001 | A Little Better | Trust Issues pt 1

[Music] hey well welcome to the a little better podcast my name is daniel i'm gonna be your host today and we're diving in to trust issues part one that's right we're talking all about trust we're gonna be taking a deeper dive into our sunday morning sermon series at northridge church we're located in rochester new york our lead pastor drew carter's on the podcast with us and we have a guest host brad files who will be kind of a normal voice on our podcast and so we're excited to dive in make sure you listen all the way to the end to get a sneak preview of what's coming this sunday at northridge as well as towards the end of the podcast we start talking all about kind of some nuances in trust like what does it look like for us to trust god what do you do if you feel like your trust in god has been damaged by uh leaders in the church christian people or even you feel like god hasn't showed up on um how you wanted him to or when you wanted him to so we're excited to dive into episode one of our relaunch of the little better podcast trust issues part one [Music] hey well welcome to the little better podcast we're super excited to be jumping back in to it with a brand new series uh that we kicked off this past sunday drew how you feeling i feel tired from sunday [Laughter] sunday that's right and if you're listening on the audio version you just heard a new voice from our on our podcast uh brad how are you hey i'm doing great happy to be here have no idea what i'm doing that's great well how about we do a little introduction for everyone uh drew everybody kind of probably knows you this is uh you just finished your fifth year or are you starting your fifth year at northridge what what is that exactly i just finished my fifth year so i'm headed towards number six headed towards number six awesome and then brad yeah how many years uh so i've been at northridge i i first showed up at northridge in 1967 believe it or not i was five years old and my dad worked at kodak and someone came to the office saying does anyone's wife play the organ and my dad raised his hand so our very first sunday 1967 my mom we walked in the church and my mom played the organ and i grew up there and left went you know a lot has happened since then but um and then uh years ago there was a guy named david whiting who i had kids in the school and he said you know you really ought to come back and i took him up on it so since 2000 so we we moved to chicago in 1998 and in 2000 end of 2005 we came back to northridge so i think i had like a 25-year stretch and now a 15-year stretch so you've got us edged out just slightly just yeah we missed we missed a few things yeah and then uh i'm i'm daniel and i get to serve on staff at northridge in a few different areas and i've been here the shortest coming up on two years in march and so we're excited to dive in drew let's kick off with the first question where did this series come from like against all odds you know you walked us through a brief overview that we're going to hit some key figures in the bible but where'd this really come from yeah i think it really came out of kovit you know i often meet with our teaching team and the guys who helped me research sermons and we just talked about what are people struggling with right now and trust was a big thing right trusting god through an incredibly hard and crazy season and so we just started you know kind of wrestling and god started even me like god i asked the question in the season with church like god why are you doing this and what are you doing through this right and there's just this level of trust that many of us need i think to get to um no matter what god brings and we just thought like it would be a great kick off um series to just kind of if we could grow in our trust as a church it would benefit us greatly and so it's kind of the heartbeat of the church um of what god's doing in my heart and it all kind of came together with our teaching team can i ask a question about that just like in terms of like how the sausage is made behind there i know that you guys you plan out a preaching calendar well in advance you're not winging it sunday to sunday do you still do retreats and um and did was this again you said it came from covid but was this one you put on the calendar or was there someone else on the team who brought that forward uh this was one i put on the calendar so this was one that i came out of my heartbeat and what i felt like i was sensing god was calling me to lead our pitch through um and you know i'm a collaborative leader so i took it to our guys and was like hey what do you think about this idea because if they're like yeah this is cool but i don't think it's the right time because basically what we do is we plan pretty solid six months out and then a year out is kind of interchangeable so we're pretty flexible if god does something that we need to respond to so so kovid changed the calendar that preaching calendar shifted quite a bit my response i feel like everything this last year changed the calendar right so indeed drew i loved your point in the message of and your convincing point of that we all trust in something in your map analogy and that i love that question that you talked about like is the thing that we're placing our trust in worthy of our trust because for me i was a little bit skeptical when you were like we all trust something i'm like i don't know if i do that but then like you started walking through uh the atlas map quest and then siri uh and just processing it in my own mind of like how much faith i put in you know hey siri take me to this location when i've never been there especially for me as a newbie to rochester i basically have to do that every single day if i want to figure out where i'm going um and just you know comparing our trust in our technology to the trust that we we lack in god so much of the time and so i just found that yeah that very challenging yeah i don't know if you're posing a question to drew but i wanted i would i would respond to the chime in and say yeah that's that's the one that's been kicking around in my brain you know quite a bit too but i absolutely believe that everyone puts their trust in something i i come from a science and engineering background and so many of my schoolmates you know are committed atheists and they think they don't trust in anything and i'm like dude you know you have so many unanswered questions right that you fill in the gaps on i mean you clear you are making big assumptions you know and you're trusting that god isn't there that's a pretty big leap but i do believe that everyone trusts in something just because like you also said in the sermon you don't need to have all the answers and no one has all the answers we never will get there we'll never have all the answers so for everyone on the planet you don't have all the answers where what where is the trust you know for the gap on what you don't have the answers on yeah and i think most people just bank on themselves right like at the end of the day if we're claiming we don't trust anything usually that that trust falls on our shoulders right we just believe that we got it covered we'll take care of it we'll protect we'll provide and i think that's where most people who would say ah this god of the universe this creator i don't i don't know much about him right i'd rather bank on me because i know what i can do and i know what i can bring to the table i think and i think the culture that's the cultural flow is in that direction more than ever right i mean i think i heard i think was tim keller was talking about you know we used to everyone used to get their truth from somewhere else right but now everyone's told look for the truth inside yourself and now it's for everyone we tell them growing up is your sexual identity whatever it might be don't let anyone tell you who you are you tell you who you are and don't don't let anyone mess with your truth and follow your passion you know don't let anyone get in the way of of what you decide with the gps like i i literally if i don't know what i would do in my life without siri guiding me like i really don't like i can you imagine going back to those methods i wouldn't make it yeah yeah i i yeah to me it just seems crazy to trust in myself i i think very i mean other people must think more of themselves than i do just because i'm like dude i have to come up with a whole morality what's right what's wrong what start is steer by i it's just i know i'm going to go off a cliff you know if you leave it to me so i am so grateful to have a good god pointing out the way and i think that's why we responded to kobe with this series because it's not only like we have to learn to trust god but i think during covid everybody realized it's out of their hands right there's only so much they can do and so where do we turn well our no matter what life brings we turn to our trust in god that's why it's so important i thought the timing of this series as we navigated everybody like oh what am i going to do am i going to bank on a mask to save me i'm going to bank on a vaccine or whatever it is right really at the end of the day we're banking on god first and foremost because we trust him yeah what do you i guess the the big question that you brought out that we were going to talk about today is about god's regret in in that is what do you do when what it seemed like what it seems like god is doing doesn't make sense to us that's that's a big question that i feel like i have and maybe others have like what do we do in our lives as new christians been christians for a long time like when it doesn't make sense um like the whole year we just had like what do we do when it doesn't make sense i mean the easy answer is trust him right yeah that's ultimately what this whole series is about like when we first wrote this series it was called that's a bad idea and basically kind of a another side angle of the series is like trusting god when his ideas seem really dumb like so this next week i'll give you a little sneak peek we're talking about joshua and the walls of jericho right and god's strategy for knocking the walls down is just honestly logically the dumbest idea you could ever come up with right and it's like you want me to do what and that's what this series is out like god really you want me to build a boat i don't know and a rain like that just sounds dumb but i still gotta trust god and that's what's hard right and you get a window into like god says i regret making you know mankind what did he mean there right and i actually read um piper while i was um reviewing the series and he put a great illustration that i think gives us understanding of of this moment right because we've probably all done things that we know were right but still regretted it okay let me give you example you have kids my kids disobey me and when they do like when they lie to my face we discipline them with a spanking that's just that's how we do in our house and there have been times where i will spank my child and i try to hug them love them and they don't want it they they run away and at some level i i feel sorry i almost regret doing it but i know it was right because of the outcome and i think that gives us a window into god right he's not saying i made a mistake he's he's he's feeling sorry for all the sin and the wickedness and his regret is i didn't do anything wrong but i'm i'm seeing what's happening and i'm gonna fix it and yet still god provides what a rescue plan it's just the story of the bible right like sin god intervenes and saves humanity and so if you read other translations some translations don't say regret they say god was sorry too so it's you know read it in context read other translations well yeah and ezekiel says ezekiel also says god takes no delight you know in in judgment i mean it's just like he's going to do it but you know he doesn't want to i don't know that's that is that is a tough one to tease out get very nuanced with that oh yeah because there's a lot of nuances in the sense of of like the comparison of our human regret of you know drew like your regret in your example about your kids and spanking like you you knew that that was the right decision but obviously the outcome of like your kids like running away from you like you didn't foresee that probably coming and the difference in like human regret and and godly god's regret in himself is he still you know sees all time and he he just sees the scope and so there's a deeper complexity to god and his emotions yes than in our human complexity because well how can god have sorrow if he already knew it's going to happen um in in the midst of it and and inside of that um you know most scholars would take you to your next place to like first samuel 15. um and that's the next place piper actually takes you know i think in in some commentaries in verse 29 where he says you know god does not lie does not change his mind he is not a human being you know and so and there that same word is used in the original language that regret in verse 11 when he says i regret i made saul king um and so there must be a deeper level to god's feelings and emotions towards regret even though he knows what's happening he's engaged in the world he's making decisions he's moving pieces around in that sense um but he still the response of humans isn't what he desired it to be because he's given us that um yep own ability to make decisions as well yeah piper says the moment you compare your emotions to gods you're going in the wrong direction yeah god's emotions are so complex and so perfect and ours are so marred with the flesh and sin and so to think your regret is the same as god's regret you're missing the bullseye yeah and words will just always come up short in describing that right there's just not enough words to tease it all out for us it's beyond putting into words but everything in the bible is true yeah but uh it doesn't mean we fully understand well it goes back to trust right you don't you don't have all the answers sometimes in the there's things in the bible right just i'm reading through the book of revelations in my in my quiet time and like hey there are things in the bible that are designed you even read in scriptures jesus says something and people didn't get it because he didn't want them to get it right he didn't want them to fully understand it right we're talking about god here right and so you will never have all the answers until you are with him right and so we have to be okay trusting him even when we don't understand everything about him i guess my mind goes to i wonder if the same language would use about jesus or god the father putting jesus on the cross you know i mean that certainly not it was necessary absolutely necessary and the outcome is glorious and joyful but i mean i'm sure that the same language of regret you know could be be applied there and jesus in the garden having all it seems like all kinds of indecision right he's praying for the cup to be taken away from him and then praying that the lord you know that you know he has the strength to do god's will so a lot of humanness comes through but then we get deceived into thinking oh yeah he's just like a human no he's not just like the human right yeah the question that comes in my mind just like as we're talking about this and even just thinking about sunday's message and and noah's response of him being a righteous man and and doing all the things that god um asked him to do and and that was all kind of rooted in his in his trust um the question that comes up in my mind drew and i don't want to steal too much of the series thunder is like okay so what does what does trust look like for me if i'm trying to like live out my my life as um as a follower of jesus and and it doesn't make sense to me what god's doing maybe if my own situation doesn't make sense so what does trust look like or where do i start like what do i start in this journey of like learning to trust god more yeah so i i don't know if you guys remember my intro to my sermon right before i actually started my sermon we prayed together right and i said put yourself in this posture right of open hands right and so to me i think trust just the starting place is that that open-handedness right it's a surrender of the things that you know you shouldn't keep and it's the receiving of things that you should keep and so trust me is knowing who god is right and we're going to talk a little bit about this this week is having an accurate theology of who god is getting to know god and like any relationship the more you get to know your future spouse the more you date the more i i'm in a marriage the more i know my wife you know the the the the as i get to know them the deeper my trust grows right so it's always a hundred percent but the more you know god it just opens your heart to more trust still a hundred percent but it's just you're knowing more of what he wants for your life and so it's living open-handedly right letting go of the things that don't belong and asking god for the things that do it's complete obedience to what yeah if you don't like it it's a hard place yeah i was thinking obedience the whole time of course when you were saying that but i just and when daniel says what does it look like it's going to look different of course for everyone there's going to be different challenges you know for a lot of people it's you know it probably comes up most often when the world's council is counter to god's counsel right when everyone says it makes total sense to divorce you know it makes total sense to maybe there's a a choice and i'm saying the right or wrong here but you know a choice to declare bankruptcy and you say no i'm going to you know muscle through and even though it costs me he'll meet these obligations or uh but i can certainly think about your relationships where you're just faithfully obedient you know and hang in there um i mean yeah does everyone's marriage i mean we've been married a long time does everyone's marriage have times that are better than other times i mean it's just you know there's sometimes you know where you know the feelings might be there when you hang in there and then thank god the feelings come back but if you'd left you'd never would have seen that yeah that's good i mean at the end of the day you could basically say trust is obedience right when god says something you never say no right and that's that's like if we're honest that's ridiculously hard right because that's that's every area of your life that's your finances that's your sexuality that's you know the way you go about marriage business leadership the way you do your taxes the way you live your life the way you take care of the entire body yeah we come up short but we know what god's you know what this council is but yes it's trust produces obedience right it's not like we obey god to win points or you know get up there but but that trust you know how do i know if i'm really trusting well look at all that obedience yeah yeah i loved your point drew also on sunday and you said it even in this conversation of like trust is a hundred percent or like obedience is a hundred percent um what what would you say to somebody who's like wow man i just i'm just not i'm not a hundred percent like uh i'm i'm not there like they would honestly just self-admittedly say like i'm not a hundred percent uh maybe they're skeptical maybe they would even claim not to be a follower of jesus like but they're interested they're they're intrigued they want to take you know steps in that direction and explore god faith christianity what advice even brad jumped into this of what would you say for that person it says i'm not a hundred percent so what do i do with this one i would say that's okay right like hey everybody's journey is different and what i would say to somebody is ask all your questions right explore one journey of getting to know god and this is what i believe if you truly go on this journey to find god god will find you and you will i believe transfer your trust to him because when you get to know god you realize how good and awesome he is and the response to that is just man i want to know him and trust him yeah just spending so you know spending time with god's people you know is is awesome but also just you know and spending time in god's word it's just i i i love introducing people who don't even you know don't even know what they believe to like the gospel of john and just say hey just read it and tell me what you think you know or walk through it with them but just the more you expose yourself to that you know i just think that creates those opportunities um i mean as far as that trust goes and that hundred percent you know um we all got to that place of 100 when we stepped up to the altar you know with our wives but that was because we were in love with them right and we just this was something we we stepped into not because people told us it was a good match or it made sense or cheaper two can live cheaper than one you know it was no no no no we're 100 because we fell in love with that woman and i do believe if you spend time with jesus you'll fall in love with him right yup that's good you know uh the longer when just talking about trust the i love your comments on that uh the longer you i've been around church world um the more and more you hear stories about people who've had their trust broken that it's been fractured by people that do things in jesus name or even some would say that god himself has fractured their trust because they didn't like his response to certain situations um what would we say to those people who who are still around and still are interested but they feel like their trust or their faith has been fractured either by christian leaders christian people um or just god himself what would what would we say to those people i would say two things one you can't put your trust in people because they're always gonna fail you i don't care if they're a pastor a leader whoever it is like you put your trust in people you're always gonna be let down right but i get the struggle some people feel like oh i put my trust in god and i feel like he let me down and i feel like the one area that we have to grow in is usually our trust with god comes with expectations of god and usually our we feel like our trust is broken because we put expectations on god and he didn't come through on our timetable in the way we want it and when you trust god it's without expectations right it's god think about noah right like okay you want me to build a boat i'll do that god i'm sure noah wasn't thinking 55 to 75 years right and i feel like a lot of people in may after 30 years okay god you broke my trust you said you're gonna bring rain and you didn't right and so trust without expectations i think is what we're after yeah i love that and that's what i was thinking even with your opening examples because you talked about you know like the evil patriots being down 25 points or whatever but not everyone is down 25 points wins the super bowl okay i mean it's like the the outcomes aren't always what we expect or want but there is that trust that whatever the outcome is it will be what god uses for good and it is still within his plan yeah and even as you were talking about that as i reflect even like on my own journey in life most of the time like god in air quotes here i'm giving air quotes doesn't come through with something i'm praying for because i'm not ready uh like if i'm just being honest like i'm not ready for him to do that thing like how inconvenient would it have been though for noah if it would have started raining like 20 years in and he's not done with a boat yet like it's like god promised rain and then here comes the rain he's like wait wait wait wait wait wait i'm not ready like i need to finish this boat first like and so you know when we say god's timing is always perfect like we say that tongue-in-cheek but like that's the reality is like he knows when we're actually ready for that thing that we so desire whether that may be a new job a good marriage you know or uh kids whatever that thing is like god knows um the real us not just the personified like what we try to present um because he really knows if we're ready or not and yeah and before that even before that end game arrives right now in the present in that horrible situation you know god decide you know this is god's best plan to change us it's i i i remember in um a seminary classmate whose uh child newborn infant was this you know horrible situation weeks you know life-threatening situation i believe that the child pulled through but i remember him saying to me brad i wouldn't trade this for anything i've just been i mean i am i am helpless i am totally totally helpless here and i have never been closer to god i've never felt his presence more so there can be opportunities in great suffering for god to change us i love that statement too god's timing is always perfect until it inconveniences me you know like come on we we say that all the time but it's like yeah i got something until i have to wait longer than i wanted to or until he doesn't come through when i want him to and right like that it just shows our our lack of trust in god and and really this is [Music] like what i love about this series is this is not just for a segment of our church this is for everybody because i know in my life there are areas right where i gotta i like i gotta trust god in season so mm-hmm yeah well guys that we've had a great conversation uh up to this point uh drew do you have anything you want to tease us out for sunday you've already given us a small taste of what we're talking about anything else behind the curtain what you want to share we're going to dig we're going to dig a little bit deeper and trust it's going to be fun we're going to look at another story and and a low key thing that i love about this series is you got to pay attention to get it but we're going to take you from the old testament to the new testament and we're going to kind of give you a glimpse of how the bible flows from old testament person after person after person of trust all the way to jesus and so i i like mysteries where you get a little bit of a biblical literacy of like if you're not sure how the old testament flows in the new testament you get a little glimpse of that from each character that we we we roll with yeah that's you want to hear every sermon to get that benefit right true brad come on brad let's go hold on all right you heard it from him hey and one family just plug right there accidentally our kids ministry and uh adults are talking about joshua and jericho this sunday all right so if you've got kids and kids men yeah that have good family conversation about trust faith and um and the bible so yeah awesome well we'll see you uh this sunday and we can't wait to see you and chat with you again uh next week on a little better [Music] you

Channel: Northridge Church - Rochester

Views: 93

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: northridge, church, rochester, new york, Jesus, worship, community, bible, north, ridge, music, songs

Id: AcydPucPsJw

Length: 31min 36sec (1896 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 14 2021