like,
looking on social media, I'm like, people
just opening gifts, like, three or four.
Brent McQuay (04:14):
Are you not supposed to open presents?
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:16):
I thought it was, like, one thing,
which was Christmas Day. I didn't know.
Like, I thought you would get in
trouble for opening gifts before Christmas Day.
Brent McQuay (04:26):
We've opened Christmas presents, like, a week
before Christmas. Well, like, so we're ministry
families. Like, there's, like, complications with, like,
I think that year, like, Christmas fell
on, like, a Sunday. Like, we had
Christmas Eve service. Like, it was just.
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:41):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (04:41):
So we're like, you know what?
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:42):
Let's.
Brent McQuay (04:42):
It's a week before Christmas. Let's just
do it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:44):
Yeah, I can see that.
Brent McQuay (04:46):
Yeah, we're rebels.
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:47):
Yeah, we're wild out there, man. Play
house, man. How did you guys spend
Christmas? Let us know in the comments.
Now I'm curious. So I want to
go back and look and see how
people are spending Christmas.
Kelli Florez (04:57):
I could tell you something fun about
Christmas. So my side, actually, we had
four Christmases. Now that I think about
it. My mom's Side of the family
does a nailed it competition every year
and arm wrestling competition. So Ramon won
his fourth trophy for arm wrestling. He's
undefeated.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:16):
Let me tell the world.
Kelli Florez (05:17):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:18):
Oh, that's awesome.
Brent McQuay (05:19):
I know who I should not be.
Kelli Florez (05:20):
Arm.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:21):
Right, right.
Kelli Florez (05:22):
So the four time champion, undefeated. Just
in case my cousin sees us.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:30):
Oh, I love that. I mean, so
I, I think this is a good
way to segue into our message. Or
maybe not, but I think it's good
because we talked about Elroy today continuing
the name dropping series, which has been
amazing. And it talks about the guy
who sees you and just how it
(05:51):
relates to Christmas. Like just having the
opportunity to spend time four times, five
times, three times with your loved ones
and just have those special moments, show
that God, he loves us and he
cares for us. It's like a little
sweet kiss on the forehead. Like, I
see you. You know, I know it's
been a rough year. I know you
(06:11):
know, it has made things have been
challenging, but I see you. I mean,
that's how I took it. Like, God
sees and he cares about the little
things. So having the opportunity to spend
time with your families, it's a special
thing that God sees.
Brent McQuay (06:25):
Sure.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:26):
Okay. Anyway, you kind of lost me
on.
Brent McQuay (06:29):
The kiss on the forehead.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:30):
No, I always say. No, I always
say like when, when little, when God
allows us to have those little moments.
I feel like it's just like a
dead daddy thing. Like you're my child
and I see you. That's what I
mean.
Brent McQuay (06:43):
That's beautiful.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:44):
But the, but the message was good.
Pastor Jerry opened up. He did an
amazing job. He carried us through a
couple stories. He started off with Hagai
and then he talked about Hagar.
Brent McQuay (06:56):
Haggai is the prophet.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:58):
Yes, you're right. And he talked about
Jacob and he just, you know, laid
out the different places where Elroy, the
God who sees you showed up. And
so I kind of want to get
your input. How did the message impact
you today? We'll start with you, Kelly.
Kelli Florez (07:19):
For me, I really, I was excited
about the name because I really like
this name. It's what actually I spoke
about last January, on New Year's Eve
last year. And like I've read the
story, I know the story of Hagar
and everything. And I love the fact
that he saw her because he, he
saw, like Pastor Jerry was saying, she
(07:39):
was all alone by herself and she
was feeling some kind of a way
because now she's friendless. I didn't even
think about the fact here she would
think I have to give Birth. And
how am I going to do that
when I have no resources and no
people? So I could definitely see how
that would be something troubling on her
mind. But for me, I love that
he sees me because there's been so
many different times where I've been low
(08:01):
or just desperate and needs something. And
that was how I started ended last
year. I began the new year was
I realized, you know, he is seeing
me, he's seeing what I need and
he's providing it. And it's funny that
you said you kind of think it
ties with Christmas because this whole Christmas
time has been really special because we
kind of struggle with some things. And
(08:23):
every single time that it was something
little, like just something a little like,
okay, I wanted some Bath and Body
shampoo the other day and I was
telling Ramon, like, oh, it'd be so
cool if we can get the shampoo
75% off. And then I'm like, but
we can't. And my friend texted me,
hey, I'm at Bath and Body, can
I get this? And I was like,
oh, he really does see you. And
so it's little things like that. But
for me, it was all those times
(08:44):
that I really needed him, the times
that I was really broken, really low,
before I even found God and everything
when he put his eyes on me.
And I don't know, I just. I
think it's a really special thing. But
I don't think. I think you have
want. You have to want him to
see you in order for him to
see you. Because if you're not looking
for him to see you, then he's
(09:05):
not gonna. You're not gonna recognize he
see you. So that's really good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (09:10):
And I wanna unpack that some more
later. But Pastor Bryant, what about you?
Brent McQuay (09:15):
Yeah, so I love the message. I
do have a kind of a love
hate relationship with this str story because
it's, it's. I don't know when you
want me to nerd out, but go
for it. Like the, the story of
Hagar, like, there's so many firsts that
take place within the story. So, like,
there's a lot of significant things, but
(09:35):
it's all built out of stupidity, right?
Like, so, so Abram, like, is an
idiot in this moment, Sarai's an idiot
in this moment. And like, there's so
much just stupidity that's happening. And so,
like, it frustrates me. And then the,
the result, the outcome of this is
the Arabic people who are at war
(09:57):
constantly in the region. And like, there's
so much devastation that happens to the
people of Israel as a result of
this one moment. And so like, that's
why I hate it. But then I
love it because the God who sees
is a beautiful name for God. It's
a beautiful idea about God. It's comforting
when we're going through things. I love,
(10:19):
love how Pastor Jerry said it towards
the end is like, there's nothing that
happens in our lives that God doesn't
see. And like that is comforting. There's
like, you never have to give God
information. Like, hey, God, don't you know
what's going on? Like, he knows, he
sees it. But at the same time
I'm like, I kind of wish this
whole thing didn't happen because there'd be
a whole lot more peace in the
(10:40):
world I think, if Ishmael was never
born. So, yeah, so it's like I
got, I got conflict with this story.
Yeah, it's beautiful and it's awful and
it's ugly and it's all built out
of stupidity. And there's a lesson there
for us to learn about not trying
to make things happen and just letting
God do it in his timing and
trusting him in the process.
Ti’heasha Beasley (11:00):
True.
Brent McQuay (11:00):
That's a whole different message.
Ti’heasha Beasley (11:02):
Do you think that's why God showed
up and, you know, met Hagar?
Brent McQuay (11:10):
Yeah, so. So I think part of
it is like, the gifts of God
are without repentance. Like, it doesn't. They,
they're not removed. And so when God
blesses Abram and says, I'm gonna make
you fruitful, what we actually see is
that applies even when Abram does the
wrong thing. And so like Ishmael being
(11:32):
born, Ishmael having 12 sons, Abram, we
don't talk about this part of the
story. Abram, after Sarai dies, he goes
on and marries another woman, gets a
concubine and has six more sons and
they have nation. Like when we say
that Abram or Abraham becomes the father
of many nations, it's not one and
it's not two, it's many. And it's.
(11:55):
This family is just explodes out of
one guy because God touched him and
said, you're gonna be fruitful, you're gonna
multiply. Even as a 99 year old
man, like crazy stuff happens. And so
like there are, yeah, there's a lot
of repercussions.
Ti’heasha Beasley (12:13):
What really stood out to me in
this story was when Pastor Jerry highlighted
that and it's actually in, in the
scripture how God told him Hagar to
go back to that situation. I was
like, that does not feel like God
sees me. How did that. What was
(12:33):
your reaction to that? That point when
you read it or heard it?
Kelli Florez (12:36):
Yeah, I think if I was Hagar,
I definitely would have not liked it.
But how many times has he told
us to go and do something? How
many times says, man, even being married,
like, sometimes tough being married. And, like,
one time I was really, really mad
at the kids in Ramon, and I
was like, I'm going somewhere. And I
(12:58):
was driving down the road and I
heard, go get donuts and go back.
And I was like, oh, no, God,
no way. They made me mad. And
he was like, go get donuts and
go back. And I went to Dunkin,
got donuts and went back. And I
didn't want to, but it was the
best thing I could have done. So,
I mean, I know that doesn't compare
to going back to somebody who's verbally
(13:20):
abusing you. I'm assuming that that's what
she was doing, but we all have
to do that stuff, so I think
it would suck. But, like, Pastor Jerry
said he knows what's ahead of you.
He knows the whole story, so he
knows what's best.
Ti’heasha Beasley (13:33):
Yeah, Yeah. I was gonna ask. Why
do you feel like God will ask
us to go back sometime? Pastor Brent?
Brent McQuay (13:38):
I think that's God's way of saying,
like, suck it up, Sally. Like, I
think there's some times when we're just.
We're complaining about our situation and we're.
We're so frustrated with the circumstances, and
God's just like, hey, look, I'm. I'm
gonna do something through this, but I
can't remove you from it, or I
can't do the thing that I'm wanting
to do. Right? So it's like, it'd
be like Joseph complaining about being sold
into slavery or wrongfully imprisoned. Like, it's
(14:01):
like, yeah, but I need you to
be there so that you can end
up number two in the whole country.
You can end up saving your family.
You can save all of these people.
Like, I'm doing something. And, yeah, there's
some sucky stuff that's going to happen
to you, but I need you to
just deal with it. Like, trust me,
in this process, not everything that we
encounter in following Jesus is going to
(14:23):
be rainbows and sunshine. Like, sometimes you
actually have to pick up your cross
and carry it. Right? And so, like,
I think there's a lot of moments
where God just kind of looks at
us as we're complaining about stuff, and
he just says, you done yet? Okay.
You got that out of your system?
Ti’heasha Beasley (14:39):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (14:39):
All right. Put on your big boy
pants. Go. Go do the thing that
I already told you to do. Go
do the thing you're supposed to do.
Kelli Florez (14:44):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (14:44):
And I think that that's kind of
the moment that. That he's having with.
With Hagar. But I don't know. There's.
There's so much in that story that's.
I don't know. It's crazy.
Ti’heasha Beasley (14:53):
And you're talking about the full story.
I feel like you just want to
nerd out, like, right now.
Brent McQuay (14:59):
No, no. Like, I don't.
Kelli Florez (15:00):
I don't.
Brent McQuay (15:01):
So the interesting thing with Hagar's story
is I would call it like the
story of firsts. It's the first time
that a human gives God a name.
It's the first time God addresses a
woman by name. It's the first time
that we see a promise, like a
(15:22):
prophetic word about an individual person. It's
the first time you see a well
being named after God, which is a
theme that gets carried throughout a lot
of the Old Testament. You get a
lot of different wells that are named
for specific things that God is doing.
This is the first time that happens.
It is the. The first. I would
consider it the first christophany. So Pastor
(15:43):
Jay pointed out that when you read
in Scripture the angel of the Lord
versus an angel of the Lord. So
an angel of the Lord is just
a generic angelic being. The angel of
the Lord is what we would refer
to as a christophany. So Christ is
being revealed before he's in the flesh.
And so when the angel of the
Lord speaks to her, that's the first
(16:03):
time we see in scripture the angel
of the Lord doing something. So, like,
there's so many firsts that happen within
this story. And it's for a woman
that isn't Jewish, she's not an Israeli,
she's not part of the promises. She's
basically there because Sarai doesn't trust God.
(16:25):
And Abram decides to go with his
wife's horrible idea, which is also a
common practice of the time. And, like,
there's interesting things that you can read,
like the Code of Hammurabi, where, like,
that was an actual practice of the
time, that if a woman couldn't give
birth, she would give the slave, and
the child that was born of the
slave would be their child. But Sarai
never claims Ishmael female as her own,
(16:46):
even though that's what the whole process
was supposed to be like. It's just
like all the people in the story
do the wrong thing, do the bad
thing, and God is still blessing it.
And I'm like, why? That's weird.
Kelli Florez (16:56):
Yeah. Because he does that for us,
though.
Brent McQuay (16:58):
He does.
Kelli Florez (16:59):
Yeah, he does that for us.
Brent McQuay (17:00):
I'm like, why?
Kelli Florez (17:01):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:03):
Well, praise God. God is God. Yeah.
Kelli Florez (17:07):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (17:08):
Sorry, did I just derail all this?
That's why I started off by saying
I've got such a love hate relationship.
Because there's so many amazing moments and
amazing things. I mean, even just the
fact that the first person in the
Bible to name God is not following
him.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:27):
To me. I feel like it's. I
don't want to say magical. I feel
like it's great. And it speaks to
who God is. He always uses the
things I don't want to say dumb.
But I feel like I'm picking up
some of your habits.
Brent McQuay (17:40):
I say the word dumb and stupid
too often.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:42):
He uses those things to, like, do
what he pleases. He uses the people
that you would least expect it to
show himself to. And so I think
it just speaks to his character. So
I look for me. I love that
part.
Brent McQuay (17:55):
And that's, that's the beauty of it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:57):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (17:57):
That's the love hate relationship.
Kelli Florez (17:59):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (17:59):
With this dumb story.
Kelli Florez (18:01):
I have a question. Can I ask
a question?
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:03):
Yes.
Kelli Florez (18:04):
Why did. Yeah, I understand that they
were. This was their, their customs and
everything, but why wait till you're in
your 80s and 90s? Now all of
a sudden I want my slave girl
to have a child. What about before
all that time? Like, why not when
you're 50 and 60 and 30 and
like, why when you're an old grandma?
Brent McQuay (18:23):
It's a great question. We don't have
an answer to it. We don't get
a glimpse of, of that thought process.
Kelli Florez (18:29):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (18:30):
But yeah, they waited to the very
end. And this is after God's already
promised, hey, I'm going to bless you.
You're going to have a son. And
they're like, okay, cool. And then it
didn't happen right away. So they're like,
all right, well, let's do it our
way.
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:42):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (18:42):
And their way sucked.
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:44):
I know. And the writer in me
is just creating a whole story. So
I'm like, maybe because it goes with
the storyline and you know why Sarah
didn't trust Scott. You know, so that's
what the writer in me. But it's
not. That's not fact.
Kelli Florez (18:57):
But.
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:57):
So, Kelly, have there been moments where
you. I know you have a major
testimony that you've shared about finally seeing
that God sees you. Have there been
moments in the past where you did
not feel like God see, See you.
Brent McQuay (19:11):
Oh, yeah, saw you.
Ti’heasha Beasley (19:13):
Saw you. I'm like, what about where
God didn't see you? Has there been
moments where you felt.
Kelli Florez (19:18):
Yeah, I would probably. I love my
kids, but I would have to say
most of those moments were as a
parent. I probably felt unseen the most
because the busyness of being a mom
and I've been a stay at home
mom for almost 20 years now. So
I think that a lot of times,
you know, just being a mom, you
get lost in that life and you
(19:38):
feel unseen by people and by God.
And it's like, well, I'm reading your
word and I'm doing this and I'm
doing that, like the complaining that Pastor
Brent was talking about. And. But I
had those moments where he did, you
know, let me know and I got
you. I see you. This is, you
know, even like something so small as
I was feeling overwhelmed one time with
(19:59):
the kids and I was at my
sister in law's and I had the
thought in my head, it would be
so nice if my husband would come
home from work early today. And this
time he worked like an hour and
a half away, no joke. Five minutes
later, he showed up at the door
and I was like, what? It was.
And I needed that. I needed that
relief and I needed him in that
moment. I just needed the comfort of
(20:20):
having my husband there. And. And he
answered my prayer before I even asked
for it. So. So, you know, I
know that, that Hagar said he sees
me, but she, you know, he. She
also, he said, I hear you. I
heard what you're saying. So I feel
like the seeing and the hearing kind
of go together. So, yeah, Pastor Jerry
asked a question.
Ti’heasha Beasley (20:40):
And I was like, oh, I'm snatching
it for the podcast. When he said,
when was the moment you realized that
God sees you or he saw you?
Kelli Florez (20:50):
The only moment?
Ti’heasha Beasley (20:51):
Well, the way he asked the question
was like that one moment, that pivotal
moment in your life where maybe it
was that coming to Christ moment for
you. When was that moment where you
felt like he truly saw you?
Kelli Florez (21:06):
Well, you really want me to tell
you? Okay, so, like I've known, you
know, but when I actually truly was
like, whoa. There was, I guess I
would say two times. But the most
recent one was I was, I was
just started singing and I was singing
a song to him and I was
(21:26):
like, okay, this is weird. And I
just kept on singing it and it
was going, you know, deeper and everything.
And I closed my eyes and he
showed me like I knew Where I
was, I could see, you know, oh,
this is Kelly at this age. And
this I could see like there was
my past and everything. And he was
actually standing right behind me. Like Jesus
was standing right behind me. And I
(21:47):
could see everything around me was just
black and there was all this darkness.
And I knew he didn't want me
to go into the darkness and I
went anyways. And I knew I was
leaving him and I knew that he
was like, it was almost like I
knew his thought. He, he was going
to wait right there. Like, go ahead,
go into the darkness and I'll be
right here waiting for you. And I
knew he was going to see everything
I did. And I still chose it
(22:09):
anyways. I still chose to go into
the darkness. And I knew what that
was in like, I could see this
in the vision, but I also knew
in reality, oh, this is, this is
me when I, I call it when
I was in the sin pool, when
I was all up in the 90210
doing things I shouldn't have been doing
and everything and, But I knew in
that vision he was waiting for me
(22:30):
when I was doing, when I was
not with God. I didn't know who
God was, I didn't know who Jesus
was and everything, but for him to
show me. I was there when you
did this and I was waiting and
I saw you and I was waiting
and I was waiting and I've seen
everything. But like Pastor Brent said that,
that he still welcomed me back and
he waited right there for me till
I came back. And that was, I
(22:50):
guess, my biggest aha. With him seeing
me.
Ti’heasha Beasley (22:53):
Wow.
Kelli Florez (22:53):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (22:54):
That's awesome.
Kelli Florez (22:55):
It is awesome. Cuz God is good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (22:57):
Can you top that, Pastor?
Brent McQuay (22:58):
I mean, that was pretty definitely can't
top it. I've had, I don't know,
a lot of different moments. I, I,
I think I've already shared a few
of them on the show in different
times. But there's one that there was
this moment, I was probably 19, 20
years old. I was in northern Nigeria.
We were on a mission trip. There's
about 100 of us. But when we
(23:20):
got into the northern Nigeria, it's a
very violent area. It's not safe for
Christians. There was riots in the street
while we were there. There was a
Muslim holiday that was happening and so
they actually we had to stay on
a secure compound. So like middle of
nowhere, armed guards just to keep us
safe. And in that moment, like there's
a little bit of fear, a little
bit of worry happening and we kind
(23:42):
of huddled under this. This building, I
guess I'd call it a building, basically
just had, like, struts, like, just big
poles and a tin roof, so no
walls or anything. And so we're under
there and we're starting, like, a. Just
a prayer service together. And all of
a sudden, it starts raining. And it
is, like, the hardest rain I've ever
heard in my life. But there's no
(24:02):
walls and it's a tin roof. So,
like, it just. It just makes that
sound, like, deafening. And so we're just.
We're under there, and you're just hearing
the strength of the storm all around
us. And I don't know, there was
just this moment in prayer and worship
under that metal roof that all of
a sudden it was like you could
just tangibly feel the presence of God
(24:24):
in a way that was like, you're
here. Like, it wiped away all the
fear, all the worries that we had.
And it was just. It was just
a beautiful moment of just worshiping in
Nigeria. God's here. He showed up.
Ti’heasha Beasley (24:38):
That's awesome. It provided comfort for, like,
being in the middle. That's awesome. Yeah.
I mean, for me is. Man, I
could just remember being in a season
where I just felt like I wasn't
where I should be as a believer.
And I just remember. Just always I
would feel his, like, hand, like, I'm
(24:59):
here. Don't go too far. Like, literally
being like, don't go too far. I'm
here. And I could just feel him
pulling me back closer to him. So
I think we have those experiences where
we experience him as Elroy, God who
sees me. Because there's a lot of
times when you don't feel seen.
Kelli Florez (25:20):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (25:20):
And sometimes it starts by, like, humans.
You just don't feel seen by your
husband or your wife or your friends.
And I think. Well, let me ask
you guys this question. Do you feel
like not recognizing that God sees you
affects how you feel other people see.
View you?
Kelli Florez (25:36):
Man. That's good. I'm gonna pass on
over there first.
Brent McQuay (25:41):
I don't know. I'm not the right
person to answer that question because I'm
the. I don't need people to see
me. I prefer if they don't.
Ti’heasha Beasley (25:50):
You're right. You're right.
Brent McQuay (25:51):
People don't understand. They're like, but he's
on the stage, like, all the time.
He's doing a podcast. They're cameras. Like,
no, I would much prefer to be
behind the scenes.
Ti’heasha Beasley (25:58):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (25:58):
Like, I don't want people seeing me.
That's part of that whole social anxiety.
Thing. And so, yeah, the less people
seeing me, the better.
Kelli Florez (26:06):
So.
Ti’heasha Beasley (26:07):
But you're everywhere. It doesn't work. What
about you?
Kelli Florez (26:13):
I know you mentioned I love being
seen.
Ti’heasha Beasley (26:16):
Okay.
Kelli Florez (26:16):
I do. I would take center stage.
I love that stuff. But I don't
know if that really affected. I don't
know if God seeing me, my doubt
of him seeing me affected people seeing
me. But, yeah, maybe the experience of
feeling unseen by people, I don't know
(26:38):
if that necessarily affects me in believing
him being able to see me. I
think that's more of whatever trauma that
I had in my past and everything
made me not be able to trust
that somebody would see me and everything.
So I don't think it's necessarily people
not paying attention. Maybe just the tough
stuff I had, you know, in my
life.
Ti’heasha Beasley (26:57):
So, you know, I want to ask,
because when you said that, I'm like,
okay, elaborate. So when you say, like,
the trauma that you experienced, like, that
was something that caused you not to
feel God seeing you, can you share
more about that?
Kelli Florez (27:14):
Well, it was not the easiest growing
up and everything, so it was tough.
I came from a. I don't know
if my family watched this or not,
but I came from a divorced family,
and there was a lot of hostility
and everything. So I think just the
growing up in a hostile environment and
(27:37):
a lot of separation and different things
that happened caused me to not trust
humans and not trust God. He was
always there. But my relationship with Jesus
is a real relationship with Jesus versus
how it was when I was growing
up versus how it was when I
was a kid. I didn't have, like,
a real relationship with Jesus. It was
(27:57):
like, oh, we go to church on
Sundays or really actually just holidays and.
And I'm in Catholic school and blah,
blah, blah. So I didn't. I knew
I could talk to God, but I
didn't really know really what that meant
until I was probably around 25, is
when I actually started walking with him
and everything. So I think it was
(28:17):
just a lot of trauma that caused
me to not be able to trust.
And every. I feel like all the
time he's just healing and healing that.
So it helps me get closer to
him. So. Yeah. Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (28:28):
So what are some practical things we
can do? Like, moving into that segment,
what are some practical things we can
do or encourage. Encourage people who are
watching to do when they are in
seasons where they feel like God does
not see them? I don't know. I'm
gonna go. Pastor Bryant, you want to
take that one?
Brent McQuay (28:44):
I think that what we always have
to do is there's always going to
be a difference between what you know
and what you feel. And feelings lie,
true, but the truth doesn't. And so
the truth is God sees you even
when it doesn't feel feel like he
sees you. He does. And so what
(29:04):
we have to do is trust the
truth. Trust that when he says I
see you, he means it, and that
there's nothing that we go through in
life that he doesn't see. And so
it's either going to be for my
good or it's going to be for
his glory. As we say around here
a bunch. Like, if I can just
trust him in that process, I don't
(29:25):
need to give him the information. I
don't need to inform him of what's
going on in my life or in
my situation. I need to trust him
in it. That either there's a good
that's going to come about out of
this and I just need to keep
plugging away, or maybe I'm in something
because I did something I shouldn't have
and there's consequences to that and I
(29:46):
need to get back on the right
path. I need to get back to
following him. But whatever it is, I
need to trust in the truth and
not in my feelings. So when it
feels like God's not there, or if
it feels like God's abandoned you, remember
that those feelings are a lie. The
truth is, he sees you. He cares.
I love reading psalms because David so
(30:09):
often will. Will start a psalm, basically
doubting God, like, God, where are you
in this? Why have you forsaken me?
What is going on here? Like, David
will make all kinds of accusatory things
at the beginning of a psalm, but
by the time he gets to the
end of that psalm, without fail, all
of a sudden it's like, but God,
you're glorious. And God, you're amazing. God,
(30:30):
you're awesome. And God, I trust in
you and you make my path straight.
And so, like, there is such a
beauty in we can express these feelings
when they suck, but always hold on
to this truth that, hey, sometimes I
just need to vent. I need to
just let it out. But then I
need to operate as if he does
see me. And if, if I'm going
(30:51):
through this, there's a reason for it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (30:54):
That's good. What are some things you
do, Kelly?
Kelli Florez (30:59):
Well, like if I was going to
speak to a believer or a non
believer, I think that the answer would
be a little bit similar. But if
I was to speak to a non
believer, I think I would give Them
advice that somebody gave me, and that
is just to call out his name.
And I think that's kind of how.
(31:20):
Well, for me, that's how it began.
Like, you know, if I was having
a bad dream, just to call on
his name and he would help me.
So I think just saying his name,
saying Jesus helps. But maybe, like, how
Pastor Brent was saying that David seemed
to praise at the end, maybe putting
on praise music. Because sometimes you have
to, like, hype yourself up and get
yourself into that moment. Because if things
(31:41):
are piling up and things and you
feel unseen or you feel. Well, just
unseen, you have to. At least for
a female perspective, our feelings kind of
go all over the place. And so
I'm cool, and then I could cry
or whatever Hallmark comes on, and I'm
over here tissuing it up. And so,
you know, I think that getting yourself
(32:01):
in that position to be able to
worship him or be able to praise
him so you can get all those
thoughts out. Because I know the cool
thing about females is we can think,
like, 20,000 thoughts in a second. Like,
I'm thinking 10 things while you're talking,
and, you know, I can plan dinner
while I'm making coffee in the cafe.
And so there's so many things going
on. I have to, like, calm all
(32:22):
that down and quiet it down so
I'm able to. To recognize that. And
then you can recognize that, you know,
because you have to trick yourself sometimes
to remind yourself, like, no, he's here.
He's real. He loves me. Like, a
lot of times we are.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:36):
Just struggling, distracted by what's going on.
Kelli Florez (32:38):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:38):
That we don't recognize or we don't
see that he's here.
Kelli Florez (32:41):
Yeah. So those are good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:43):
That's good. So we are to my.
One of my favorite parts of the
show where you. We come up with
who has the best takeaway for the
show.
Kelli Florez (32:53):
Okay.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:54):
Well, for the sermon. I'm sorry.
Kelli Florez (32:55):
Okay.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:56):
And pretty. And our team out there
rates us. And so I'm gonna go
in the middle. Last time, I went
first. So which one do you want
to go first?
Kelli Florez (33:05):
I'm going last because I don't even
know what this is.
Ti’heasha Beasley (33:10):
So you basically share a moment that
really, like, stuck out to you that
you feel is the best takeaway for.
Kelli Florez (33:15):
The message from the sermon today. Okay,
I'll let him go first.
Ti’heasha Beasley (33:19):
Yes. So we'll start with you.
Brent McQuay (33:21):
Oh, see, I usually go last. I
wasn't even thinking about anything. Yeah, because,
you know, girls have that ability to
think of a million things. Guys have
the Ability to think about nothing. Yeah,
so I was here thinking about nothing.
Okay, so the God who sees my
big takeaway is. I think it's just
the confidence in knowing that he sees
(33:41):
the truth of that statement. That even
if it doesn't feel like it, even
if I'm going through something and it's
like, God, do you even care? Do
you even see this? What I love
about this story is that God saw
and he did something, right? And in
every single story, that was the case.
So, like, even. Even with. With Moses
(34:02):
when he says, you know, it's been
400 years of you guys crying, and
I've seen it, and I'm here to
do something about it now. Now, we
could complain and argue like, man, why
didn't you do something on day one
instead of on year 400? But the
truth is, everything works according to his
timing and his plan and his purposes.
And so if I can just trust
(34:23):
the one who sees me, it'll be
okay.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:27):
That's good. He still kind of stole,
like, a little bit of mine.
Kelli Florez (34:30):
I steal yours.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:31):
When I went first, there's no way.
Brent McQuay (34:33):
If I go first, I steal. If
I go last, I steal. There's just
no winning this game for me.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:38):
What do we. What do we give
him? Pretty. An eight.
Brent McQuay (34:41):
Solid eight.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:41):
Okay. Trust is important. Trust is important.
Mine was God's timing. Crickets. Let me
read.
Brent McQuay (34:54):
Taisha's stealing something.
Kelli Florez (34:59):
Let me read.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:59):
Let me see how I can bring
this all together. I just think that
his timing was good. So he waited.
He allowed Sarah to not be able
to have children for a long time.
And they. He waited till she got
really old. And then they had to
bring in the. The young lady. I
don't want to say a slave girl.
(35:20):
They had to bring her because, man.
Brent McQuay (35:23):
I love you, but I hate that
language.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:25):
What language?
Brent McQuay (35:26):
That they had to bring in somebody
else. No, what they had to do
was trust God.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:31):
No, but I was.
Brent McQuay (35:32):
The whole story is the fact that
they screwed up.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:34):
I know, but it still got all
of God's timing. If she wasn't old,
she wouldn't have felt like she had
to use someone else to help them.
Kelli Florez (35:43):
I call Cap on that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:44):
Huh?
Kelli Florez (35:45):
I'm calling Cap on that. That's Cap.
Brent McQuay (35:48):
That's Cap.
Kelli Florez (35:49):
You know why? Because Check this out.
Look it. I. I just think that
she had a trust problem. And I
have. I don't. I try. Like, okay,
for example, I don't know what I'm
gonna do, right? And I'm like, what
should I do? Gosh, should I Work.
Should I not do? I need a
job, I want a job. I don't
know, blah, blah, blah. But I don't
want a Sarai moment because I don't
want to do it in my own
(36:09):
way and then I'm going to mess
it up. Because if I do it
a Sarai way and then I have
her moment, then I'm just gonna. I've
done that before, been there, seen that
show. I don't want to watch that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (36:18):
I agree with you both.
Brent McQuay (36:21):
Here's the thing with this story. This
is why I have a love hate
relationship with the story. It is not
a good story. It is not a
positive example. No, no, I gotta get
this off my chest. It's not, it's
not a go out and do likewise
kind of. You are not supposed to
be like Sarai or Abram in the
story. You're not supposed to be like
Hagar in this story. Like we literally
(36:43):
are experiencing war after war after war.
All because true of this horrible, horrible,
awful, God forsaken choice.
Ti’heasha Beasley (36:56):
But it had to happen. And that
was the, that's the part.
Brent McQuay (37:00):
That I disagree with.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:01):
It was God's sovereignty. Like it happened.
Brent McQuay (37:04):
That's. That's not sovereignty. Had to happen.
Did it have to happen? No.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:08):
Okay. It didn't have to happen. But
it happened that way. God redeemed it.
No, we wouldn't be preaching on. We
just said that if none of that
happens, he wouldn't.
Brent McQuay (37:20):
A lot of the God fulfilled a
promise to Abraham despite ab. Abraham's stupidity.
That's not, that's not redeeming. There's nothing
redemptive about Ishmael.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:32):
Okay, I get that. I'm talking about
all of the first that happened in
the story. God revealed himself to Hagar.
All of that wouldn't have happened. That
wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have that
story.
Brent McQuay (37:46):
No. We would have had a different
first. That would have been a better
story the world had.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:50):
If, if Adam and Eve, if they
didn't buy it then of course. But
God redeemed the worst of the stories.
It was all in his plan.
Brent McQuay (38:01):
No, that's where I. Oh, oh, this
is good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:05):
This is not good.
Brent McQuay (38:07):
Was it God's plan for Ishmael to
be born? 100%. No.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:12):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (38:13):
That was not God's plan.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:14):
I understand all of that.
Brent McQuay (38:15):
Is God sovereign? Does God know all
things? Yes. Does. Does God knowing that
Ishmael was going to be born mean
that God caused that to happen?
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:24):
No, I didn't say that.
Brent McQuay (38:25):
No. Causality and knowledge are not the
same.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:27):
I didn't say that. I said we
wouldn't have the moments that we have
from that story if the story did
not happen.
Brent McQuay (38:35):
Sure.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:37):
That was the first time we just
said.
Brent McQuay (38:39):
The first time we've ever disagreed on
the Charlotte's degree. I love it. Taisha
hates it, and I love it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:45):
So I'm saying.
Brent McQuay (38:46):
I bet David wants to jump into
the conversation right now, too. Can we
that man a mic. Get David a
mic.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:54):
I'm just saying. I'm not saying we
all make. Sometimes we don't make the
right decisions. We don't trust God. All
I'm saying is that God can take
that story as messed up as it
is, and there can be elements of
it that. Where he still gets the
glory. That's what I'm saying.
Brent McQuay (39:09):
Sure. I agree with that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (39:10):
And that's my point.
Brent McQuay (39:15):
Just don't say it had to happen.
Ti’heasha Beasley (39:17):
Okay. I have so much to say
there, but. Okay.
Brent McQuay (39:22):
Please, please.
Ti’heasha Beasley (39:23):
So I'm just saying I know it
didn't have to happen. Like, we have
a freedom of choice and will, and
we make bad decisions sometimes, and it
shouldn't go that way. But even in
those bad decisions, like God still you.
It's a part of his plan.
Kelli Florez (39:38):
I think this is like something he
said on the other weekend on one
of the Sundays was he'll bless you
still through your mess. But it. I
don't. I don't agree that it's his
plan either. Only because when I was
standing there and he was right behind
me and I saw the darkness in
front of me, I chose to go
into that darkness and reality. I chose
that he didn't. That wasn't a part
(39:59):
of you. God's plan wasn't for me
to do that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (40:02):
Gets pregnant and she's not married and
she has a beautiful child. That. That
child being born was not his plan.
Brent McQuay (40:09):
Yes.
Ti’heasha Beasley (40:10):
Well, I don't know what to say
to that.
Brent McQuay (40:14):
God's plan does not include your sin.
Your sin is a disruption to the
plan. So I heard somebody talk about
it, like, this one time. We're not
on plan A anymore. Like, none of
us like plan A for our lives.
None of us are on plan A.
None of us are on plan B
or C or D or E or
(40:35):
F or G. We're like, so far
down the Alphabet. The Alphabet's like, quadrupled
as far as the plan that we're
on. Because God works all things together.
Sure. And he's gonna make things happen
and change. However, that doesn't mean that
every choice I make is Good.
Kelli Florez (40:53):
No.
Brent McQuay (40:53):
I know that I can make bad
choices that are not his plan. His
plan is always perfect. So if I
sin, I'm going outside of God's plan.
Will God still use that sin to
do something? Sure. That does not make
it his plan. His plan was still
over here, but we left the path.
(41:15):
We abandoned God's plan.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:17):
So now I feel like you have
to encourage all of the people who
were born outside of marriage, that they
are still. It was a purpose, that
they were created.
Brent McQuay (41:29):
Oh, yes. So that. That God has
already incorporated them into what's going on.
But you can't say that God wanted
that person to commit adultery.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:39):
No, I'm not. I'm not saying that
even Sarah's lack of trust in God
was his plan. I'm saying that he
used that story.
Brent McQuay (41:48):
Yes.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:49):
To get the glory.
Brent McQuay (41:50):
That's all I'm doing. I'm just getting
you to the right language.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:53):
Wow. That's all I have, folks. What
was yours? You don't even have to
write it.
Kelli Florez (42:01):
So my biggest takeaway is love and
forgiveness. Because they all went outside of.
They all sinned. And if you read
the story before this happened, I was
like, wow, Abraham was really doing some
things he shouldn't have been doing. They
all sinned him, but he still forgave
every single one of them. And he
(42:21):
forgave Hagar. And he met her right
there in the middle of her sin.
And he talked to her, spoke to
her like he said, called her by
name. So I feel like this is,
for me, a huge story of love
and forgiveness, of what he does for
us every single day, all the time,
because he meets us where we are
and all of our mess.
Brent McQuay (42:41):
I give that a 10. I just
have one question.
Kelli Florez (42:47):
I don't know.
Brent McQuay (42:48):
Do you love and forgive me?
Ti’heasha Beasley (42:50):
Of course I love and forgive you,
brother and pastor and leader. Of course.
For. For what, this moment or what?
Which moment? Absolutely. Absolutely.
Brent McQuay (43:06):
I'm glad.
Ti’heasha Beasley (43:07):
Yes. So thank you for being a
part of this conversation. We had a
great time here. This is what it's
about. Conversation. Continuing the conversation from the
message. I hope that you, if you
did not have an opportunity to watch
the message. Go and watch it. It
was an amazing sermon taught by our
founding pastor, Pastor Jerry, and it'll help
(43:30):
you understand a little bit more about
this conversation, but also let us know
what your thoughts are. Are about this
conversation. I know we got some opinions
out there now since we open up,
I.
Brent McQuay (43:40):
Really hope there's going to be, like,
tons of arguments happening as a result
of this. That there's going to be
people that are like, no, Taisha's right.
No, Brain's right. Like, I would love
for you to be at a coffee
shop, listen to this and have to
pause it and be like, all right,
what do you think?
Ti’heasha Beasley (43:54):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (43:54):
God's plan or not God's plan.
Ti’heasha Beasley (43:56):
I know that that was intense. I'm
going to say I trust because you
are my pastor, but I'm still wrestling
with some things over here as I
conclude the show. But thank you for
joining us. Please, like, share and comment
and we will see you guys next
week.
Brent McQuay (44:17):
How do we keep smiling?
Recording.
Kelli Florez (00:15):
Five, four, three.
Brent McQuay (00:22):
Hey, everybody, and welcome back to another
episode of Between Sermons. And actually, this
is a super special episode of Between
Sermons because it is the Last 1
of 2024. That's right. This is the
end. But don't worry because we're going
to start fresh again next week, 2025.
And actually, next week's episode is also
(00:42):
going to be super special because we
are making a super important announcement that
Sunday. And so you want to make
sure that you are checking out that
message, but also our podcast for. For
that week, because it is going to
be good. But yeah. So here we
are. This is Between Sermons. For those
of you that don't know me, my
name is Brent. I'm the lead pastor
at Christian Life Center. And what we
(01:04):
get to do in this show is
kind of continue our conversation from Sunday.
And really, in a lot of ways,
Sunday is a monologue. There's a person
on a stage talking at a group
of people. And so what we like
to be able to do is turn
that monologue into dialogue, turn it into
an actual conversation where we can get
a little bit deeper, get a little
more practical even. How do we take
(01:24):
what we hear on Sunday and actually
live it out Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and
throughout the rest of the week? And
so to help us with that conversation,
I'm joined by the amazing co host,
Tyisha Veasley.
Ti’heasha Beasley (01:37):
Welcome. I am so excited to be
here today. It was an awesome message
and I can't wait to dive in.
But before we get started, we have
to welcome our special guest. She is
very special. If you have been to
Christian Life center to visit, you see
the Hope Cafe. And her and her
(01:57):
amazing husband and team is doing a
great job. So let's welcome Kelly to
the show. So, Kelly, are you excited
to be here today?
Kelli Florez (02:04):
I'm excited and nervous.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:06):
And nervous.
Kelli Florez (02:06):
Girl, you got this.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:07):
You look good. You look fabulous. And
yes. And we're here with our. The
host, Brent, so we're gonna have some
fun. The conversation's gonna be good. Before
we dive in. How was your Christmas?
Kelli Florez (02:20):
My Christmas was awesome. I had three
Christmases, so they were all really, really
good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:25):
How did you have three?
Kelli Florez (02:26):
Because we did one for the cafe.
That was the best. And then we
did our family and then we did
my dad's family yesterday. So. Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:34):
So you got like double, triple?
Kelli Florez (02:36):
Oh, I got lots of, lots of
stuff. It was really good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:38):
Lots of love and gift. Awesome. What
about you? Two packs of bread.
Brent McQuay (02:41):
We only had two Christmases, so not
quite at Kelly's level, but we did
Christmas, just my five.
Ti’heasha Beasley (02:47):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (02:48):
For. Actually, for Christmas Eve. And then
Christmas, we got to join my sister
and her husband and their daughter and
my parents. So we got to celebrate
Christmas all together. And then actually Friday
night, we did Our first annual McQuay
Christmas Games competition, something my wife has
been wanting to do for a while.
(03:08):
And I keep telling her no because
I'm. I'm the Grinch Bah humbug, apparently.
But no. So she just found a
bunch of games and things on Instagram
that are, like, Christmasy.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:19):
Oh, yeah.
Brent McQuay (03:19):
And so then we actually got. There's
some footage out there of, like, Pastor
Jerry with some whipped cream on his
face. Some. Some great fun was had
by the McQuay family on Friday.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:29):
Oh, I need to see that footage.
Brent McQuay (03:31):
Oh, it'll be posted at some point.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:33):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (03:33):
It's not up yet.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:34):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (03:35):
It'll be there.
Ti’heasha Beasley (03:35):
It'll be fun. I think people opening
gifts or even having more than one
Christmas is like a new thing. And
I think I just realized it this
year. I was looking on social media,
and I was like, wait a minute.
People are opening gifts on Christmas Eve?
Like, we did that actually at our
house because we had two Christmases. We.
We did one with just myself, my
(03:56):
husband, and my son. And then we
went to his dad's house and did
it with their family. His got brothers
and sisters. And so I won't say
stuff. They're like, his brothers. They are
his brothers and sisters. But it was
just a great time. But I'm, like,
looking on social media, I'm like, people
just opening gifts, like, three or four.
Brent McQuay (04:14):
Are you not supposed to open presents?
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:16):
I thought it was, like, one thing,
which was Christmas Day. I didn't know.
Like, I thought you would get in
trouble for opening gifts before Christmas Day.
Brent McQuay (04:26):
We've opened Christmas presents, like, a week
before Christmas. Well, like, so we're ministry
families. Like, there's, like, complications with, like,
I think that year, like, Christmas fell
on, like, a Sunday. Like, we had
Christmas Eve service. Like, it was just.
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:41):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (04:41):
So we're like, you know what?
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:42):
Let's.
Brent McQuay (04:42):
It's a week before Christmas. Let's just
do it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:44):
Yeah, I can see that.
Brent McQuay (04:46):
Yeah, we're rebels.
Ti’heasha Beasley (04:47):
Yeah, we're wild out there, man. Play
house, man. How did you guys spend
Christmas? Let us know in the comments.
Now I'm curious. So I want to
go back and look and see how
people are spending Christmas.
Kelli Florez (04:57):
I could tell you something fun about
Christmas. So my side, actually, we had
four Christmases. Now that I think about
it. My mom's Side of the family
does a nailed it competition every year
and arm wrestling competition. So Ramon won
his fourth trophy for arm wrestling. He's
undefeated.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:16):
Let me tell the world.
Kelli Florez (05:17):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:18):
Oh, that's awesome.
Brent McQuay (05:19):
I know who I should not be.
Kelli Florez (05:20):
Arm.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:21):
Right, right.
Kelli Florez (05:22):
So the four time champion, undefeated. Just
in case my cousin sees us.
Ti’heasha Beasley (05:30):
Oh, I love that. I mean, so
I, I think this is a good
way to segue into our message. Or
maybe not, but I think it's good
because we talked about Elroy today continuing
the name dropping series, which has been
amazing. And it talks about the guy
who sees you and just how it
(05:51):
relates to Christmas. Like just having the
opportunity to spend time four times, five
times, three times with your loved ones
and just have those special moments, show
that God, he loves us and he
cares for us. It's like a little
sweet kiss on the forehead. Like, I
see you. You know, I know it's
been a rough year. I know you
(06:11):
know, it has made things have been
challenging, but I see you. I mean,
that's how I took it. Like, God
sees and he cares about the little
things. So having the opportunity to spend
time with your families, it's a special
thing that God sees.
Brent McQuay (06:25):
Sure.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:26):
Okay. Anyway, you kind of lost me
on.
Brent McQuay (06:29):
The kiss on the forehead.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:30):
No, I always say. No, I always
say like when, when little, when God
allows us to have those little moments.
I feel like it's just like a
dead daddy thing. Like you're my child
and I see you. That's what I
mean.
Brent McQuay (06:43):
That's beautiful.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:44):
But the, but the message was good.
Pastor Jerry opened up. He did an
amazing job. He carried us through a
couple stories. He started off with Hagai
and then he talked about Hagar.
Brent McQuay (06:56):
Haggai is the prophet.
Ti’heasha Beasley (06:58):
Yes, you're right. And he talked about
Jacob and he just, you know, laid
out the different places where Elroy, the
God who sees you showed up. And
so I kind of want to get
your input. How did the message impact
you today? We'll start with you, Kelly.
Kelli Florez (07:19):
For me, I really, I was excited
about the name because I really like
this name. It's what actually I spoke
about last January, on New Year's Eve
last year. And like I've read the
story, I know the story of Hagar
and everything. And I love the fact
that he saw her because he, he
saw, like Pastor Jerry was saying, she
(07:39):
was all alone by herself and she
was feeling some kind of a way
because now she's friendless. I didn't even
think about the fact here she would
think I have to give Birth. And
how am I going to do that
when I have no resources and no
people? So I could definitely see how
that would be something troubling on her
mind. But for me, I love that
he sees me because there's been so
many different times where I've been low
(08:01):
or just desperate and needs something. And
that was how I started ended last
year. I began the new year was
I realized, you know, he is seeing
me, he's seeing what I need and
he's providing it. And it's funny that
you said you kind of think it
ties with Christmas because this whole Christmas
time has been really special because we
kind of struggle with some things. And
(08:23):
every single time that it was something
little, like just something a little like,
okay, I wanted some Bath and Body
shampoo the other day and I was
telling Ramon, like, oh, it'd be so
cool if we can get the shampoo
75% off. And then I'm like, but
we can't. And my friend texted me,
hey, I'm at Bath and Body, can
I get this? And I was like,
oh, he really does see you. And
so it's little things like that. But
for me, it was all those times
(08:44):
that I really needed him, the times
that I was really broken, really low,
before I even found God and everything
when he put his eyes on me.
And I don't know, I just. I
think it's a really special thing. But
I don't think. I think you have
want. You have to want him to
see you in order for him to
see you. Because if you're not looking
for him to see you, then he's
(09:05):
not gonna. You're not gonna recognize he
see you. So that's really good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (09:10):
And I wanna unpack that some more
later. But Pastor Bryant, what about you?
Brent McQuay (09:15):
Yeah, so I love the message. I
do have a kind of a love
hate relationship with this str story because
it's, it's. I don't know when you
want me to nerd out, but go
for it. Like the, the story of
Hagar, like, there's so many firsts that
take place within the story. So, like,
there's a lot of significant things, but
(09:35):
it's all built out of stupidity, right?
Like, so, so Abram, like, is an
idiot in this moment, Sarai's an idiot
in this moment. And like, there's so
much just stupidity that's happening. And so,
like, it frustrates me. And then the,
the result, the outcome of this is
the Arabic people who are at war
(09:57):
constantly in the region. And like, there's
so much devastation that happens to the
people of Israel as a result of
this one moment. And so like, that's
why I hate it. But then I
love it because the God who sees
is a beautiful name for God. It's
a beautiful idea about God. It's comforting
when we're going through things. I love,
(10:19):
love how Pastor Jerry said it towards
the end is like, there's nothing that
happens in our lives that God doesn't
see. And like that is comforting. There's
like, you never have to give God
information. Like, hey, God, don't you know
what's going on? Like, he knows, he
sees it. But at the same time
I'm like, I kind of wish this
whole thing didn't happen because there'd be
a whole lot more peace in the
(10:40):
world I think, if Ishmael was never
born. So, yeah, so it's like I
got, I got conflict with this story.
Yeah, it's beautiful and it's awful and
it's ugly and it's all built out
of stupidity. And there's a lesson there
for us to learn about not trying
to make things happen and just letting
God do it in his timing and
trusting him in the process.
Ti’heasha Beasley (11:00):
True.
Brent McQuay (11:00):
That's a whole different message.
Ti’heasha Beasley (11:02):
Do you think that's why God showed
up and, you know, met Hagar?
Brent McQuay (11:10):
Yeah, so. So I think part of
it is like, the gifts of God
are without repentance. Like, it doesn't. They,
they're not removed. And so when God
blesses Abram and says, I'm gonna make
you fruitful, what we actually see is
that applies even when Abram does the
wrong thing. And so like Ishmael being
(11:32):
born, Ishmael having 12 sons, Abram, we
don't talk about this part of the
story. Abram, after Sarai dies, he goes
on and marries another woman, gets a
concubine and has six more sons and
they have nation. Like when we say
that Abram or Abraham becomes the father
of many nations, it's not one and
it's not two, it's many. And it's.
(11:55):
This family is just explodes out of
one guy because God touched him and
said, you're gonna be fruitful, you're gonna
multiply. Even as a 99 year old
man, like crazy stuff happens. And so
like there are, yeah, there's a lot
of repercussions.
Ti’heasha Beasley (12:13):
What really stood out to me in
this story was when Pastor Jerry highlighted
that and it's actually in, in the
scripture how God told him Hagar to
go back to that situation. I was
like, that does not feel like God
sees me. How did that. What was
(12:33):
your reaction to that? That point when
you read it or heard it?
Kelli Florez (12:36):
Yeah, I think if I was Hagar,
I definitely would have not liked it.
But how many times has he told
us to go and do something? How
many times says, man, even being married,
like, sometimes tough being married. And, like,
one time I was really, really mad
at the kids in Ramon, and I
was like, I'm going somewhere. And I
(12:58):
was driving down the road and I
heard, go get donuts and go back.
And I was like, oh, no, God,
no way. They made me mad. And
he was like, go get donuts and
go back. And I went to Dunkin,
got donuts and went back. And I
didn't want to, but it was the
best thing I could have done. So,
I mean, I know that doesn't compare
to going back to somebody who's verbally
(13:20):
abusing you. I'm assuming that that's what
she was doing, but we all have
to do that stuff, so I think
it would suck. But, like, Pastor Jerry
said he knows what's ahead of you.
He knows the whole story, so he
knows what's best.
Ti’heasha Beasley (13:33):
Yeah, Yeah. I was gonna ask. Why
do you feel like God will ask
us to go back sometime? Pastor Brent?
Brent McQuay (13:38):
I think that's God's way of saying,
like, suck it up, Sally. Like, I
think there's some times when we're just.
We're complaining about our situation and we're.
We're so frustrated with the circumstances, and
God's just like, hey, look, I'm. I'm
gonna do something through this, but I
can't remove you from it, or I
can't do the thing that I'm wanting
to do. Right? So it's like, it'd
be like Joseph complaining about being sold
into slavery or wrongfully imprisoned. Like, it's
(14:01):
like, yeah, but I need you to
be there so that you can end
up number two in the whole country.
You can end up saving your family.
You can save all of these people.
Like, I'm doing something. And, yeah, there's
some sucky stuff that's going to happen
to you, but I need you to
just deal with it. Like, trust me,
in this process, not everything that we
encounter in following Jesus is going to
(14:23):
be rainbows and sunshine. Like, sometimes you
actually have to pick up your cross
and carry it. Right? And so, like,
I think there's a lot of moments
where God just kind of looks at
us as we're complaining about stuff, and
he just says, you done yet? Okay.
You got that out of your system?
Ti’heasha Beasley (14:39):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (14:39):
All right. Put on your big boy
pants. Go. Go do the thing that
I already told you to do. Go
do the thing you're supposed to do.
Kelli Florez (14:44):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (14:44):
And I think that that's kind of
the moment that. That he's having with.
With Hagar. But I don't know. There's.
There's so much in that story that's.
I don't know. It's crazy.
Ti’heasha Beasley (14:53):
And you're talking about the full story.
I feel like you just want to
nerd out, like, right now.
Brent McQuay (14:59):
No, no. Like, I don't.
Kelli Florez (15:00):
I don't.
Brent McQuay (15:01):
So the interesting thing with Hagar's story
is I would call it like the
story of firsts. It's the first time
that a human gives God a name.
It's the first time God addresses a
woman by name. It's the first time
that we see a promise, like a
(15:22):
prophetic word about an individual person. It's
the first time you see a well
being named after God, which is a
theme that gets carried throughout a lot
of the Old Testament. You get a
lot of different wells that are named
for specific things that God is doing.
This is the first time that happens.
It is the. The first. I would
consider it the first christophany. So Pastor
(15:43):
Jay pointed out that when you read
in Scripture the angel of the Lord
versus an angel of the Lord. So
an angel of the Lord is just
a generic angelic being. The angel of
the Lord is what we would refer
to as a christophany. So Christ is
being revealed before he's in the flesh.
And so when the angel of the
Lord speaks to her, that's the first
(16:03):
time we see in scripture the angel
of the Lord doing something. So, like,
there's so many firsts that happen within
this story. And it's for a woman
that isn't Jewish, she's not an Israeli,
she's not part of the promises. She's
basically there because Sarai doesn't trust God.
(16:25):
And Abram decides to go with his
wife's horrible idea, which is also a
common practice of the time. And, like,
there's interesting things that you can read,
like the Code of Hammurabi, where, like,
that was an actual practice of the
time, that if a woman couldn't give
birth, she would give the slave, and
the child that was born of the
slave would be their child. But Sarai
never claims Ishmael female as her own,
(16:46):
even though that's what the whole process
was supposed to be like. It's just
like all the people in the story
do the wrong thing, do the bad
thing, and God is still blessing it.
And I'm like, why? That's weird.
Kelli Florez (16:56):
Yeah. Because he does that for us,
though.
Brent McQuay (16:58):
He does.
Kelli Florez (16:59):
Yeah, he does that for us.
Brent McQuay (17:00):
I'm like, why?
Kelli Florez (17:01):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:03):
Well, praise God. God is God. Yeah.
Kelli Florez (17:07):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (17:08):
Sorry, did I just derail all this?
That's why I started off by saying
I've got such a love hate relationship.
Because there's so many amazing moments and
amazing things. I mean, even just the
fact that the first person in the
Bible to name God is not following
him.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:27):
To me. I feel like it's. I
don't want to say magical. I feel
like it's great. And it speaks to
who God is. He always uses the
things I don't want to say dumb.
But I feel like I'm picking up
some of your habits.
Brent McQuay (17:40):
I say the word dumb and stupid
too often.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:42):
He uses those things to, like, do
what he pleases. He uses the people
that you would least expect it to
show himself to. And so I think
it just speaks to his character. So
I look for me. I love that
part.
Brent McQuay (17:55):
And that's, that's the beauty of it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (17:57):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (17:57):
That's the love hate relationship.
Kelli Florez (17:59):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (17:59):
With this dumb story.
Kelli Florez (18:01):
I have a question. Can I ask
a question?
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:03):
Yes.
Kelli Florez (18:04):
Why did. Yeah, I understand that they
were. This was their, their customs and
everything, but why wait till you're in
your 80s and 90s? Now all of
a sudden I want my slave girl
to have a child. What about before
all that time? Like, why not when
you're 50 and 60 and 30 and
like, why when you're an old grandma?
Brent McQuay (18:23):
It's a great question. We don't have
an answer to it. We don't get
a glimpse of, of that thought process.
Kelli Florez (18:29):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (18:30):
But yeah, they waited to the very
end. And this is after God's already
promised, hey, I'm going to bless you.
You're going to have a son. And
they're like, okay, cool. And then it
didn't happen right away. So they're like,
all right, well, let's do it our
way.
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:42):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (18:42):
And their way sucked.
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:44):
I know. And the writer in me
is just creating a whole story. So
I'm like, maybe because it goes with
the storyline and you know why Sarah
didn't trust Scott. You know, so that's
what the writer in me. But it's
not. That's not fact.
Kelli Florez (18:57):
But.
Ti’heasha Beasley (18:57):
So, Kelly, have there been moments where
you. I know you have a major
testimony that you've shared about finally seeing
that God sees you. Have there been
moments in the past where you did
not feel like God see, See you.
Brent McQuay (19:11):
Oh, yeah, saw you.
Ti’heasha Beasley (19:13):
Saw you. I'm like, what about where
God didn't see you? Has there been
moments where you felt.
Kelli Florez (19:18):
Yeah, I would probably. I love my
kids, but I would have to say
most of those moments were as a
parent. I probably felt unseen the most
because the busyness of being a mom
and I've been a stay at home
mom for almost 20 years now. So
I think that a lot of times,
you know, just being a mom, you
get lost in that life and you
(19:38):
feel unseen by people and by God.
And it's like, well, I'm reading your
word and I'm doing this and I'm
doing that, like the complaining that Pastor
Brent was talking about. And. But I
had those moments where he did, you
know, let me know and I got
you. I see you. This is, you
know, even like something so small as
I was feeling overwhelmed one time with
(19:59):
the kids and I was at my
sister in law's and I had the
thought in my head, it would be
so nice if my husband would come
home from work early today. And this
time he worked like an hour and
a half away, no joke. Five minutes
later, he showed up at the door
and I was like, what? It was.
And I needed that. I needed that
relief and I needed him in that
moment. I just needed the comfort of
(20:20):
having my husband there. And. And he
answered my prayer before I even asked
for it. So. So, you know, I
know that, that Hagar said he sees
me, but she, you know, he. She
also, he said, I hear you. I
heard what you're saying. So I feel
like the seeing and the hearing kind
of go together. So, yeah, Pastor Jerry
asked a question.
Ti’heasha Beasley (20:40):
And I was like, oh, I'm snatching
it for the podcast. When he said,
when was the moment you realized that
God sees you or he saw you?
Kelli Florez (20:50):
The only moment?
Ti’heasha Beasley (20:51):
Well, the way he asked the question
was like that one moment, that pivotal
moment in your life where maybe it
was that coming to Christ moment for
you. When was that moment where you
felt like he truly saw you?
Kelli Florez (21:06):
Well, you really want me to tell
you? Okay, so, like I've known, you
know, but when I actually truly was
like, whoa. There was, I guess I
would say two times. But the most
recent one was I was, I was
just started singing and I was singing
a song to him and I was
(21:26):
like, okay, this is weird. And I
just kept on singing it and it
was going, you know, deeper and everything.
And I closed my eyes and he
showed me like I knew Where I
was, I could see, you know, oh,
this is Kelly at this age. And
this I could see like there was
my past and everything. And he was
actually standing right behind me. Like Jesus
was standing right behind me. And I
(21:47):
could see everything around me was just
black and there was all this darkness.
And I knew he didn't want me
to go into the darkness and I
went anyways. And I knew I was
leaving him and I knew that he
was like, it was almost like I
knew his thought. He, he was going
to wait right there. Like, go ahead,
go into the darkness and I'll be
right here waiting for you. And I
knew he was going to see everything
I did. And I still chose it
(22:09):
anyways. I still chose to go into
the darkness. And I knew what that
was in like, I could see this
in the vision, but I also knew
in reality, oh, this is, this is
me when I, I call it when
I was in the sin pool, when
I was all up in the 90210
doing things I shouldn't have been doing
and everything and, But I knew in
that vision he was waiting for me
(22:30):
when I was doing, when I was
not with God. I didn't know who
God was, I didn't know who Jesus
was and everything, but for him to
show me. I was there when you
did this and I was waiting and
I saw you and I was waiting
and I was waiting and I've seen
everything. But like Pastor Brent said that,
that he still welcomed me back and
he waited right there for me till
I came back. And that was, I
(22:50):
guess, my biggest aha. With him seeing
me.
Ti’heasha Beasley (22:53):
Wow.
Kelli Florez (22:53):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (22:54):
That's awesome.
Kelli Florez (22:55):
It is awesome. Cuz God is good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (22:57):
Can you top that, Pastor?
Brent McQuay (22:58):
I mean, that was pretty definitely can't
top it. I've had, I don't know,
a lot of different moments. I, I,
I think I've already shared a few
of them on the show in different
times. But there's one that there was
this moment, I was probably 19, 20
years old. I was in northern Nigeria.
We were on a mission trip. There's
about 100 of us. But when we
(23:20):
got into the northern Nigeria, it's a
very violent area. It's not safe for
Christians. There was riots in the street
while we were there. There was a
Muslim holiday that was happening and so
they actually we had to stay on
a secure compound. So like middle of
nowhere, armed guards just to keep us
safe. And in that moment, like there's
a little bit of fear, a little
bit of worry happening and we kind
(23:42):
of huddled under this. This building, I
guess I'd call it a building, basically
just had, like, struts, like, just big
poles and a tin roof, so no
walls or anything. And so we're under
there and we're starting, like, a. Just
a prayer service together. And all of
a sudden, it starts raining. And it
is, like, the hardest rain I've ever
heard in my life. But there's no
(24:02):
walls and it's a tin roof. So,
like, it just. It just makes that
sound, like, deafening. And so we're just.
We're under there, and you're just hearing
the strength of the storm all around
us. And I don't know, there was
just this moment in prayer and worship
under that metal roof that all of
a sudden it was like you could
just tangibly feel the presence of God
(24:24):
in a way that was like, you're
here. Like, it wiped away all the
fear, all the worries that we had.
And it was just. It was just
a beautiful moment of just worshiping in
Nigeria. God's here. He showed up.
Ti’heasha Beasley (24:38):
That's awesome. It provided comfort for, like,
being in the middle. That's awesome. Yeah.
I mean, for me is. Man, I
could just remember being in a season
where I just felt like I wasn't
where I should be as a believer.
And I just remember. Just always I
would feel his, like, hand, like, I'm
(24:59):
here. Don't go too far. Like, literally
being like, don't go too far. I'm
here. And I could just feel him
pulling me back closer to him. So
I think we have those experiences where
we experience him as Elroy, God who
sees me. Because there's a lot of
times when you don't feel seen.
Kelli Florez (25:20):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (25:20):
And sometimes it starts by, like, humans.
You just don't feel seen by your
husband or your wife or your friends.
And I think. Well, let me ask
you guys this question. Do you feel
like not recognizing that God sees you
affects how you feel other people see.
View you?
Kelli Florez (25:36):
Man. That's good. I'm gonna pass on
over there first.
Brent McQuay (25:41):
I don't know. I'm not the right
person to answer that question because I'm
the. I don't need people to see
me. I prefer if they don't.
Ti’heasha Beasley (25:50):
You're right. You're right.
Brent McQuay (25:51):
People don't understand. They're like, but he's
on the stage, like, all the time.
He's doing a podcast. They're cameras. Like,
no, I would much prefer to be
behind the scenes.
Ti’heasha Beasley (25:58):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (25:58):
Like, I don't want people seeing me.
That's part of that whole social anxiety.
Thing. And so, yeah, the less people
seeing me, the better.
Kelli Florez (26:06):
So.
Ti’heasha Beasley (26:07):
But you're everywhere. It doesn't work. What
about you?
Kelli Florez (26:13):
I know you mentioned I love being
seen.
Ti’heasha Beasley (26:16):
Okay.
Kelli Florez (26:16):
I do. I would take center stage.
I love that stuff. But I don't
know if that really affected. I don't
know if God seeing me, my doubt
of him seeing me affected people seeing
me. But, yeah, maybe the experience of
feeling unseen by people, I don't know
(26:38):
if that necessarily affects me in believing
him being able to see me. I
think that's more of whatever trauma that
I had in my past and everything
made me not be able to trust
that somebody would see me and everything.
So I don't think it's necessarily people
not paying attention. Maybe just the tough
stuff I had, you know, in my
life.
Ti’heasha Beasley (26:57):
So, you know, I want to ask,
because when you said that, I'm like,
okay, elaborate. So when you say, like,
the trauma that you experienced, like, that
was something that caused you not to
feel God seeing you, can you share
more about that?
Kelli Florez (27:14):
Well, it was not the easiest growing
up and everything, so it was tough.
I came from a. I don't know
if my family watched this or not,
but I came from a divorced family,
and there was a lot of hostility
and everything. So I think just the
growing up in a hostile environment and
(27:37):
a lot of separation and different things
that happened caused me to not trust
humans and not trust God. He was
always there. But my relationship with Jesus
is a real relationship with Jesus versus
how it was when I was growing
up versus how it was when I
was a kid. I didn't have, like,
a real relationship with Jesus. It was
(27:57):
like, oh, we go to church on
Sundays or really actually just holidays and.
And I'm in Catholic school and blah,
blah, blah. So I didn't. I knew
I could talk to God, but I
didn't really know really what that meant
until I was probably around 25, is
when I actually started walking with him
and everything. So I think it was
(28:17):
just a lot of trauma that caused
me to not be able to trust.
And every. I feel like all the
time he's just healing and healing that.
So it helps me get closer to
him. So. Yeah. Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (28:28):
So what are some practical things we
can do? Like, moving into that segment,
what are some practical things we can
do or encourage. Encourage people who are
watching to do when they are in
seasons where they feel like God does
not see them? I don't know. I'm
gonna go. Pastor Bryant, you want to
take that one?
Brent McQuay (28:44):
I think that what we always have
to do is there's always going to
be a difference between what you know
and what you feel. And feelings lie,
true, but the truth doesn't. And so
the truth is God sees you even
when it doesn't feel feel like he
sees you. He does. And so what
(29:04):
we have to do is trust the
truth. Trust that when he says I
see you, he means it, and that
there's nothing that we go through in
life that he doesn't see. And so
it's either going to be for my
good or it's going to be for
his glory. As we say around here
a bunch. Like, if I can just
trust him in that process, I don't
(29:25):
need to give him the information. I
don't need to inform him of what's
going on in my life or in
my situation. I need to trust him
in it. That either there's a good
that's going to come about out of
this and I just need to keep
plugging away, or maybe I'm in something
because I did something I shouldn't have
and there's consequences to that and I
(29:46):
need to get back on the right
path. I need to get back to
following him. But whatever it is, I
need to trust in the truth and
not in my feelings. So when it
feels like God's not there, or if
it feels like God's abandoned you, remember
that those feelings are a lie. The
truth is, he sees you. He cares.
I love reading psalms because David so
(30:09):
often will. Will start a psalm, basically
doubting God, like, God, where are you
in this? Why have you forsaken me?
What is going on here? Like, David
will make all kinds of accusatory things
at the beginning of a psalm, but
by the time he gets to the
end of that psalm, without fail, all
of a sudden it's like, but God,
you're glorious. And God, you're amazing. God,
(30:30):
you're awesome. And God, I trust in
you and you make my path straight.
And so, like, there is such a
beauty in we can express these feelings
when they suck, but always hold on
to this truth that, hey, sometimes I
just need to vent. I need to
just let it out. But then I
need to operate as if he does
see me. And if, if I'm going
(30:51):
through this, there's a reason for it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (30:54):
That's good. What are some things you
do, Kelly?
Kelli Florez (30:59):
Well, like if I was going to
speak to a believer or a non
believer, I think that the answer would
be a little bit similar. But if
I was to speak to a non
believer, I think I would give Them
advice that somebody gave me, and that
is just to call out his name.
And I think that's kind of how.
(31:20):
Well, for me, that's how it began.
Like, you know, if I was having
a bad dream, just to call on
his name and he would help me.
So I think just saying his name,
saying Jesus helps. But maybe, like, how
Pastor Brent was saying that David seemed
to praise at the end, maybe putting
on praise music. Because sometimes you have
to, like, hype yourself up and get
yourself into that moment. Because if things
(31:41):
are piling up and things and you
feel unseen or you feel. Well, just
unseen, you have to. At least for
a female perspective, our feelings kind of
go all over the place. And so
I'm cool, and then I could cry
or whatever Hallmark comes on, and I'm
over here tissuing it up. And so,
you know, I think that getting yourself
(32:01):
in that position to be able to
worship him or be able to praise
him so you can get all those
thoughts out. Because I know the cool
thing about females is we can think,
like, 20,000 thoughts in a second. Like,
I'm thinking 10 things while you're talking,
and, you know, I can plan dinner
while I'm making coffee in the cafe.
And so there's so many things going
on. I have to, like, calm all
(32:22):
that down and quiet it down so
I'm able to. To recognize that. And
then you can recognize that, you know,
because you have to trick yourself sometimes
to remind yourself, like, no, he's here.
He's real. He loves me. Like, a
lot of times we are.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:36):
Just struggling, distracted by what's going on.
Kelli Florez (32:38):
Yeah.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:38):
That we don't recognize or we don't
see that he's here.
Kelli Florez (32:41):
Yeah. So those are good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:43):
That's good. So we are to my.
One of my favorite parts of the
show where you. We come up with
who has the best takeaway for the
show.
Kelli Florez (32:53):
Okay.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:54):
Well, for the sermon. I'm sorry.
Kelli Florez (32:55):
Okay.
Ti’heasha Beasley (32:56):
And pretty. And our team out there
rates us. And so I'm gonna go
in the middle. Last time, I went
first. So which one do you want
to go first?
Kelli Florez (33:05):
I'm going last because I don't even
know what this is.
Ti’heasha Beasley (33:10):
So you basically share a moment that
really, like, stuck out to you that
you feel is the best takeaway for.
Kelli Florez (33:15):
The message from the sermon today. Okay,
I'll let him go first.
Ti’heasha Beasley (33:19):
Yes. So we'll start with you.
Brent McQuay (33:21):
Oh, see, I usually go last. I
wasn't even thinking about anything. Yeah, because,
you know, girls have that ability to
think of a million things. Guys have
the Ability to think about nothing. Yeah,
so I was here thinking about nothing.
Okay, so the God who sees my
big takeaway is. I think it's just
the confidence in knowing that he sees
(33:41):
the truth of that statement. That even
if it doesn't feel like it, even
if I'm going through something and it's
like, God, do you even care? Do
you even see this? What I love
about this story is that God saw
and he did something, right? And in
every single story, that was the case.
So, like, even. Even with. With Moses
(34:02):
when he says, you know, it's been
400 years of you guys crying, and
I've seen it, and I'm here to
do something about it now. Now, we
could complain and argue like, man, why
didn't you do something on day one
instead of on year 400? But the
truth is, everything works according to his
timing and his plan and his purposes.
And so if I can just trust
(34:23):
the one who sees me, it'll be
okay.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:27):
That's good. He still kind of stole,
like, a little bit of mine.
Kelli Florez (34:30):
I steal yours.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:31):
When I went first, there's no way.
Brent McQuay (34:33):
If I go first, I steal. If
I go last, I steal. There's just
no winning this game for me.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:38):
What do we. What do we give
him? Pretty. An eight.
Brent McQuay (34:41):
Solid eight.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:41):
Okay. Trust is important. Trust is important.
Mine was God's timing. Crickets. Let me
read.
Brent McQuay (34:54):
Taisha's stealing something.
Kelli Florez (34:59):
Let me read.
Ti’heasha Beasley (34:59):
Let me see how I can bring
this all together. I just think that
his timing was good. So he waited.
He allowed Sarah to not be able
to have children for a long time.
And they. He waited till she got
really old. And then they had to
bring in the. The young lady. I
don't want to say a slave girl.
(35:20):
They had to bring her because, man.
Brent McQuay (35:23):
I love you, but I hate that
language.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:25):
What language?
Brent McQuay (35:26):
That they had to bring in somebody
else. No, what they had to do
was trust God.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:31):
No, but I was.
Brent McQuay (35:32):
The whole story is the fact that
they screwed up.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:34):
I know, but it still got all
of God's timing. If she wasn't old,
she wouldn't have felt like she had
to use someone else to help them.
Kelli Florez (35:43):
I call Cap on that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (35:44):
Huh?
Kelli Florez (35:45):
I'm calling Cap on that. That's Cap.
Brent McQuay (35:48):
That's Cap.
Kelli Florez (35:49):
You know why? Because Check this out.
Look it. I. I just think that
she had a trust problem. And I
have. I don't. I try. Like, okay,
for example, I don't know what I'm
gonna do, right? And I'm like, what
should I do? Gosh, should I Work.
Should I not do? I need a
job, I want a job. I don't
know, blah, blah, blah. But I don't
want a Sarai moment because I don't
want to do it in my own
(36:09):
way and then I'm going to mess
it up. Because if I do it
a Sarai way and then I have
her moment, then I'm just gonna. I've
done that before, been there, seen that
show. I don't want to watch that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (36:18):
I agree with you both.
Brent McQuay (36:21):
Here's the thing with this story. This
is why I have a love hate
relationship with the story. It is not
a good story. It is not a
positive example. No, no, I gotta get
this off my chest. It's not, it's
not a go out and do likewise
kind of. You are not supposed to
be like Sarai or Abram in the
story. You're not supposed to be like
Hagar in this story. Like we literally
(36:43):
are experiencing war after war after war.
All because true of this horrible, horrible,
awful, God forsaken choice.
Ti’heasha Beasley (36:56):
But it had to happen. And that
was the, that's the part.
Brent McQuay (37:00):
That I disagree with.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:01):
It was God's sovereignty. Like it happened.
Brent McQuay (37:04):
That's. That's not sovereignty. Had to happen.
Did it have to happen? No.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:08):
Okay. It didn't have to happen. But
it happened that way. God redeemed it.
No, we wouldn't be preaching on. We
just said that if none of that
happens, he wouldn't.
Brent McQuay (37:20):
A lot of the God fulfilled a
promise to Abraham despite ab. Abraham's stupidity.
That's not, that's not redeeming. There's nothing
redemptive about Ishmael.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:32):
Okay, I get that. I'm talking about
all of the first that happened in
the story. God revealed himself to Hagar.
All of that wouldn't have happened. That
wouldn't have happened. We wouldn't have that
story.
Brent McQuay (37:46):
No. We would have had a different
first. That would have been a better
story the world had.
Ti’heasha Beasley (37:50):
If, if Adam and Eve, if they
didn't buy it then of course. But
God redeemed the worst of the stories.
It was all in his plan.
Brent McQuay (38:01):
No, that's where I. Oh, oh, this
is good.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:05):
This is not good.
Brent McQuay (38:07):
Was it God's plan for Ishmael to
be born? 100%. No.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:12):
Okay.
Brent McQuay (38:13):
That was not God's plan.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:14):
I understand all of that.
Brent McQuay (38:15):
Is God sovereign? Does God know all
things? Yes. Does. Does God knowing that
Ishmael was going to be born mean
that God caused that to happen?
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:24):
No, I didn't say that.
Brent McQuay (38:25):
No. Causality and knowledge are not the
same.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:27):
I didn't say that. I said we
wouldn't have the moments that we have
from that story if the story did
not happen.
Brent McQuay (38:35):
Sure.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:37):
That was the first time we just
said.
Brent McQuay (38:39):
The first time we've ever disagreed on
the Charlotte's degree. I love it. Taisha
hates it, and I love it.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:45):
So I'm saying.
Brent McQuay (38:46):
I bet David wants to jump into
the conversation right now, too. Can we
that man a mic. Get David a
mic.
Ti’heasha Beasley (38:54):
I'm just saying. I'm not saying we
all make. Sometimes we don't make the
right decisions. We don't trust God. All
I'm saying is that God can take
that story as messed up as it
is, and there can be elements of
it that. Where he still gets the
glory. That's what I'm saying.
Brent McQuay (39:09):
Sure. I agree with that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (39:10):
And that's my point.
Brent McQuay (39:15):
Just don't say it had to happen.
Ti’heasha Beasley (39:17):
Okay. I have so much to say
there, but. Okay.
Brent McQuay (39:22):
Please, please.
Ti’heasha Beasley (39:23):
So I'm just saying I know it
didn't have to happen. Like, we have
a freedom of choice and will, and
we make bad decisions sometimes, and it
shouldn't go that way. But even in
those bad decisions, like God still you.
It's a part of his plan.
Kelli Florez (39:38):
I think this is like something he
said on the other weekend on one
of the Sundays was he'll bless you
still through your mess. But it. I
don't. I don't agree that it's his
plan either. Only because when I was
standing there and he was right behind
me and I saw the darkness in
front of me, I chose to go
into that darkness and reality. I chose
that he didn't. That wasn't a part
(39:59):
of you. God's plan wasn't for me
to do that.
Ti’heasha Beasley (40:02):
Gets pregnant and she's not married and
she has a beautiful child. That. That
child being born was not his plan.
Brent McQuay (40:09):
Yes.
Ti’heasha Beasley (40:10):
Well, I don't know what to say
to that.
Brent McQuay (40:14):
God's plan does not include your sin.
Your sin is a disruption to the
plan. So I heard somebody talk about
it, like, this one time. We're not
on plan A anymore. Like, none of
us like plan A for our lives.
None of us are on plan A.
None of us are on plan B
or C or D or E or
(40:35):
F or G. We're like, so far
down the Alphabet. The Alphabet's like, quadrupled
as far as the plan that we're
on. Because God works all things together.
Sure. And he's gonna make things happen
and change. However, that doesn't mean that
every choice I make is Good.
Kelli Florez (40:53):
No.
Brent McQuay (40:53):
I know that I can make bad
choices that are not his plan. His
plan is always perfect. So if I
sin, I'm going outside of God's plan.
Will God still use that sin to
do something? Sure. That does not make
it his plan. His plan was still
over here, but we left the path.
(41:15):
We abandoned God's plan.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:17):
So now I feel like you have
to encourage all of the people who
were born outside of marriage, that they
are still. It was a purpose, that
they were created.
Brent McQuay (41:29):
Oh, yes. So that. That God has
already incorporated them into what's going on.
But you can't say that God wanted
that person to commit adultery.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:39):
No, I'm not. I'm not saying that
even Sarah's lack of trust in God
was his plan. I'm saying that he
used that story.
Brent McQuay (41:48):
Yes.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:49):
To get the glory.
Brent McQuay (41:50):
That's all I'm doing. I'm just getting
you to the right language.
Ti’heasha Beasley (41:53):
Wow. That's all I have, folks. What
was yours? You don't even have to
write it.
Kelli Florez (42:01):
So my biggest takeaway is love and
forgiveness. Because they all went outside of.
They all sinned. And if you read
the story before this happened, I was
like, wow, Abraham was really doing some
things he shouldn't have been doing. They
all sinned him, but he still forgave
every single one of them. And he
(42:21):
forgave Hagar. And he met her right
there in the middle of her sin.
And he talked to her, spoke to
her like he said, called her by
name. So I feel like this is,
for me, a huge story of love
and forgiveness, of what he does for
us every single day, all the time,
because he meets us where we are
and all of our mess.
Brent McQuay (42:41):
I give that a 10. I just
have one question.
Kelli Florez (42:47):
I don't know.
Brent McQuay (42:48):
Do you love and forgive me?
Ti’heasha Beasley (42:50):
Of course I love and forgive you,
brother and pastor and leader. Of course.
For. For what, this moment or what?
Which moment? Absolutely. Absolutely.
Brent McQuay (43:06):
I'm glad.
Ti’heasha Beasley (43:07):
Yes. So thank you for being a
part of this conversation. We had a
great time here. This is what it's
about. Conversation. Continuing the conversation from the
message. I hope that you, if you
did not have an opportunity to watch
the message. Go and watch it. It
was an amazing sermon taught by our
founding pastor, Pastor Jerry, and it'll help
(43:30):
you understand a little bit more about
this conversation, but also let us know
what your thoughts are. Are about this
conversation. I know we got some opinions
out there now since we open up,
I.
Brent McQuay (43:40):
Really hope there's going to be, like,
tons of arguments happening as a result
of this. That there's going to be
people that are like, no, Taisha's right.
No, Brain's right. Like, I would love
for you to be at a coffee
shop, listen to this and have to
pause it and be like, all right,
what do you think?
Ti’heasha Beasley (43:54):
Yeah.
Brent McQuay (43:54):
God's plan or not God's plan.
Ti’heasha Beasley (43:56):
I know that that was intense. I'm
going to say I trust because you
are my pastor, but I'm still wrestling
with some things over here as I
conclude the show. But thank you for
joining us. Please, like, share and comment
and we will see you guys next
week.
Brent McQuay (44:17):
How do we keep smiling?
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