Shownotes
Ever feel like failure or weakness disqualifies you from purpose? Most of us carry stories marked by moments when we were left out or came up short. We fight for worthiness, hoping our strengths will finally earn us a place of belonging.
Pastor Jonathan opens his story wide, blending honest memories with the surprising reversal found in grace. He explains that being chosen isn't about being amazing. It's about being loved enough to be taken from old stories and failures into a new way of living. God uses the overlooked and the broken, not just despite their flaws, but through them.
In the middle of disappointment and even suffering, you can discover the power of a new identity and the rest that comes from leaning all your weight on the presence of God.
Scriptures Referenced
Exodus 33:15-16, 33:18-23; Mark 6:35; John 21:15-19; Acts 2:5-10, 16:6-7; Romans 8:18, 8:28; 1 Corinthians 1:26-30; Ephesians 6:14; 1 Peter 1:1-7, 1:13-14, 2:9, 4:12-14; James 1:2-4
Key Insights
- God chooses and equips us in our weakness, not our strength.
- Acceptance does not depend on past performance or outward status.
- Suffering is not meaningless when seen through the lens of belonging.
- The presence of God defines our purpose, not our circumstances.
Key Sections
00:00:00 - Called to Belong
Feeling unworthy runs deep when every past rejection echoes in your story. Pastor Jonathan exposes how that ache is answered not by achievement, but by being wanted in ways that run deeper than circumstance.
18:43:00 - Rooted in a New Identity
The fear of being an outsider fades as you see how God’s voice calls you chosen, bringing you into a family not because you got it right, but because Christ’s love writes a new story over your past.
24:18:00 - Suffering with Hope
Questions about suffering never really resolve by “thinking positive.” You find here an honest path for faith that can bear the weight of pain and still expect the goodness of God to shine in the dark.
https://springhousemidweek.captivate.fm/episode/a-chosen-people
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Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcripts
So grateful, Lord, for all that you're doing and all that you've done.
Speaker:And Lord, it is because of the blood of Jesus Christ that we are able
Speaker:to be in right standing with you tonight. So Father, we bless you and
Speaker:we thank you for another opportunity to come into your presence, to just tell you
Speaker:that we love you, Lord, and to just invite you, welcoming you
Speaker:into our midst tonight and us into your midst and in
Speaker:Jesus name, amen. Amen. I am
Speaker:so excited about the
Speaker:series that we're beginning. About a year and a half ago, the Lord gave
Speaker:me a word concerning this young man and I'm not going to
Speaker:share it with him in front of you guys anyway, but
Speaker:I'm watching God do amazing
Speaker:things in him. And I know this. I know that
Speaker:if I could adequately share what's in my spirit
Speaker:and could have put it out there, this room would be full because
Speaker:I believe the Holy Spirit has sent a word to us
Speaker:through him. So Pastor Jonathan, I pray that you would just do
Speaker:exactly what the Lord has placed in your heart to do and we
Speaker:would have hearts to receive what the Holy Spirit is going to share through you.
Speaker:Would you welcome Pastor Jonathan?
Speaker:Thank you. Thank you. Oh
Speaker:goodness, it's going to be hard to follow
Speaker:that. Pastor Barbie, good
Speaker:evening. Hello again. I tried to, I wanted to do
Speaker:like a teleportation thing when y' all were praying. I just wanted to appear
Speaker:here. I think I did it. When Pastor
Speaker:Barbee asked me a few months ago, I think it was if I'd be interested
Speaker:in doing a four week series in May and to use
Speaker:her word, stretch that teaching muscle, my answer was
Speaker:no, not even a little bit. I had no idea
Speaker:what I could possibly teach on for four weeks.
Speaker:However, interestingly enough, almost every day
Speaker:for the month leading up to that, I found myself studying the
Speaker:letter of First Peter. And every single day I would start with
Speaker:this hyper focus on 1 Peter 2:9. It says this.
Speaker:You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
Speaker:holy nation, God's special possession that you may declare the
Speaker:praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful
Speaker:light. And I was staring at that exact passage right when Barbie
Speaker:messaged me. And I had those four things circled
Speaker:in my Bible. And I thought, well, I guess the answer is yes then.
Speaker:So here we are. Tonight we're going to be looking at what First Peter
Speaker:teaches us about our identity as God's chosen people
Speaker:who are born again, anchored in living hope, and
Speaker:how we represent the kingdom in the midst of
Speaker:suffering. First Peter, as with
Speaker:many letters, opens with a greeting that gives us some useful context
Speaker:that will help our understanding of the letter. And I believe kind
Speaker:of learning as much as we can about historical context and the backstory
Speaker:of the people mentioned in the Scriptures will give us a deeper
Speaker:understanding and a richer meaning. It's so important. The author
Speaker:of this letter is thought to be the Apostle Peter. Not that is not a
Speaker:consensus, but I believe it because it starts with Peter,
Speaker:an apostle of Jesus Christ. So I'm going to err on that side.
Speaker:The author of this letter is the Apostle Peter, who was an eyewitness to Jesus.
Speaker:And when I think about Peter's life in Scripture, I see it
Speaker:as marked by these incredible moments of faith
Speaker:and then equally marked by these equally matched
Speaker:moments of failure and shortcomings. Peter walked on
Speaker:the water briefly in faith before he took his eyes off of Jesus
Speaker:and started to sink. Peter opened his mouth at the
Speaker:Mount of Transfiguration to offer to set up tents for Jesus
Speaker:and Moses and Elijah. And God shushed him, said, shh.
Speaker:He was quick to cut a man's ear off in defense of Jesus, quick to
Speaker:be rebuked by Jesus for the offense. And most powerfully,
Speaker:I think, was that step of faith he took to be the one to
Speaker:acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and say, I'm going to give my
Speaker:life for you, but then only to deny him
Speaker:completely in the face of persecution.
Speaker:What I love about Peter from Scripture is it makes him
Speaker:his human and fallen nature so
Speaker:undeniably clear that I have absolutely no problem
Speaker:seeing and identifying with him on just a
Speaker:very human level. And what causes my heart to overflow with
Speaker:joy is knowing that in first and second Peter, these are
Speaker:the very same words of the Peter who
Speaker:ran away weeping from the guilt of denying
Speaker:Christ in the face of persecution. All these years later,
Speaker:he's now strengthening the church to live this
Speaker:holy set apart life in the face of persecution.
Speaker:This letter, these letters are the evidence
Speaker:of the redeeming work of Christ in
Speaker:Peter that he is walking in this redemptive
Speaker:calling and this new identity that Jesus gave
Speaker:him after his biggest failure of denying
Speaker:Christ. Jesus said, peter, if you love me, then feed my
Speaker:lambs, tend my sheep and feed my sheep.
Speaker:Jesus even shares that Peter shares with Peter how he's been
Speaker:chosen to do this while being called to suffer and come
Speaker:and die like Christ. Peter says in second Peter
Speaker:1, 13, 14, I think it is right to refresh your
Speaker:memory as long as I live in this tent of a body, because I know
Speaker:that I will soon put it aside, just as our Lord Jesus Christ
Speaker:had made clear to me. And that shows me that all
Speaker:these years later, he's still holding the words of his
Speaker:Savior so dearly in his heart.
Speaker:It's believed in church history that Peter was crucified by
Speaker:Emperor Nero and requested himself to be hung
Speaker:upside down, although we don't know that for sure. But how does a man
Speaker:go from being someone who crumbles
Speaker:in the face of persecution to someone who
Speaker:says, I know I'm going to die soon,
Speaker:so I'm going to encourage the church while I can? And,
Speaker:oh, and by the way, when you go to crucify me, can you hang me
Speaker:upside down? Because I'm not worthy to die like my Savior?
Speaker:And the answer for me is one thing. The Holy
Speaker:Spirit. Presence of God, the
Speaker:Holy Spirit enabling his chosen people through
Speaker:grace to be who he has created us to be so that we
Speaker:can do what he's called us to do. That's James
Speaker:Ryle's definition of grace. So the same empowering presence
Speaker:of God that filled Peter, sanctified Peter,
Speaker:fills us and is sanctifying us. And
Speaker:that context provides an encouraging
Speaker:reminder. I think well to me, and I hope to all of you, that through
Speaker:the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, we
Speaker:are not defined by our past sins
Speaker:and by our past failures and shortcomings.
Speaker:And when we completely surrender to the transformative
Speaker:work of the Holy Spirit and understand and take
Speaker:up our identity and purpose in him, we can see that God
Speaker:actually chooses to use us in light
Speaker:of our weaknesses to advance his kingdom. And being
Speaker:chosen in that way is
Speaker:virtually impossible for us to understand. Because in our
Speaker:fallen nature, we often choose and reject and have been
Speaker:chosen and rejected based on merit, based on
Speaker:beauty, based on strength, based on how something benefits us
Speaker:or negatively impacts us. When I
Speaker:was growing up, I was a Husky kid. I still
Speaker:am, but I used to be, too. Every school
Speaker:year ended with this big competitive event
Speaker:that was a nightmare for Husky kids. Can somebody say what it was called?
Speaker:Field day. Absolutely. Long jump, Hundred yard
Speaker:dash relay race. Nightmare for Husky kids.
Speaker:But there was one event, the main event of the entire
Speaker:day, where teams would be so excited to have a Husky
Speaker:kid on their side, they would run at the opportunity to have somebody strong
Speaker:enough to anchor. What was that called? Tug of war. The main
Speaker:event. Now, doesn't matter what happened that day. If you won
Speaker:that event, you were the hero of the day. But every now and then,
Speaker:the other team had somebody a little bit huskier, a little bit
Speaker:stronger, and you would lose, and it would just make you feel so
Speaker:useless. But I didn't reach all the way back in my
Speaker:childhood for you to feel sorry for me. Okay? I wanted to go far
Speaker:enough back to show that I think all of us, from
Speaker:our earliest memories, just have these
Speaker:lifetimes of experience of what it feels like
Speaker:to be chosen and rejected in a way that's reflective of the
Speaker:nature of fallen man, but not reflective of Christ
Speaker:at all, which makes comprehending this whole
Speaker:gift in light of our weaknesses so
Speaker:incredibly difficult. And it causes us to drive ourselves crazy
Speaker:trying to figure out ways we can earn it or be worthy of it.
Speaker:But Peter says that God, in his foreknowledge, chooses us and
Speaker:sanctifies us in that state. Paul
Speaker:says it like this in First Corinthians 1:26, 28.
Speaker:Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.
Speaker:Not many of you were wise by human standards. Not many were
Speaker:influential. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish
Speaker:things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the
Speaker:weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly
Speaker:things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not
Speaker:to nullify the things that are, so that no
Speaker:one may boast before him. It is because of him
Speaker:that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us
Speaker:wisdom from God that is our righteousness, our holiness
Speaker:and our redemption. Fisherman to fisher of
Speaker:men crumbling in the face of persecution, to steady and
Speaker:strengthening others in the face of persecution. God, in
Speaker:his infinite wisdom, chooses the husky kid
Speaker:to run the relay race, okay? And he says, listen, I'm
Speaker:gonna equip you with everything you need to do this. It's not gonna make
Speaker:sense to you. It's not gonna make sense to the world, but if you
Speaker:surrender, it'll be okay. Okay?
Speaker:Okay. And according to 1 Corinthians 1, it
Speaker:says it's done in that way so that we have no reason to
Speaker:boast. And when the world looks upon us, they will see only God's
Speaker:glory. So this Jonathan
Speaker:that's in front of you, okay, used to be in
Speaker:rock and roll bands, used to cuss,
Speaker:used to drink, used to stumble out of bars, not respect his parents.
Speaker:But God has given me a new identity.
Speaker:Those former passions are not an interest to me
Speaker:anymore because of the
Speaker:presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. And Peter is reminding
Speaker:us that this gift of this new identity comes with new
Speaker:purpose. Peter addresses this letter to
Speaker:those who are the elect exiles of the dispersion in
Speaker:Ponus. Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
Speaker:So who are these elect exiles and where exactly are they
Speaker:dispersed from the word elect There is the same word as
Speaker:chosen in 1st Peter 2, 9. It is the Greek word eklectos,
Speaker:which means those who are chosen to obtain salvation through Christ.
Speaker:So, okay, we can include ourselves in that at this point.
Speaker:We're going to skip over the word exiles for a moment and look at these
Speaker:specific provinces that Peter mentions because they make some
Speaker:interesting connections. These were Roman controlled provinces facing
Speaker:persecution, which is why Peter, Peter was writing to them.
Speaker:This is Pentecost, Acts 2, 5, 10. Now, they were
Speaker:staying in Jerusalem, God fearing Jews from every nation under heaven
Speaker:when they heard this sound. A great crowd came together in bewilderment
Speaker:because each one heard their own language being spoken.
Speaker:Utterly amazed, they asked, aren't all these who are speaking Galileans?
Speaker:Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
Speaker:Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia,
Speaker:Judea, Cappadocia, Ponus and Asia. That's three.
Speaker:Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, parts of, I'm going to say it, Southern
Speaker:Libya, near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome.
Speaker:Ooh, tongue twisters. At one point we know
Speaker:the Jewish people as this singular nation of
Speaker:Israel. And now you have this picture and this language of them
Speaker:coming together as God fearing Jews from every nation. So
Speaker:similar to how Peter is addressing this dispersion that happened all these years
Speaker:later, the Book of Acts is alluding to a dispersion
Speaker:as well. And these God fearing Jews from every nation were
Speaker:descendants of the Jewish people who were dispersed through
Speaker:exiles such as the Babylonian exile, and remained
Speaker:faithful to God wherever they found themselves.
Speaker:So there is a consistent thread in Scripture that shows how God,
Speaker:I believe, calls his chosen people to remain
Speaker:faithful to him wherever they find themselves, and will actually
Speaker:use their scattering and in a sense their suffering
Speaker:in incredible ways to advance his kingdom. So
Speaker:the word dispersion or diaspora in Greek doesn't seem to be
Speaker:uniquely connected to this group that Peter
Speaker:is addressing, at least not in the geographical sense,
Speaker:meaning these places that they're in. He's not addressing
Speaker:that they came from another place and they're scattered there. Additionally,
Speaker:Acts 16, 6, 7 says this.
Speaker:Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region
Speaker:of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit
Speaker:from preaching the Word in the province of Asia. When they
Speaker:came to the border of Mesha, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the
Speaker:Spirit of Jesus would not allow them To. So they passed by
Speaker:Mesha and went down to Troas. So when I saw this verse, I was like,
Speaker:come on, I've got to put that up there and deal with that. Like, that
Speaker:wrecks your theology a little bit, I think, but in a really good way.
Speaker:So when you look up these places. So those are the other places. Galatia we
Speaker:know from the letters to the Galatians or the letter to the Galatians.
Speaker:And even the province of Asia included Ephesus and
Speaker:Colossae, which we know Ephesians and Colossians. So when you
Speaker:put those five places in the order that Peter says them
Speaker:on an ancient map, this is what it looks like. And it
Speaker:seems like it's more of a traveling route
Speaker:for his letter to take, rather than, I'm gonna. I'm trying to get my letter
Speaker:to this specific place in this specific person.
Speaker:Instead, he's trying to encourage all the churches and all the believers that have been
Speaker:established over the previous 30 years that he was connected
Speaker:to. So I think I'm gonna put him back up. Actually.
Speaker:These verses in Acts are really important for the chosen people of God
Speaker:to consider in our calling. The Holy Spirit
Speaker:kept them from preaching the Word, and the Spirit of
Speaker:Jesus would not allow them to go in and preach the Word and
Speaker:actually redirected their steps. The first thing I want to
Speaker:acknowledge is the testimony of this. Okay, so even though
Speaker:Paul was kept out of Bithynia, Peter is
Speaker:confirming that the Gospel message did in fact
Speaker:get into it and change hearts there at
Speaker:some point, which is a testimony that God's plans and
Speaker:purposes will happen and his
Speaker:glory will be revealed in all things when and
Speaker:how he sees fit. And it's not always up to us
Speaker:individually. We're part of a way bigger
Speaker:plan. It also tells me that as the chosen
Speaker:people of God like Paul, that we should be
Speaker:striving to share the good news of the Gospel and
Speaker:represent Jesus and his kingdom to all the reaches of
Speaker:the earth. But we should remain
Speaker:entirely dependent on the Holy Spirit
Speaker:and the wisdom and direction of His Word for the when,
Speaker:the where, and the how that is to take place.
Speaker:The chosen people of God are not distinguished
Speaker:by what we profess. We are distinguished by the
Speaker:reality of his presence dwelling among us and
Speaker:within us. Moses says it this way in Exodus
Speaker:33, 15, 16. If your presence will
Speaker:not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
Speaker:For how shall it be known that we have found favor in your sight? Is
Speaker:it not in your going with us that we are distinct?
Speaker:I and Your people from every other people on the face of the earth.
Speaker:So where are these chosen people Peter is writing to disperse from?
Speaker:This is what I wanted to get to. Exiles is the Greek word
Speaker:peripodemos, which means one who
Speaker:sojourns on the earth whose native
Speaker:country is heaven. This is
Speaker:the word that completely obliterates any
Speaker:kind of geographical boundaries or restrictions that we may
Speaker:assume in the text and places. It
Speaker:declares that the kingdom of heaven is for everybody, every
Speaker:tribe, every tongue, every nation. So what I think Peter is
Speaker:saying is to all y', all, in all the places
Speaker:who have heard the gospel and have been chosen to receive the gift of
Speaker:salvation and now understand that you are a citizen of the
Speaker:kingdom of God with a king named Jesus Christ, and have been
Speaker:scattered on this earth earth for a short time and a specific purpose.
Speaker:This letter's for you. And with all that being
Speaker:said, I think I've pretty built a pretty solid case for why
Speaker:I can call each of you the elect exiles of the
Speaker:dispersion in Smyrna, Tennessee, which sounds super cool,
Speaker:and I might refer to you that way for the next several sessions.
Speaker:Peter is reminding us what our identity is,
Speaker:where our citizenship is, what kingdom our lives should
Speaker:reflect, and the king that we serve.
Speaker:Before Peter gets to the instruction of the letter,
Speaker:he prays a single prayer over us. May
Speaker:grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Speaker:This is how the concordance defines grace. And I know a
Speaker:lot of people define it. Unmerited favor. I'm fine with that. But this one
Speaker:gives me something I can hold onto. The
Speaker:merciful kindness by which God exerting his holy
Speaker:influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps,
Speaker:strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge,
Speaker:affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the
Speaker:Christian virtues. And peace is a soul assured of
Speaker:salvation and calmly awaiting the return of Christ. So whenever I
Speaker:get a definition like that, I like to go back to scripture and fill it
Speaker:in in place of the words to see if it gives me. Just see what
Speaker:it sounds like, what it feels like. So let me read Peter's
Speaker:prayer again over each of us so we know the
Speaker:heart of what he's praying. May the merciful
Speaker:kindness of God, who has exerted his holy influence
Speaker:upon your soul and turned you to Christ,
Speaker:keep you, strengthen you, increase your faith, increase
Speaker:your knowledge, increase your affection, ignite a fire in
Speaker:you to live a holy and set apart life with a soul that is
Speaker:assured of salvation and calm awaiting the return of Christ.
Speaker:Oh, yeah. And may these things be multiplied to you in the
Speaker:fullest measure possible.
Speaker:It's so important that we consider that Peter starts with that
Speaker:prayer because he's going to have a whole lot to say about how
Speaker:we interact with a fallen world, how we fight
Speaker:against our fallen nature, how we strive to walk in the truth
Speaker:of of who God says we are created to be, and not an
Speaker:identity based on our feelings. He's telling us before
Speaker:we even go there that we need to be a people that become
Speaker:really comfortable being totally
Speaker:dependent on the presence of God for the grace
Speaker:and peace we need to get through. Because living a holy and
Speaker:set apart life is not something I believe that we can
Speaker:self determine to do in our own strength or own
Speaker:wisdom. When I try, I fail. I don't know if that's your
Speaker:experience because it's not natural to us.
Speaker:Pastor Ronnie said on Sunday, quoting his wife, forgiveness is not
Speaker:natural, it's supernatural. And I love that
Speaker:that is true of living a holy life as well. It's not
Speaker:natural for us, it's supernatural.
Speaker:The first thing Peter addresses about this supernatural
Speaker:set apart life is the reality of our
Speaker:suffering in it, the grace and hope that God
Speaker:gives his chosen people in it, and how an awareness
Speaker:of his presence gives it all meaning.
Speaker:1 Peter 1:3 7
Speaker:Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according
Speaker:to his great mercy and has caused us to be born again
Speaker:to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the
Speaker:dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable,
Speaker:undefiled, and will not fade away. It's
Speaker:reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of
Speaker:God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed
Speaker:in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even
Speaker:though now for a little while if necessary, you have been
Speaker:distressed by various trials, so that the proof
Speaker:of your faith being more precious than gold which perishes through
Speaker:tested fire, though tested by fire, may be found
Speaker:to result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of
Speaker:Jesus Christ. So if
Speaker:we're all born with the same fallen nature
Speaker:in the same fallen world, how in the world can we
Speaker:possibly be deal with sin or suffering any
Speaker:better or any differently than anyone else? To which Peter
Speaker:simply says, yes, you were, you were, were
Speaker:born that way, but God has called you to be born again.
Speaker:The Holy Spirit presence of God has given us new hearts,
Speaker:new minds, with new affections toward Jesus and
Speaker:His Word, and that we did not have before, which gives us hope
Speaker:and this inheritance in him that we didn't have before, that we can take
Speaker:hold of a hope that allows us to grieve and suffer
Speaker:differently than others who don't have this hope.
Speaker:And God in his wisdom, may use that to
Speaker:cause the unbeliever to look upon this
Speaker:distinct, peculiar life in the midst of grief
Speaker:and use that soften their
Speaker:hearts to receive the same hope in Jesus that we have.
Speaker:Being born again doesn't mean we won't suffer. It doesn't mean
Speaker:we won't struggle with sin anymore. It means the
Speaker:Holy Spirit is there to enable us to fight against these
Speaker:things and respond in a different way. That is supernatural.
Speaker:And I feel like it's important for me to say this because I've heard
Speaker:so many people start to question their faith and
Speaker:identity and purpose in Jesus
Speaker:when things just come at them over and over and over.
Speaker:It's because somewhere along the way, sometimes
Speaker:not in all cases, somewhere along the way, they start to believe the lie
Speaker:that being chosen by God results in some kind of
Speaker:earthly prosperity. But when we
Speaker:believe that lie, we sadly start to question why God isn't
Speaker:glorifying our lives. Instead of questioning
Speaker:God, how can my life better serve to glorify you?
Speaker:And Peter is telling us to take hold of Jesus
Speaker:because all those earthly things are fading things,
Speaker:they're defiled. But Jesus is the inheritance that is
Speaker:unfading, undefiled. Aw Tozer
Speaker:says the only defense against the big lies of the
Speaker:enemy is the big truth of God.
Speaker:First Peter 1:13 says, Therefore, gird up the loins of your
Speaker:mind and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the
Speaker:grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Speaker:Honestly, when I heard gird up the loins, I can't even
Speaker:say I have a thing with words. Does anybody like, not like certain words in
Speaker:here? I hear it's a condition. Okay, we're weirdos is what
Speaker:it is. So, like, when I heard that, I'm like, no, give me a different
Speaker:translation. But he says it. So I had to
Speaker:deal with it, deal with the language. And I was looking into it. And
Speaker:at the time, so Peter would have known this because he was a fisherman. But
Speaker:this also applies to soldiers. So they would wear these
Speaker:long tunics. And if they were going to
Speaker:work or going to do something strenuous or going into battle, they
Speaker:would need to gird up, pull up all that fabric that would
Speaker:hinder them and tuck it into their belt so that they could be
Speaker:flexible and able to fight the battle the way they
Speaker:needed to. And the belt represents
Speaker:truth in the armor of God according to Ephesians 6:14.
Speaker:So our ability to fight these spiritual battles
Speaker:effectively as God's chosen people depends on us
Speaker:having these renewed hearts set fully on the hope in Jesus Christ
Speaker:and these renewed minds that properly secure
Speaker:everything we feel and think and do
Speaker:in the truth of God's Word. So how
Speaker:can we secure the reality of suffering from within the truth
Speaker:of God's Word so that all of our suffering may be
Speaker:found to result in praise and glory honor at the
Speaker:revelation of Jesus Christ? Firstly, we
Speaker:pray for the ability to trust what God's
Speaker:Word says over us about our suffering and
Speaker:understand the reality of God's presence in it.
Speaker:Peter's given us principles for how we can wrestle with the
Speaker:question that we have all asked.
Speaker:How can a perfect and good God allow
Speaker:or ordain suffering? And
Speaker:I'm not here to answer that question, but
Speaker:instead I want to offer an observation. I
Speaker:wonder if sometimes we're too quick to
Speaker:resolve in our minds that God is not present in our
Speaker:sufferings because it's a way that we can avoid
Speaker:that question. And if we limit our awareness
Speaker:of God's sovereign presence from our suffering,
Speaker:do we also limit our ability to find his
Speaker:glory and purpose in it? Peter seems to be
Speaker:suggesting that we become aware of God's presence in our suffering.
Speaker:When we do that, we will see that it's all revealing something
Speaker:glorious about God and our purpose. Which means
Speaker:this is important. It's not meaningless.
Speaker:Our suffering is not meaningless because of
Speaker:his presence.
Speaker:First Peter 4:12, 14. Beloved, do not be surprised
Speaker:at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your
Speaker:testing as though something strange were happening to you.
Speaker:But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on
Speaker:rejoicing so that the revelation of his glory you may
Speaker:also rejoice and be overjoyed. If
Speaker:you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed
Speaker:because the Spirit of glory and of God
Speaker:rests upon you. And
Speaker:I know that some of you here
Speaker:are going through and have gone through
Speaker:some very bad things, some deep suffering that
Speaker:I can't even comprehend. And
Speaker:I'm glad that we have the words of Peter, inspired by God that
Speaker:refreshes our memory, that says, you are
Speaker:not alone. God is with you.
Speaker:Even when we don't see it, he's working.
Speaker:So Scripture gives us these big truths to
Speaker:secure the reality of our sufferings. In Romans
Speaker:8:18 says, I, consider that our present sufferings are not worth
Speaker:comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Speaker:James 1, 2, 4. Consider it pure joy,
Speaker:my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you
Speaker:know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Speaker:So let perseverance finish its work so that you may be
Speaker:mature and complete, not lacking anything. And
:28 says, we know that in all things God works
:for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his
:purpose. So our present sufferings, plural,
:are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed.
:Are producing a glory in us that will result
:in his ultimate praise, glory and honor,
:and are for the good of those who love him and have been called
:chosen according to his purpose. And guys, I
:really want to be careful when I say this because I
:have been stuck in this hopeless,
:scattered place of suffering before, and
:I've been stuck there while knowing all these
:verses. So I do not believe
:overcoming suffering or suffering well is
:purely an intellectual assent,
:meaning I don't believe that I can think my way out of it
:or overcome it in my own strength. I don't believe Peter is
:saying that either. Peter's reminding us to seek the
:presence of God for the grace we need to not only
:know these truths, but but to have them change
:us so deeply that our natural
:supernatural response becomes to sing
:in the midst of suffering.
:In Exodus 33, after Moses seeks
:God's presence, he then asks God to show
:him his glory. God
:agrees, but he does not show him his full glory.
:He actually hides Moses in the cleft of the rock
:and shows him his glory only partially. So this
:is what that speaks to me about. I believe we should
:seek the presence of God in all things. And
:it's okay to ask God to reveal his glory to
:us in the midst of what's going on in our life.
:But that does not mean God will always
:show his glory the way that we want, or to the
:fullness that we want or when we want. Amen.
:Worship team, can you come up? Just Brittany and Michael, please.
:They're going to do a song after this, but I want Michael to play behind
:me because it makes me feel more spiritual.
:Oh, goodness, that's terrible.
:So don't distract me,
:Michael. Last year I was planning
:to take a sabbatical, and it was a month long.
:So I was thinking. I began going to the other pastors who had already been
:on sabbatical. And I was like, what'd you do? What'd you mess up? I don't
:want to do the same mistakes you did. So I
:was reading in Mark 6 and the disciples had
:been out ministering, and when they came back to Jesus, they were tired and
:they were hungry and Jesus said to them, come away with me
:to a desolate place. And something about that phrase just
:struck me to the heart. And I was like, that's what I need. I don't
:need to fill up my time with a bunch of stuff. I need to get
:away with Jesus to a place where there's no
:distractions. So I began to pray and seek for
:that. And one of the things that I came up with was, you know, in
:the sabbatical, we were going to take a week long vacation as
:a family, but everything else was just pretty much going to be open, no
:plans. We were. I was just going to be free to get alone
:with the Lord.
:A few weeks before the vacation was supposed to start.
:Through unforeseen circumstances, we couldn't go anymore. It
:totally fell through. Super bummed about that. I was like, man,
:that's. That's a terrible way to start this whole sabbatical. So I was bummed, but
:not too big of a deal. A couple days before we were supposed to go,
:I get a phone call. Miraculously, God had opened the
:door again for us to go. However, it
:was going to be at a different beach, at a different condo than
:we planned, but it's for a way better deal. And
:praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Tithing works. Okay, so we
:jump in the car. It's not our original plan, but we're
:back on in some kind of plan. We jump in the car and we drive
:to the beach. And about halfway to the beach, I start
:getting like really nauseous and feverish
:in the car. And I don't get motion sickness really or anything.
:And the closer we get to the condo, the worse and worse and
:worse I get until we get there and I'm just like
:I told Brittany, I said, I can't even get the cars out of the cars,
:out of the bags, the bags out of the car. I just got to go
:in and lay down. So I go in, I lay down, and I just totally
:pass out. And I wake up a couple hours later and I have the worst.
:I don't know what it was, stomach flu or food poisoning or whatever
:it was. And it lasted for the next three or four
:days. So our first official day
:of the beach was a total wash
:because I was so sick and our family was stuck in the condo,
:couldn't go anywhere because of me. So that night
:I just said a little prayer, like, lord, will you please heal me? So,
:and I went to bed kind of with this hopeful excitement that I
:would wake up the next day. Healed and sabbatical could start. You know,
:the rest could start. So I wake up the next day,
:still sick, and
:I'm really bummed about that. And we're kind of stuck again at the
:condo. The furthest we can go to is the pool in case I need to
:get back and rest. And I'm just so bummed that my family is stuck in
:there that I'm like, britney, can we just take the kids down to the beach
:for just a minute? And that way we can get back really quick just to
:watch the sunset go down. And almost as soon
:as we step in the water, my daughter gets stung by a
:jellyfish. So we have to pack up,
:go back to the condo. Day two, absolute nightmare.
:Absolute wash. And then on top of that, the
:jellyfish are there for the rest of the week. They're just hanging out at the
:beach with us. You know, they were on vacation too,
:so my daughter didn't really want to go back to the beach. So
:I say a little prayer that night. God, will you heal me? Wake up
:the next day, I'm still sick. Day three now.
:And I get a phone call that morning from
:a close friend of mine telling me that.
:A really good friend that we were praying for
:to be healed from a car accident had passed away the
:night before. I was
:just going, at this point, it's like.
:It's more and more crushing every day.
:When does the sabbatical start?
:And that night I went to bed,
:and I don't even think I said a prayer, but I woke up
:from my sleep about two hours in. I think it was two in the morning.
:And I woke up with this incredible
:desperation that I have not felt in a long
:time to get alone
:with the presence of God.
:That was the only answer in my suffering.
:So I went out to the patio, and I'm just sitting there
:in silence, but listening to the roar of the waves
:crash. And it's dark and you can feel the wind. And I don't know
:about you guys, but when I'm in nature, when I'm around water, his presence
:is undeniable, Absolutely
:undeniable. But these moments have
:a way of reminding us that
:his presence is there all the time,
:always surrounding us. And it's often
:our awareness of his presence that's been
:diminished and needs to be restored.
:So at this moment on that patio, my suffering
:is still present, but so is his
:presence. And that overtakes everything.
:And there is rest in that place, supernatural rest.
:And I went to sleep peacefully that night, and I woke up
:healed the next day, and
:we went down to the pool. Because now it's a daily routine that my kids
:have established. We go down to the pool and there's one other
:family at the pool at this time. It's a grandmother who's watching
:her three young grandchildren who are all boys.
:She's watching them for their parents to get a little alone time at the beach.
:Praise the Lord for grandparents. And
:I was already in the pool, and Brittany was next to me with just her
:feet in the pool. And somehow the youngest little boy, who was
:two years old, had slipped away from his grandmother without her
:noticing. And he didn't have floaties on. And he fell in the
:pool and started drowning right in front of us,
:taking on a whole lot of water.
:The grandmother would not have been able to get there in time, but Brittany
:noticed it, and I was already in the pool and I was able to get
:to him and save him before anything worse happened.
:And when I was processing the whole trip later on,
:it occurred to me that the journey full of trials,
:plans falling through, being at a condo we didn't plan
:on, at a beach we didn't plan for being sick,
:my daughter getting stung by a jellyfish, all of this kind of forcing us to
:be at the pool, finding out the news of my friend, which brought me into
:this place of God's presence that I haven't felt
:in a long time. All of it was revealed
:to be connected and uniquely positioning
:my family and I in a place to help
:somebody in their time of need.
:And when we become more aware of God's presence
:and glory in our suffering, then the
:response of sacrificial praise becomes
:so much more natural. At that point, it's
:have your way, God. Thank you for letting me
:be sick, God. Count it all, Joy.
:When you face trials of many kinds.
:And I remember going back to Mark six, the last day of my sabbatical.
:Believe it or not, like things crazy like that happened every single week
:of my sabbatical. I
:went back to Mark six, the last day. And rereading that verse about getting alone
:with God in a desolate place, I decided to look up
:the Greek meaning of that. I should have done this first before I
:started praying for this. This is okay. Be sure you know what
:you're praying for before you do this stuff. This is what it means.
:A desolate place is an uncultivated region
:that is deprived of aid and comfort, but is
:fit for pasturage. Which means
:I was actually praying for God to get me out
:of my comfort zone, get me out of my own strength
:and reveal something that could be fruit bearing and
:life sustaining in me if I would just
:cultivate it. And primarily what God revealed
:to me was that I needed to return to and
:cultivate a place place of awareness
:and dependence and desperation
:for his presence in all things and above
:all things. Because it's only by
:his presence that we can effectively experience
:his glory and declare his praise to the
:nations the way we've been called to
:do. We've got a few more minutes
:tonight so I've asked Michael and Brittany to do a song that
:just hit my spirit this week. We haven't done it in a long time.
:It's called Where I Belong and I just want to.
:I would like for you all just to take a few minutes and
:let's recalibrate ourselves to an awareness of
:God's presence in our life as he's calling
:us, drawing us to be his chosen
:people. Amen. Let's
:sing.
