1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:05,760 Welcome to the Sunday sit down. We have a name and we're 2 00:00:05,770 --> 00:00:10,300 introducing it on a week when Pastor Grant is away, so he is 3 00:00:10,310 --> 00:00:13,570 aware of it though. So just come up with it. 4 00:00:13,580 --> 00:00:17,470 On our own, that's right. And my name is Justin Sitzman, 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:18,850 one of the pastors at Courtright. 6 00:00:18,980 --> 00:00:22,870 And with me today, I have Abby Buckle say hi, Abby. 7 00:00:23,280 --> 00:00:24,990 Hi, Abby. Wait a minute. 8 00:00:26,410 --> 00:00:31,360 Abby is many things. She's a wonderful human being. 9 00:00:31,370 --> 00:00:34,970 But also currently our food covered coordinator over the 10 00:00:34,980 --> 00:00:40,030 summer months. Abby is a seminarian currently. 11 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:42,630 Is that OK? OK, talk about that. 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,390 Yeah, and what else? What else should people know 13 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:51,160 about you, Abby? I also and kind of a sign 14 00:00:51,210 --> 00:00:55,040 scientist, he person, I've got a little dual interest happening. 15 00:00:55,090 --> 00:00:57,440 Yeah, Yep. And love that. 16 00:00:57,590 --> 00:01:02,520 Yeah, and so excited to have Abby helping us out this morning 17 00:01:02,530 --> 00:01:07,360 as we talk about this past week's sermon, which Pastor 18 00:01:07,370 --> 00:01:10,280 Grant preached. And I am just getting in. 19 00:01:10,290 --> 00:01:13,060 I just got in from Scotland. I was away for about a week and 20 00:01:13,070 --> 00:01:16,790 a half and enjoying some time with my family and another some 21 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,540 other friends of ours. And and so I had to run out to 22 00:01:20,550 --> 00:01:22,860 the grocery store because we had no food in our cupboard this 23 00:01:22,870 --> 00:01:26,620 morning and I had to get some lunch for our my child who is 24 00:01:26,630 --> 00:01:30,770 getting off to a a day camp today and had a chance to listen 25 00:01:30,780 --> 00:01:34,760 to both of the past past couple weeks sermons. 26 00:01:34,820 --> 00:01:36,520 Did you listen to them on two times speed? 27 00:01:36,570 --> 00:01:38,970 I did not, you know, I listen. I thought I was going to, but 28 00:01:38,980 --> 00:01:40,860 then I didn't. And part of it was. 29 00:01:40,870 --> 00:01:41,740 I know. Yeah. 30 00:01:41,790 --> 00:01:44,180 So. That's a long grocery shop. 31 00:01:44,190 --> 00:01:46,760 Well, OK, no, I listened to one while I was getting ready 32 00:01:46,770 --> 00:01:50,280 because they were both 40 minutes, which Grant rarely does 33 00:01:50,290 --> 00:01:52,730 40 minutes but apparently does it while I'm away. 34 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,370 So 1 was a grocery shop, 1 while I was getting ready. 35 00:01:58,420 --> 00:02:04,680 So yeah. And so last last Sunday we were 36 00:02:04,690 --> 00:02:11,670 talking we the passage was the story of if I could find it 37 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,110 here, Jesus calming the winds and the waves calming the storm. 38 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:24,820 This is from Luke chapter 8, verses 22 through to 20/25/25. 39 00:02:24,830 --> 00:02:27,080 Thank you. I was lost for a second there. 40 00:02:27,430 --> 00:02:30,600 And so do you have it pulled up there, Abby, or do you want to, 41 00:02:30,610 --> 00:02:32,400 do you want to go ahead and read it for us? 42 00:02:33,740 --> 00:02:36,780 Luke 822 to 25. One. 43 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,790 Uh oh. What? 44 00:02:39,860 --> 00:02:41,490 What's? Going on, I clicked off of it. 45 00:02:41,580 --> 00:02:45,630 One day Jesus said to his disciples, let us go over to the 46 00:02:45,640 --> 00:02:48,930 other side of the lake. So they got into a boat and set 47 00:02:48,940 --> 00:02:51,830 out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. 48 00:02:51,980 --> 00:02:55,430 A squaw came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped 49 00:02:55,440 --> 00:02:58,910 and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him 50 00:02:58,920 --> 00:03:02,020 up, saying, Master, master, we're going to drown. 51 00:03:02,340 --> 00:03:05,590 He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters. 52 00:03:05,660 --> 00:03:08,130 The storm subsided and all was calm. 53 00:03:08,650 --> 00:03:12,160 Where is your faith? He asked his disciples in fear 54 00:03:12,170 --> 00:03:13,800 and amazement. They asked. 55 00:03:13,990 --> 00:03:16,060 They asked one another, Who is this? 56 00:03:16,130 --> 00:03:19,540 He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him. 57 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,850 Hmm, there's like so much in this passage and we want to try 58 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:30,190 it today to not just like duplicate things that Grant 59 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:32,590 talked about, but to go in a different direction. 60 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,910 And, and so we, we thought through a few different things. 61 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,030 We thought through some, some areas to go a little deeper into 62 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:43,070 and there's lots of amazing themes here. 63 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,250 There's sort of like this, this approach, this approach to Jesus 64 00:03:47,380 --> 00:03:53,180 that different, different parts of Christianity will take. 65 00:03:53,220 --> 00:03:54,870 And I think there's something to explore there. 66 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,120 We're going to talk a little bit about this idea of, of the 67 00:03:58,130 --> 00:04:01,430 opposite of faith not being doubt, but fear. 68 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,900 And then like kind of how are you redirecting that? 69 00:04:03,910 --> 00:04:07,320 How are you redirecting? And, and even just Steven, you 70 00:04:07,330 --> 00:04:10,900 know, as Jesus asked this question, where is your faith, 71 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:16,190 you know, noticing how he asks that question and, and what is 72 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:19,209 in and, and what is his approach toward his disciples? 73 00:04:19,220 --> 00:04:22,870 Is he chastising them? How do we, how do we internalize 74 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:26,810 that question, right. And then, and then also just 75 00:04:26,820 --> 00:04:31,410 real practically, you know, when we are in a situation like this, 76 00:04:31,420 --> 00:04:35,550 hopefully not a literal storm, but This is why it becomes this 77 00:04:35,620 --> 00:04:39,270 metaphor that gets used often in our even in our worship songs 78 00:04:39,280 --> 00:04:42,960 and in hymns, in our language. We talked, we talk often the 79 00:04:42,970 --> 00:04:47,830 storms of life, you know, how do we approach Jesus and how do we 80 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:49,820 approach ourselves in those moments? 81 00:04:49,830 --> 00:04:51,500 And, and what are some things we can do? 82 00:04:51,510 --> 00:04:54,820 I mean, there are friends in our church community who are 83 00:04:54,830 --> 00:04:58,660 experiencing some very real life storms right now. 84 00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:01,880 And, and so this is not theoretical. 85 00:05:01,890 --> 00:05:03,520 This is, this is real life, right? 86 00:05:03,530 --> 00:05:06,880 And so just being able to go into this a little bit and, and, 87 00:05:06,890 --> 00:05:11,800 and explore just who Jesus is in this passage. 88 00:05:11,810 --> 00:05:16,110 So why don't we start there and, and, and I'll just kind of set 89 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,370 the table and then open it up for, for discussion. 90 00:05:18,380 --> 00:05:22,530 So we talked, Grant talked a little bit in the sermon about 91 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:27,310 this being a very different Jesus than we sometimes paint 92 00:05:27,380 --> 00:05:29,420 that Jesus. I mean #1 he's, he's having a 93 00:05:29,430 --> 00:05:30,990 nap. And then when they wake him up 94 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,750 to deal with the storm, he gets up and he, he deals with it. 95 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,470 He literally rebukes. And, and we use that language. 96 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:43,190 That's that's the same language of, of exorcism of, of the way 97 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:46,640 that he would rebuke demon inside someone inside someone. 98 00:05:46,650 --> 00:05:50,460 He is rebuking the winds and the waves and they subside. 99 00:05:50,510 --> 00:05:53,380 Yeah. Like, that's some scary stuff. 100 00:05:53,390 --> 00:05:55,960 Like if, if you were in the presence of someone who did 101 00:05:55,970 --> 00:06:00,060 that, what other option would you have other than to be 102 00:06:00,110 --> 00:06:03,340 slightly afraid of that kind of power, Right. 103 00:06:04,730 --> 00:06:07,780 And and so there is that there's a tension there. 104 00:06:07,850 --> 00:06:10,020 There's a tension there that I want to jump into a little bit 105 00:06:10,030 --> 00:06:12,800 of. You know, you have Jesus who the 106 00:06:12,810 --> 00:06:16,360 the same Jesus who in other parts of the Gospels, you know, 107 00:06:16,370 --> 00:06:21,580 talks about, you know, one of Jesus's most famous quotes is 108 00:06:21,650 --> 00:06:24,240 come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden. 109 00:06:24,250 --> 00:06:27,300 And I will, I will give you rest. 110 00:06:27,510 --> 00:06:30,260 My yoke is easy and my burden is light. 111 00:06:30,270 --> 00:06:35,120 And so we have this, this Jesus who provides and brings comfort, 112 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:40,860 and this Jesus who joins us in our suffering, and this Jesus 113 00:06:40,870 --> 00:06:44,650 who goes before us. And then we also have Jesus who 114 00:06:44,660 --> 00:06:48,810 is doing some downright like terrifying things like this, 115 00:06:48,820 --> 00:06:52,380 right? And and so like, I wanna just 116 00:06:52,390 --> 00:06:55,360 talk about that a little bit and how we approach Jesus in a 117 00:06:55,370 --> 00:06:59,520 healthy way that avoids like bifurcation of like, you know, 118 00:06:59,530 --> 00:07:01,440 he's he's this way, he's that way. 119 00:07:01,450 --> 00:07:04,040 No, he's like, so I don't know. Any thoughts around that? 120 00:07:04,150 --> 00:07:07,830 Yeah, I think something I noticed, like reading through 121 00:07:07,840 --> 00:07:11,260 this this morning, was the order that Jesus did things in. 122 00:07:11,590 --> 00:07:14,600 It's like the disciples wake him up and they're freaking out 123 00:07:14,730 --> 00:07:18,780 because there's a massive storm and they were in great danger. 124 00:07:18,850 --> 00:07:22,960 Like it literally like it wasn't like they were overreacting to 125 00:07:23,190 --> 00:07:26,740 some little storm on the lake, like they were in danger. 126 00:07:26,810 --> 00:07:31,730 So they wake him up and before he asks them the question, where 127 00:07:31,740 --> 00:07:34,790 is your faith? Like before he addresses them at 128 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,530 all. He gets up and calms the storm. 129 00:07:39,170 --> 00:07:43,610 And I think sometimes we get that backwards. 130 00:07:43,690 --> 00:07:47,460 Like when people are in the middle of a storm, you know, we 131 00:07:47,550 --> 00:07:50,210 throw at them, well, where is your faith? 132 00:07:50,220 --> 00:07:55,460 Like have more faith? And I think Jesus is really 133 00:07:55,470 --> 00:07:59,060 representing like acknowledging that when we're in the middle of 134 00:07:59,070 --> 00:08:04,420 it, we don't have capacity to be reevaluating the order of our 135 00:08:04,490 --> 00:08:09,780 faith and where we have put our faith, like appropriately or 136 00:08:09,790 --> 00:08:14,160 not. And there is a lot of compassion 137 00:08:14,170 --> 00:08:18,390 in that. Hmm, that Jesus is saying like, 138 00:08:19,300 --> 00:08:25,040 OK, things need to be calm so that you have space to think 139 00:08:25,050 --> 00:08:26,930 about this question I'm going to ask you. 140 00:08:27,390 --> 00:08:31,830 That's really important because I think the other thing about 141 00:08:32,730 --> 00:08:36,659 rebuking being this like, putting evil in its rightful 142 00:08:36,669 --> 00:08:37,549 place. Yeah. 143 00:08:37,730 --> 00:08:41,720 Is that that's like scary when you're, you know, watching Jesus 144 00:08:42,390 --> 00:08:46,180 just bring a storm to total stillness, but also recognizing 145 00:08:46,190 --> 00:08:51,380 that like there are things in us that Jesus can address and 146 00:08:51,750 --> 00:08:56,310 hopefully is addressing, but Jesus isn't weaponizing that. 147 00:08:56,490 --> 00:09:00,340 He's not saying, well, you guys didn't put your faith in me. 148 00:09:00,750 --> 00:09:04,120 You know, I was over here napping, so thanks for waking me 149 00:09:04,130 --> 00:09:09,570 up. Like he, yeah, doesn't extend 150 00:09:09,580 --> 00:09:14,410 that rebuke to them. He rebukes the storm to like, 151 00:09:14,460 --> 00:09:16,970 show them that he's worth trusting. 152 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,810 I love that. And it's almost like it's almost 153 00:09:20,820 --> 00:09:22,310 like, hey guys, let's, let's regroup here. 154 00:09:22,370 --> 00:09:25,360 Let's let's, let's have a chat. You know, let's, let's talk 155 00:09:25,370 --> 00:09:29,350 about what happened here, like where what happened to faith in 156 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:33,250 that moment? Like it's, it's, it's this and 157 00:09:33,260 --> 00:09:36,470 it will, and it kind of encompasses this idea of Jesus 158 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:42,920 as, as one who is, is worthy of us being, you know, in awe and 159 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:47,420 wonder and fear over. And also he is our, he is our, 160 00:09:47,430 --> 00:09:52,660 our teacher and our shepherd and the one who, who we, we seek 161 00:09:52,670 --> 00:09:56,420 wisdom and even comfort from in those moments where after the 162 00:09:56,430 --> 00:09:59,580 fact, he's like, hey, that, that was wild guys. 163 00:09:59,590 --> 00:10:04,280 Like what happened there, You know, and, and, and not in a, 164 00:10:04,290 --> 00:10:06,800 you know, I think Grant said this like not in a chastising 165 00:10:06,810 --> 00:10:09,300 way, but in, in a way that's like, let's talk about this. 166 00:10:09,370 --> 00:10:14,140 Let's let's like share our our, you know what we encountered in 167 00:10:14,150 --> 00:10:15,990 that moment? Yeah, yeah. 168 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,490 And I don't think Jesus was saying like, you shouldn't have 169 00:10:18,500 --> 00:10:21,370 woken me up from my nap. Like if you had just let me 170 00:10:21,380 --> 00:10:23,270 sleep, it all would have been fine. 171 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:26,870 But I think he probably is more addressing that the disciples 172 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:28,920 automatically jumped to the conclusion that they were going 173 00:10:28,930 --> 00:10:34,330 to drown instead of, you know, realizing the person they have 174 00:10:34,340 --> 00:10:37,630 in front of him, in front of them had the power to do 175 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,440 something about it and asking him to come into that. 176 00:10:41,170 --> 00:10:44,010 And I'm like, I'm the first one to admit I jumped to 177 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:46,500 conclusions. I'm, like, leaping to every 178 00:10:46,510 --> 00:10:49,320 conclusion accessible before Jesus. 179 00:10:50,090 --> 00:10:53,580 And so I think, yeah, there's a regrouping of like, let's 180 00:10:53,590 --> 00:10:59,260 reflect back on how we did this. Yeah, and see what we missed or 181 00:10:59,270 --> 00:11:02,800 what we could do next time. Yeah, I we had a moment. 182 00:11:02,970 --> 00:11:06,840 This was just this is very fresh because it was 2 days ago. 183 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:13,030 And so like I said, I was, I was in the UK and I was driving. 184 00:11:13,860 --> 00:11:16,300 On the wrong side of the road, the wrong story on the other 185 00:11:16,310 --> 00:11:21,280 side of the road. And I, you know, I was five days 186 00:11:21,290 --> 00:11:24,450 into to this and I was like, I picked up pretty quick, right? 187 00:11:24,520 --> 00:11:30,850 But when I, when I don't have my, my Apple maps showing me 188 00:11:30,860 --> 00:11:35,410 where to go because I've lost signal and it's pouring rain and 189 00:11:35,420 --> 00:11:38,790 the roads are very narrow and we, and we realize we are 190 00:11:38,800 --> 00:11:41,540 driving up a mountain that's leading to a dead end. 191 00:11:42,270 --> 00:11:44,560 This is, this is what was happening 2 days ago. 192 00:11:45,330 --> 00:11:49,640 There was some panic in the car. There was, there was, there was 193 00:11:49,650 --> 00:11:59,080 a little bit of panic in the car in the moments, um, and we, we 194 00:11:59,090 --> 00:12:00,620 had to debriefing afterward, right? 195 00:12:00,630 --> 00:12:03,280 Yeah, but not in the moment. And I think that's to, to your 196 00:12:03,290 --> 00:12:06,020 point and to the point of, of what Jesus does here. 197 00:12:06,090 --> 00:12:09,560 It's, it's not in the moment. Like I, I'm not gonna, you know, 198 00:12:09,570 --> 00:12:11,820 my, my wife is not going to say to me and I'm not going to say 199 00:12:11,830 --> 00:12:14,960 to her, where's your faith? Like, come on, we're going to be 200 00:12:14,970 --> 00:12:17,240 fine. You know, like, like I now, and 201 00:12:17,250 --> 00:12:19,940 I'm, I'm more the type who's, who's like, it'll be fine. 202 00:12:20,010 --> 00:12:22,740 Like we'll figure it out. You know, like that's more, that 203 00:12:22,750 --> 00:12:25,980 tends to be my approach. But like inwardly I'm, I'm 204 00:12:26,110 --> 00:12:27,620 freaking out a little bit, right? 205 00:12:27,690 --> 00:12:31,730 Like it, it is pouring rain. We have no cell signal. 206 00:12:32,140 --> 00:12:36,830 We we'd have no like the the GPS is not telling us the right way. 207 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,570 Like it's, it was a mess. But then 5 minutes, 5 minutes 208 00:12:40,580 --> 00:12:43,730 later, we're back on the path and and we're able to talk about 209 00:12:43,740 --> 00:12:46,670 it, be like, Hey, you OK? Yeah. 210 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:51,310 Well, and fear keeps us safe. Like if you hadn't been afraid, 211 00:12:51,350 --> 00:12:54,760 that's like a really good way to like hydroplane and like. 212 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:56,940 There was, there was a lot of hydroplaning happening. 213 00:12:59,150 --> 00:13:02,590 But like, if you're freaking out, you're not going to, you 214 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:05,430 know, remember the like, turn the steering wheel where you 215 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,770 want to go. Don't overcorrect like it if the 216 00:13:09,780 --> 00:13:15,850 disciples didn't just like just didn't do anything, like Jesus 217 00:13:15,860 --> 00:13:19,490 isn't asking for passivity. Yeah, because then they would 218 00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:23,160 have drowned. And there is like a it, you 219 00:13:23,170 --> 00:13:26,780 know, we're supposed to freak out if there is a bear. 220 00:13:27,390 --> 00:13:30,460 I'm going to the Yukon next week and my my roommate just came 221 00:13:30,470 --> 00:13:35,080 back and they encountered a grizzly and her response was 222 00:13:35,090 --> 00:13:38,390 stop, scream, run the other way and face plant. 223 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,250 Wait, isn't that the opposite of you're supposed to, yes. 224 00:13:40,260 --> 00:13:46,120 Yes, yes, you're supposed to do is freeze, take out your bear 225 00:13:46,130 --> 00:13:49,600 spray, stay very quiet and hope the grizzly bear goes the other 226 00:13:49,610 --> 00:13:51,180 way. And thankfully when she 227 00:13:51,190 --> 00:13:54,900 screamed, it was startled and ran the other way. 228 00:13:55,390 --> 00:14:02,460 But there's a We are supposed to respond to threats because 229 00:14:02,470 --> 00:14:04,340 otherwise that's just foolishness. 230 00:14:04,350 --> 00:14:07,780 Yeah. And yet also it is like when we 231 00:14:07,790 --> 00:14:15,160 are in those moments, sometimes our reactions are just like our, 232 00:14:15,230 --> 00:14:19,920 our brain doing what it does because it wants to protect 233 00:14:19,930 --> 00:14:21,960 itself. And it's, and then that's that's 234 00:14:21,970 --> 00:14:26,460 where I, I am firmly in the camp of Jesus is not chastising them 235 00:14:26,850 --> 00:14:32,300 because they were having a very natural response right now. 236 00:14:33,090 --> 00:14:36,150 I guess one part of it that that they maybe should have 237 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,460 considered hopefully in the moment would have been that 238 00:14:38,470 --> 00:14:42,160 like, Hey, I know that Jesus is sleeping, but like we, we've 239 00:14:42,170 --> 00:14:46,130 seen what this guy can do. You know, we've seen some stuff 240 00:14:46,460 --> 00:14:51,750 so far in, in Jesus ministry, like maybe maybe you know, he is 241 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,960 and maybe that's why they woke him maybe in the moment, like 242 00:14:54,260 --> 00:14:56,050 maybe Jesus can do something about this, right. 243 00:14:56,060 --> 00:14:59,490 We don't have that in the text here, obviously, but you kind of 244 00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:01,870 wonder what's happening in their in their brain. 245 00:15:02,290 --> 00:15:06,830 And there's like an accusatory tone in the way that they like, 246 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:09,830 Master, master, we're gonna drown. 247 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,110 It's still like, hey buddy, who could do something about it and 248 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,990 is taking a nap. Yeah. 249 00:15:15,410 --> 00:15:17,510 Yeah, wake up. Little judgy. 250 00:15:18,810 --> 00:15:25,340 And yeah, I mean, like I'm grateful for God's grace when I 251 00:15:25,350 --> 00:15:28,100 come at him, accusing him of all the things I think he should 252 00:15:28,110 --> 00:15:34,830 have intervened in earlier. But yeah, I think there is a 253 00:15:34,900 --> 00:15:39,360 like, like not chastising, but just like a gentle reminder of 254 00:15:39,370 --> 00:15:42,940 like I Jesus is a grip on what's going on. 255 00:15:43,010 --> 00:15:49,320 Yeah, he he knows what's happening and yeah, he knows 256 00:15:49,330 --> 00:15:52,520 when to like, appropriately use his power and so. 257 00:15:54,790 --> 00:15:57,340 So, so let's talk a little bit more. 258 00:15:57,350 --> 00:16:01,000 Let's lean into this, this theme of of faith. 259 00:16:01,010 --> 00:16:03,040 So Jesus asked where is their faith? 260 00:16:04,350 --> 00:16:07,550 And Grant touched on the idea that that the opposite of faith 261 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,950 is not doubt. And that, you know, is when 262 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:17,270 we're talking about faith and we're talking about fear, how, 263 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:20,350 how do we think about how do we think about that? 264 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:25,890 How do we think about there are ways in which you could 265 00:16:25,950 --> 00:16:32,670 weaponize that in an unhealthy way that that I think I've seen 266 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:37,680 done in recent history where Christians, you know, have have 267 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:43,600 weaponized faith over fear. And yet I actually don't know 268 00:16:44,900 --> 00:16:49,490 that faith and fear are, are like necessarily opposites. 269 00:16:49,540 --> 00:16:54,850 No, I, I think that it is faith amid fear that they are 270 00:16:54,860 --> 00:16:59,490 experiencing a very real thing that is happening to them as we 271 00:16:59,500 --> 00:17:02,150 all have happened at various points in our life. 272 00:17:02,460 --> 00:17:07,630 And they are afraid and, and there maybe their faith is, is 273 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,410 sinking or subsiding in that moment. 274 00:17:11,300 --> 00:17:14,550 But it's, it's this interesting balance and I don't quite know, 275 00:17:14,599 --> 00:17:17,619 you know, it's is a lifelong tension and challenge, but I 276 00:17:17,630 --> 00:17:20,050 don't know, I don't have any thoughts around that. 277 00:17:20,940 --> 00:17:25,020 Yeah, I think. I mean, I think for doubt, like 278 00:17:25,089 --> 00:17:28,640 you can't like for faith and doubt to be like opposing things 279 00:17:28,650 --> 00:17:35,060 like is complicated because I you can't just decide to stop 280 00:17:35,110 --> 00:17:37,520 doubting. You can't white knuckle your 281 00:17:37,530 --> 00:17:39,480 faith. You can't just like pretend that 282 00:17:39,490 --> 00:17:41,740 if you grit your teeth hard enough, all of a sudden you'll 283 00:17:41,750 --> 00:17:48,430 get this faith like but with like, I think you're right that 284 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,190 there's like this faith and fear that kind of come together 285 00:17:52,250 --> 00:17:59,420 because you can be afraid or like fear in like the in fear 286 00:17:59,430 --> 00:18:01,430 and amazement. The disciples like looked around 287 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,510 of this, like it's this awe of like the power and like a 288 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:11,090 respect of the authority that Jesus has that exists within 289 00:18:11,100 --> 00:18:12,850 their faith. But it's like kind of the fear 290 00:18:12,860 --> 00:18:16,810 that dictates how they choose to respond in faith. 291 00:18:17,100 --> 00:18:21,390 Like I think if they weren't afraid or if they if they were 292 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:24,660 doubting, they might have been really wishy washy on do I wake 293 00:18:24,670 --> 00:18:27,060 Jesus up? Do I like is it worth it? 294 00:18:27,070 --> 00:18:30,110 Is he going to do anything? Maybe he can't do it. 295 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:31,420 Maybe. He can't do anything. 296 00:18:31,430 --> 00:18:35,080 Yeah. And I mean, I would hope after 297 00:18:35,090 --> 00:18:37,670 the amount of miracles the disciples had seen, they were 298 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:42,450 kind of past that. I mean, they're not, but that's 299 00:18:42,460 --> 00:18:48,430 for later. But in their fear, they, like 300 00:18:49,350 --> 00:18:54,910 rightly engage Jesus in it. Whether they do that 301 00:18:54,920 --> 00:19:00,550 appropriately is they're still kind of grasping for control 302 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,930 over a situation. Hmm. 303 00:19:02,990 --> 00:19:09,150 But it's like the yeah, how we choose to engage, that fear 304 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:14,050 dictates how our faith is going to be lived out and like 305 00:19:14,060 --> 00:19:20,190 actionable. And that's hard because it we 306 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:23,550 don't get a choice not to react the way you would. 307 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,930 If there's doubt, you have to engage somehow, and that's 308 00:19:27,940 --> 00:19:30,690 almost harder. Yeah, yeah. 309 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:32,480 The stakes are high. Hmm. 310 00:19:33,930 --> 00:19:37,860 I, you know, when I, when I think about, when I think about 311 00:19:37,870 --> 00:19:41,300 fear, and I've always wrestled, I've always wrestled with this 312 00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:46,020 idea of, of, you know, when, when people talked, when, when 313 00:19:46,030 --> 00:19:48,920 people talked growing up about, you know, you know, the fearing 314 00:19:48,930 --> 00:19:51,860 God and things like that. And, and in this case, fearing 315 00:19:51,910 --> 00:19:57,860 Jesus, you know, who's the son of God, I always, I bristled at 316 00:19:57,870 --> 00:20:00,940 it because I know fear is bad. I bristled at it. 317 00:20:00,950 --> 00:20:04,540 I was like, I'm not, you know, like it's, it's all in wonder. 318 00:20:04,660 --> 00:20:07,960 It's, it's reverence, it's utmost respect and reverence, 319 00:20:07,970 --> 00:20:09,760 all these things, but it's not fear. 320 00:20:10,550 --> 00:20:14,380 And, and I as I, I'm learning to temper that a little bit as I, 321 00:20:14,450 --> 00:20:17,320 as I hopefully mature sort of kind of. 322 00:20:19,190 --> 00:20:26,460 And, and think through what, what does it look like for me to 323 00:20:27,370 --> 00:20:35,200 look at Jesus, who is my Savior, who my salvation depends on who 324 00:20:36,290 --> 00:20:40,280 is capable of, of this and so much more. 325 00:20:42,490 --> 00:20:47,900 How do I, how do I approach Jesus in a, in a healthy way, 326 00:20:47,910 --> 00:20:49,230 right? Because obviously there is 327 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,500 reverence there is, there is faith there is, you know, like 328 00:20:52,570 --> 00:20:57,350 I, I, I used to have a, a hat cause this was like a saying 329 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,130 that was really cheesy back in the day. 330 00:20:59,140 --> 00:21:01,810 I used to have a trucker hat that said Jesus is my homeboy. 331 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:05,610 Yeah. And it it, it was, it was 332 00:21:05,620 --> 00:21:09,670 stupid. I'm kind of surprised by that. 333 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:11,850 I and, and like, looking back, I'm like, you know what? 334 00:21:11,860 --> 00:21:15,930 I don't think that that showcases A reverence for who 335 00:21:15,940 --> 00:21:24,170 Jesus is. But I was 17 and silly and and 336 00:21:24,180 --> 00:21:31,790 so look at me saying repenting of 20 year old plus sins that I 337 00:21:31,800 --> 00:21:35,690 do think there is a place where I'm like, man, I actually I need 338 00:21:35,700 --> 00:21:38,570 to see Jesus in his rightful place here. 339 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:41,150 There is something so important about that. 340 00:21:41,260 --> 00:21:48,060 And yet I don't, I don't want, I don't want to be overwhelmed by 341 00:21:48,070 --> 00:21:50,580 that fear. Yeah, you know, like that, that 342 00:21:50,590 --> 00:21:54,120 I, I think that there is a there is a healthy fear and there is 343 00:21:54,130 --> 00:21:55,160 an unhealthy fear. I don't know. 344 00:21:55,170 --> 00:21:56,400 Have you thought that through it all? 345 00:21:57,750 --> 00:22:03,610 I, I'm just thinking about in Isaiah 6, when Isaiah has this 346 00:22:04,360 --> 00:22:12,290 vision of or like sees the Lord in like the throne room and he's 347 00:22:12,300 --> 00:22:16,510 just like, he's in fear. Like this is a fear response. 348 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,670 He's like looking at like it's talking about, you know, the 349 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,320 Seraphim and all of their wings and biblically accurate angels. 350 00:22:25,570 --> 00:22:28,460 And then Isaiah's response is woe to me. 351 00:22:28,470 --> 00:22:32,340 I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a 352 00:22:32,350 --> 00:22:35,790 people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the king, the 353 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,560 Lord Almighty. So he's having this realization 354 00:22:38,570 --> 00:22:43,710 that God is powerful and holy and perfect, and he is 355 00:22:43,980 --> 00:22:48,420 absolutely not. And it's really confronting and 356 00:22:49,620 --> 00:22:55,600 he has this moment where one of the Seraphim takes a piece of 357 00:22:55,610 --> 00:22:59,880 coal and touches it to his lips and it like says, your guilt is 358 00:22:59,890 --> 00:23:02,240 taken away and your sin as a tone for So he has this like 359 00:23:02,250 --> 00:23:06,180 encounter of all of that sin that he's like, I can't be in 360 00:23:06,190 --> 00:23:09,400 front of God being taken away and him being allowed to to be 361 00:23:09,410 --> 00:23:13,140 in that presence. And his response to that fear is 362 00:23:13,150 --> 00:23:17,140 OK, God, I am here like do with me what you would want. 363 00:23:17,330 --> 00:23:21,240 He actually even more so says here I am send me like I'm going 364 00:23:21,250 --> 00:23:24,550 to go. And I think that that surrender 365 00:23:24,620 --> 00:23:29,430 in our fear, not in a passive way, yeah, but in a very active, 366 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:36,000 like, I have no idea what to respond, like what to do. 367 00:23:36,130 --> 00:23:40,330 I feel like I should run the other way which is a normal fear 368 00:23:40,340 --> 00:23:45,360 response and instead choosing to like have open hands and say OK 369 00:23:45,370 --> 00:23:51,830 God like move me where you want me to go or I'm going to follow 370 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:56,560 your lead and see how you want to respond to this instead of 371 00:23:57,620 --> 00:24:00,770 going out and trying to put out the fires by myself. 372 00:24:03,130 --> 00:24:06,570 I love that. And, and it, and it, it goes 373 00:24:06,580 --> 00:24:08,950 back to some of the language that Grant was using yesterday 374 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:13,410 of like putting, putting these things in their rightful places, 375 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:15,810 right? That like there is, you know, 376 00:24:15,820 --> 00:24:22,190 putting Jesus in his rightful place as as as king over the 377 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:27,110 universe and even the winds and waves in the lake, you know, 378 00:24:27,210 --> 00:24:33,650 and, and there is something, there is something to take very 379 00:24:33,660 --> 00:24:38,800 seriously there, you know, and, and yet, and again, this is me 380 00:24:38,810 --> 00:24:42,540 sort of not wanting to temper that because I think that it is 381 00:24:42,550 --> 00:24:46,060 both is a both and it is not an either or but that, that, but 382 00:24:46,070 --> 00:24:54,120 that also this is the same Jesus who who reaches that extends out 383 00:24:54,130 --> 00:24:59,380 to us in love and does offer us peace and comfort. 384 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,400 And as we encounter challenging situations. 385 00:25:03,410 --> 00:25:08,720 And and yet I also think it's because of the fact that he is 386 00:25:09,110 --> 00:25:16,860 powerful to save that he can do that because, because if he is 387 00:25:16,870 --> 00:25:22,470 only offering just like platitudes, mild platitudes of 388 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,260 OHE, like I will, I will be with you, I will go before you. 389 00:25:26,270 --> 00:25:29,450 I will do this, I will do that. And, and, and then, but not able 390 00:25:29,460 --> 00:25:33,740 to back it up with this kind of stuff that's just empty words, 391 00:25:34,270 --> 00:25:38,420 right? And and and so that is so let me 392 00:25:38,430 --> 00:25:44,120 maybe the way for me to say it is Jesus can only be our comfort 393 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:50,690 because he is worthy of our fear in in this sort of situation. 394 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,290 Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 395 00:25:52,340 --> 00:25:56,150 And he's a like, very safe place for that fear. 396 00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:59,230 Yeah, like. Hmm. 397 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:05,730 Yeah, it's not as though he, you know, kicks the disciples. 398 00:26:05,900 --> 00:26:08,790 This isn't the moment where Jesus asks Peter to step out 399 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:14,970 onto the water. And I think sometimes that's 400 00:26:14,980 --> 00:26:18,470 what we ask of people when they're afraid and when they're 401 00:26:18,860 --> 00:26:23,850 struggling with how to respond in their fear to God is to be 402 00:26:23,860 --> 00:26:25,830 like, well, this is your get out of the boat moment. 403 00:26:26,790 --> 00:26:30,730 Hmm. And I think that that very much 404 00:26:30,740 --> 00:26:36,980 neglects the like safety and comfort of Jesus, that he was 405 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:42,040 like in the midst of the storm, like he kept the disciples safe 406 00:26:42,530 --> 00:26:51,320 and out of harm and like that that matters like. 407 00:26:52,700 --> 00:26:54,010 Yeah, good. That's good. 408 00:26:55,370 --> 00:27:00,490 So let's talk a little bit about that's kind of bring it home a 409 00:27:00,500 --> 00:27:03,800 little. You know, there are, as I said 410 00:27:03,810 --> 00:27:07,870 earlier, just a ton of situations in our own church 411 00:27:07,880 --> 00:27:12,870 community, you know, not gonna name them, but but we could, you 412 00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:16,730 know, start talking for for hours about the the challenges 413 00:27:16,740 --> 00:27:20,750 that folks in our church are facing, you know, real life, 414 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:26,990 life and death, life altering, you know, illnesses and 415 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:36,500 situations. And it could be so damaging you, 416 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,980 you know, to ask them where is your faith, right? 417 00:27:39,990 --> 00:27:46,600 You know, like, and yet how do we, how do we approach, you 418 00:27:46,610 --> 00:27:49,580 know, in our own lives? And I can think about, you know, 419 00:27:49,590 --> 00:27:51,120 some circumstances for my own life. 420 00:27:51,130 --> 00:27:58,450 How do we approach Jesus when we are drowning in the storms of 421 00:27:58,460 --> 00:28:01,330 life? To use an overused metaphor, 422 00:28:02,820 --> 00:28:12,770 yeah, I I know. For me, I do want a Jesus in 423 00:28:12,780 --> 00:28:18,940 those moments who is that dual sort of like powerful can do, do 424 00:28:18,950 --> 00:28:23,420 stuff, get stuff done. And yet also will be my, my 425 00:28:23,430 --> 00:28:27,520 comforter and my, my shelter and my supporter. 426 00:28:27,530 --> 00:28:30,540 You know, all of those things. And, and, and I do believe Jesus 427 00:28:30,550 --> 00:28:35,160 is all those things. And yet I also think that there 428 00:28:35,170 --> 00:28:38,660 are, there are things we can build into our life. 429 00:28:38,670 --> 00:28:43,230 You know that yes, we, we put our faith and our trust in Jesus 430 00:28:44,370 --> 00:28:48,400 and also, hmm, there are other things that we can do. 431 00:28:48,670 --> 00:28:53,180 Um, you know, fear as, as we've talked about, fear is a natural 432 00:28:53,190 --> 00:28:55,800 response. Fear is like, it's a biological 433 00:28:55,810 --> 00:28:59,500 response. You know, we're scared people. 434 00:28:59,510 --> 00:29:02,300 People are scared of heights because heights can kill you. 435 00:29:03,550 --> 00:29:06,130 Yeah, yeah, some people aren't scared enough of heights. 436 00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:12,140 I am one of them. II As we were overlooking a very 437 00:29:12,190 --> 00:29:19,350 steep Cliff last week, I remembered when I was 10 years 438 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,030 old and we were along the somewhere in the East Coast of 439 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:26,970 Canada, I think it was Grand Manan Island in the middle of 440 00:29:26,980 --> 00:29:29,470 the Bay of Fundy. And they have these like 200 441 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,170 plus foot cliffs overlooking the water. 442 00:29:32,180 --> 00:29:36,130 And I approached them just a little too quickly and the the 443 00:29:36,140 --> 00:29:40,130 screams from my mother, Justin got away from the edge. 444 00:29:40,220 --> 00:29:43,020 You know, I was like, I probably could have been a little bit 445 00:29:43,030 --> 00:29:45,350 more afraid. Yeah, yeah, or like the guy that 446 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,380 jumped from the edge of space. Do you remember that? 447 00:29:48,390 --> 00:29:50,500 Oh yes. Yeah, he passed away. 448 00:29:50,770 --> 00:29:53,280 Doing that. Not from the edge of space, but 449 00:29:53,290 --> 00:29:56,520 paragliding, which another would be more afraid of heights. 450 00:29:56,590 --> 00:29:59,800 Yeah, Yeah. So there is a biological 451 00:30:00,190 --> 00:30:02,260 response. We can't control that. 452 00:30:02,330 --> 00:30:07,020 Like that is just, it's baked into our, like our, our literal 453 00:30:07,090 --> 00:30:11,870 bodies and minds. Now there's obviously some fears 454 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:14,580 that are a bit more pathological that maybe need a little bit of, 455 00:30:14,590 --> 00:30:18,270 you know, maybe a bit more irrational and, and I might need 456 00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,550 a little bit of help from some professional counselors and, and 457 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:25,570 psychotherapists, etcetera. But in general, fear is a, a 458 00:30:25,580 --> 00:30:29,690 normal, natural response to life's circumstances. 459 00:30:30,060 --> 00:30:35,130 And, and so we can put our faith and trust in Jesus. 460 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:41,320 We can look at, look to Jesus as, as powerful and, and, and 461 00:30:41,330 --> 00:30:43,990 able to overcome our, our circumstance. 462 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:53,350 Um, but also what other things, what other practices are are 463 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,530 good for us in those moments? So beyond so there's prayer, 464 00:30:56,540 --> 00:30:59,650 obviously taking time to just be still before God. 465 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,470 There's there's lots of these spiritual practices. 466 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:08,250 What are some practices that you've done to help you? 467 00:31:08,580 --> 00:31:13,970 I think my impulse when I am afraid or deciding like do I 468 00:31:13,980 --> 00:31:16,730 want a God who's powerful right now or do I need the God who is 469 00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,480 comforting is then just paralysis and I want neither. 470 00:31:21,700 --> 00:31:25,450 And so then I, my impulse would be to just not engage because 471 00:31:25,460 --> 00:31:29,140 I'm like, well, I don't know, should I want, do I need God to 472 00:31:29,150 --> 00:31:33,620 intervene or do I need God to just make space for me? 473 00:31:34,300 --> 00:31:40,160 And what I've found to be really helpful is, I mean, a, like 474 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:47,550 moving my body, like, because like whether or not, you know, 475 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,560 we're getting chased or we're, there's heights or like there's 476 00:31:50,570 --> 00:31:54,570 a, something we should rightly be afraid of, when we feel fear, 477 00:31:54,780 --> 00:32:00,110 our body will still respond. So I have to, for me like engage 478 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:03,270 my body in whatever practice I'm doing. 479 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:12,380 So like go for a walk or like, I mean like I don't like lift 480 00:32:12,390 --> 00:32:14,680 weights, but like building things like putting together 481 00:32:14,690 --> 00:32:20,960 IKEA furniture is actually like I find to be very therapeutic. 482 00:32:21,030 --> 00:32:22,440 You've heard it. You've heard it here, folks. 483 00:32:22,450 --> 00:32:25,980 So if you have a kit furniture you want built. 484 00:32:26,470 --> 00:32:31,470 I didn't say I did it calmly, but but it it is like an outlet 485 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:34,670 of like, OK, I have like, you know, I'm figuring something 486 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,170 out. I'm following instructions. 487 00:32:36,180 --> 00:32:42,320 I'm and then pairing my prayer like with another activity so 488 00:32:42,330 --> 00:32:47,040 that there's like engagement with so that my body recognizes 489 00:32:47,050 --> 00:32:51,500 OK, like like we're safe. Yeah. 490 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:57,850 And then I can rightly assess that scenario or attempt to do 491 00:32:57,860 --> 00:33:00,340 not do it well all the time. Hmm. 492 00:33:00,380 --> 00:33:04,960 And that's, yeah, so helpful for me. 493 00:33:04,970 --> 00:33:09,370 And then I think like the other thing that I come back to a lot 494 00:33:09,380 --> 00:33:14,530 is Psalm 77, which talks about like, remembering the songs I 495 00:33:14,540 --> 00:33:18,430 used to sing in the night. And this idea of like looking 496 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:22,180 back and remembering the ways that God has already showed up 497 00:33:22,780 --> 00:33:28,800 and that I am not special enough to be the first exception to 498 00:33:28,810 --> 00:33:35,520 God's faithfulness. And I might not like how God 499 00:33:35,530 --> 00:33:39,310 shows up, or I might prefer that he show up in a different way, 500 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:43,790 or that he just deal with it and I don't have to do anything. 501 00:33:44,100 --> 00:33:47,470 Just, yes, calm the storm by yourself, please. 502 00:33:47,520 --> 00:33:50,970 I'll let you do that. God, that's often not how he 503 00:33:50,980 --> 00:33:58,840 chooses to do it, but to take time and look back and reorient 504 00:33:58,850 --> 00:34:03,600 myself from there instead of from where I am now. 505 00:34:04,790 --> 00:34:12,120 That's good. I know for me, you know, I fear 506 00:34:12,130 --> 00:34:15,560 and anxiety are not synonymous. I don't think maybe I think 507 00:34:15,570 --> 00:34:18,320 often they accompany one another, right? 508 00:34:18,389 --> 00:34:22,820 Often anxiety can crop up out of nowhere, but often when you are 509 00:34:22,830 --> 00:34:27,100 fearful, your mind can start, you know, racing. 510 00:34:27,110 --> 00:34:31,179 Your heart can start palpitating at a faster rate. 511 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:37,219 And, and sometimes when you're anxious, sometimes when you are 512 00:34:37,850 --> 00:34:43,429 fearful, the hardest thing to do can be to, to find a way to calm 513 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:49,110 your mind. And I had a wonderful Christian, 514 00:34:49,500 --> 00:34:54,659 she was a psychiatrist and she, you know, she gave me that just 515 00:34:54,670 --> 00:34:56,750 like a list of exercises. She's like, you know what, God 516 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:02,270 has made our brains amazing. They are capable of, of lots of, 517 00:35:02,320 --> 00:35:08,600 lots of terrifying things, but also their capacity for their 518 00:35:08,610 --> 00:35:12,210 capacity for growth and, and the way in which you can like, 519 00:35:12,260 --> 00:35:16,880 actually like overcome some of these things, you know, just buy 520 00:35:16,890 --> 00:35:21,380 it like being still, hmm. And, and breathing deeply. 521 00:35:21,390 --> 00:35:23,580 And, and, and part of that, I think is something even like 522 00:35:23,590 --> 00:35:25,470 being sometimes a little uncomfortable. 523 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,200 It's a little uncomfortable to be still. 524 00:35:27,630 --> 00:35:32,460 It's a little uncomfortable to breathe really deeply and, and 525 00:35:32,470 --> 00:35:35,960 breathe in and breathe out. And I often am pairing that. 526 00:35:36,030 --> 00:35:38,840 And this was encouraged, you know, impairing that with, you 527 00:35:38,850 --> 00:35:40,840 know, like little mini prayers as I'm breathing in and 528 00:35:40,850 --> 00:35:43,520 breathing out, right. And there's a, a practice called 529 00:35:44,550 --> 00:35:49,540 centering prayer, which, which is really like slow, really 530 00:35:49,550 --> 00:35:53,790 intentional, um, repetitious prayer. 531 00:35:53,840 --> 00:35:59,300 And, and it, and it has, I think the, the byproduct of combing 532 00:35:59,310 --> 00:36:03,440 your brain and calming your mind and, and allowing you to see 533 00:36:03,450 --> 00:36:06,810 things clearly. Because when our minds are 534 00:36:06,820 --> 00:36:12,020 racing, when our, when our fear is taking over, we can't think. 535 00:36:12,030 --> 00:36:14,790 They see things clearly. And that doesn't mean like, if 536 00:36:14,800 --> 00:36:17,990 you're in the middle of like and there's I'm just some of the 537 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:20,200 situations in our in our own church community that are coming 538 00:36:20,210 --> 00:36:23,190 to mind for me that are so challenging. 539 00:36:23,260 --> 00:36:25,960 It doesn't mean it's going to go away. 540 00:36:26,070 --> 00:36:29,060 It doesn't mean that, that you know, you're all of a sudden 541 00:36:29,070 --> 00:36:35,250 gonna feel all better. Um, but in these moments of, of 542 00:36:35,300 --> 00:36:39,570 like heightened fear and anxiety, we can still ourselves 543 00:36:39,580 --> 00:36:45,830 before God and, and at least try to think as clearly as we can. 544 00:36:45,900 --> 00:36:50,340 Because sometimes we end up in those moments fixating on things 545 00:36:50,350 --> 00:36:54,810 that we can't control, fixating on things that that are just 546 00:36:54,820 --> 00:37:00,870 going to help cause us to spiral and spiral versus being able to 547 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:05,310 say clearly and calmly. This is out of my control. 548 00:37:05,740 --> 00:37:09,510 And it really sucks because I want God to intervene and step 549 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:13,550 in and I'm going to pray into that, that God would heal this 550 00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,690 family member or do this or do that or fix this broken part in 551 00:37:17,700 --> 00:37:22,540 me. So you can, you know, you can do 552 00:37:22,550 --> 00:37:28,000 that while also looking at OK, if I'm calm, if I'm, if I have 553 00:37:28,010 --> 00:37:33,150 this moment to steal my brain, I can then look and say, OK, these 554 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,890 are the things that I can control. 555 00:37:35,140 --> 00:37:39,170 These are the things that maybe Jesus is calling me to step into 556 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:43,230 and to do and to say like this is this is like, I can't, I, I 557 00:37:43,240 --> 00:37:44,810 can't touch that. That's up to God. 558 00:37:45,060 --> 00:37:49,670 This is the This is my part. Yeah, but we really can't. 559 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:53,450 Like that's not accessible if you were freaking out. 560 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:58,030 And I'm like, so often I feel like I'm just like, like a 561 00:37:58,040 --> 00:38:04,020 toddler before the Lord where I'm like flipping out, like, you 562 00:38:04,030 --> 00:38:06,820 know, slamming doors, stomping my feet. 563 00:38:07,210 --> 00:38:14,840 And it's been just, God is so kind and just like, you know, 564 00:38:14,850 --> 00:38:20,330 letting me have my moment and then looking with compassion and 565 00:38:20,340 --> 00:38:22,270 being like. Hmm. 566 00:38:23,430 --> 00:38:28,150 You know, that was what it was. Maybe let's work on not doing 567 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,850 that again and figuring that out. 568 00:38:30,860 --> 00:38:36,790 But like, it's only once I am done having that moment, yeah, 569 00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:41,230 that I can like, engage with God and engage with my surroundings 570 00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:47,040 and decide like, God either has this or he doesn't. 571 00:38:47,350 --> 00:38:49,880 And in faith, I'm going to choose to believe that he does. 572 00:38:50,570 --> 00:38:56,510 And let that just be what it is. That's good. 573 00:38:56,740 --> 00:38:59,590 Yeah. I like, I like the idea that we 574 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,050 are like toddlers before the Lord, like, like, because it's 575 00:39:03,060 --> 00:39:07,890 kind of true. And and I love in in a moment 576 00:39:07,900 --> 00:39:12,710 of, of real. This is like 10 plus years ago 577 00:39:12,960 --> 00:39:16,190 where I was experiencing some very real anxiety. 578 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:19,300 Just I don't even know where it all came from, but I was, yeah, 579 00:39:19,310 --> 00:39:22,970 I was feeling pretty just my general state of anxiety was, 580 00:39:22,980 --> 00:39:26,270 was pretty bad. I had to stop drinking coffee 581 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:31,190 for like a month. It was, that was, yeah, it was 582 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:39,400 trying times, but someone drew my attention to Psalm 131, which 583 00:39:39,410 --> 00:39:42,920 has always been like a a moment where I can sort of like breathe 584 00:39:42,930 --> 00:39:45,160 in, breathe out and just hear the words. 585 00:39:45,210 --> 00:39:49,010 You know where it says my heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are 586 00:39:49,020 --> 00:39:52,140 not haughty. I do not concern myself with 587 00:39:52,150 --> 00:39:55,360 great matters or things too wonderful for me. 588 00:39:55,790 --> 00:39:59,020 But I have calmed and quieted myself. 589 00:39:59,270 --> 00:40:04,310 I am like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child. 590 00:40:04,660 --> 00:40:08,940 I am content and it's like man, like that. 591 00:40:09,980 --> 00:40:13,030 I would just read that, Hmm. And I would just sort of like be 592 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:17,690 still and calm my heart. And, and it was like this 593 00:40:17,700 --> 00:40:20,790 beautiful moment of like, you know, I know this is a weaned 594 00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,510 child here, but like, I think with like a child after like a 595 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:27,750 temper tantrum, like, and, and they're, and they're just like, 596 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,030 they're out of energy. They're out, they're, they're at 597 00:40:30,040 --> 00:40:34,050 their wits end. And they're just like, dad, I 598 00:40:34,060 --> 00:40:39,410 just can, I just have a snuggle, you know, and, and it's, it's a 599 00:40:39,780 --> 00:40:43,260 beautiful image. It's a really beautiful image. 600 00:40:44,270 --> 00:40:48,160 And, and so maybe that's a, unless you had any further 601 00:40:48,170 --> 00:40:53,390 thoughts, maybe that's a maybe a good spot to end as we think 602 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:58,820 about the ways in which we approach Jesus in places of, of 603 00:40:58,870 --> 00:41:02,370 fear. And, and again, like I said, we, 604 00:41:02,380 --> 00:41:05,300 I recognize there are some, you know, situations spoken and 605 00:41:05,310 --> 00:41:09,280 unspoken that are happening in, in, in our world, in your world. 606 00:41:09,340 --> 00:41:14,620 And, and just to think through how do we see Jesus in, in this? 607 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:17,950 How do we know that he is with us? 608 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:21,010 What is our approach to him? And so I hope you'll consider 609 00:41:21,020 --> 00:41:25,190 some of these things as you go into your week, maybe take some 610 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:28,890 time to kind of chew on, you know, your fear response. 611 00:41:28,900 --> 00:41:32,890 Where does your relationship with with Jesus land in those 612 00:41:32,900 --> 00:41:35,030 moments? Do you retreat? 613 00:41:35,120 --> 00:41:40,160 Do you lean in? Do you, do you kind of beg Jesus 614 00:41:40,170 --> 00:41:43,870 to, to do something, to step in? Or are you someone who is 615 00:41:43,940 --> 00:41:47,520 tending to become overcome with fear and anxiety in those 616 00:41:47,530 --> 00:41:49,880 moments to the point where you can't even think straight? 617 00:41:49,890 --> 00:41:52,360 Just think through some of these things. 618 00:41:52,570 --> 00:41:55,940 What's our approach? What are some things that we can 619 00:41:56,050 --> 00:42:02,920 place in our lives that will help us to experience the 620 00:42:02,930 --> 00:42:07,680 fullness of who Jesus is? That Jesus is both this 621 00:42:07,750 --> 00:42:14,200 powerful, this this powerful God who can respond to the winds and 622 00:42:14,210 --> 00:42:19,220 waves and is also our our, our comfort in challenging times. 623 00:42:19,390 --> 00:42:22,180 And so I hope you'll take this into your week. 624 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:25,120 Have a great rest of your week and we'll see you next time.