All These Things

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right all right what's going on church and it's so good to worship with you of course hear from our pastor about all the things that are happening in church life that you can be a part of it i just want to take a moment and say how honored i am to be able to share with you and spend some time with you today no matter where you're at what's going on in your life and in your world maybe we're one-on-one right now we're watching as a family or maybe you're in your car i just want to thank you for being a part of these online services and and we just love you so much and and we want you to know that our pastor loves you we love you you matter and we believe that in all of these installments of these next three weeks that god is going to speak to your heart it's going to encourage you hopefully you'll be out for our at the movie series but we want you to know that you matter to god and you matter to us and i just want to say thank you so much for your generosity one of the things i get to do here at church of the highlands is i get to oversee and be a part of the team as it relates to outreach and missions and all of our generosity and just the way that we're making a difference and i just want to thank you for the faithfulness of your giving i know you're so faithful in your giving and i want to talk just for a moment around that in just a second they'll put on the different ways that you can give you can be faithful in your tithe and in your offering whether it's digital or come by the church or all the different ways that you express your giving but thank you so much i know throughout these at the movies installments one of the things i love the most is when pastor chris gives us that update of the difference that you're making and can i tell you not only are you making a difference in people's lives and i get to see that whether it's in a neighborhood or it's around the world or it's right here planting a church all the different things that we get to see but also i thank god for the eternal difference that it's making your your generosity turns into eternal impact in a person's life as we give out god's word or as we plant a church and i want to say thank you so much i get to see it and you'll hear the amazing impact that you've already been a part of this year can you imagine all the years the impact this year has been extraordinary it's been amazing it's blown me away how you have served and how you've given so please we just want to believe god uh for your life believe god as you prepare for this time for legacy offering on december the 13th in and around that that we're praying and i love that word we're participating praying and participating and guess what it makes a difference in people's lives and that's what it's all about for the cause of jesus christ so thank you so much for that and i want to jump right into the word the title that i want to talk about today i have a title today the title is all these things all these things let's pray uh for the message and i want to pray around your giving also for god to bless your life as you're faithful in the giving let's pray father we pray right now that lord you just be with every person god that every person no matter what's happening in their life you see them you see what's going on so i pray for those that are giving today and those that have been so generous their time and their treasure but father i pray that you'd speak to us for a few minutes out of your word i pray father that we would we would lead in to your word and that your word would bring life that your word would bring freedom that your word would align us to your heart for each of our lives and our family so speak to us today father that in all things god you're there you can you can work you can deliver us from all things you can help us from all these things that happen around us thank you for your word we love you so much in jesus name amen now we were together i'd be like hey give a fist bump give a what's up all those kind of things so hey just be fully alive fully engaged and let's lean in to god's word today so what's going to happen is i'm going to give you a scripture that not only are you going to hear today but we're going to look out for the next three weeks online and so it's romans chapter 8 verse 37 through 39 and this this is one of those verses it doesn't ease up on you it hits you right away romans 8 verse 37 through 39 says this i'll read it in two different versions in the new king james and i'll bounce to the message it says yet in yet in all these things yet in all these things yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities or powers nor things present nor things to come well that's important nor height or depth nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of god where is it at which is in christ jesus our lord bounce to the message version none of this phases us that's amazing because jesus loves us none of these things around us we don't live a life we're not going to let it faze us because jesus loves us i'm absolutely convinced that nothing nothing living or dead angelic or demonic today or tomorrow i like that high or low thinkable watch this church unthinkable absolutely nothing can get between us and god's love because of the way that jesus our master has embraced us nothing can get between us and god's love nothing can get between what he's doing in our life and god's because of the way that jesus christ our master has embraced us i love these words i could read this over and over probably if we just spent a few minutes just reading these scriptures over and over again you would see a difference in your life i love this because it's instant help just when you read it it's instant help let me jump back to those first words that i've read over and over again already that are very important verse 37 yet in all these things things boy that phrase feels like the world that we're living in right now 100 all these different things there are so many things that we're navigating there are so many things that we're dealing with you've got some things going on i've got some things going on guess what we all got things going on right now in our life and this has been a year if you think about it of unexpected things i don't know how many times i was with our family the other day we talked about god we would never imagine doing this we would never imagine that we would be doing this so many unexpected things so many things where you where it's kind of like where did that come from that that came from left field there there are unpredictable things there are unforeseen things that have taken place in our life they're unknown things that have gone on and that continue to go on this year's model thought about it could be this didn't see that coming come on now didn't see that come where'd that come from where did that happen where did that come from so for the next few weeks what we're going to do is we're going to talk about that but we're going to talk about all these things in the light of the truth of god's word in the rest of this verse so we could get stuck in the first part we could just live our life and live our mind and live our thoughts and our family and our future in all these things some so often people get trapped in all these things it's like a whirlwind of things and unexpected and unpredictable we could live our life there but we want to get past that over the next three weeks we want to dive into the second part of that truth the second part of that promise we are more than conquerors through him who loved us this is the phrase that just feels like yes that's where i want to get to i want to get to the moment yes that and all these things are going on but we are more than conquerors through him jesus christ who loved us and you know what that is enough for everything we face i don't know what you're facing today i don't know what you're facing right now in your life i don't know what you're facing in your thoughts i don't know what you're facing as it relates to a habit or an addiction or a hurt or a pain or a trauma but he says in all those things you are more than a conqueror you can make it you can overcome it because of him him jesus christ who loved us and if we're not careful we will live in the first part of that verse and we won't get to the second part of that verse and i'm here to let you know that the second part of the verse is bigger and can cover everything in the first part of the verse well it just makes me want to shout at the second part that we are going to make it is bigger than all the things that come against our life that are happening right now you know as i think about all these things and i just prayed god in my installment in this first installment what would be the thing that you would want to see us conquer and what i want to call it what i want to talk about is a loneliness one of those things we deal with and i see it a lot right now loneliness you say now dino that's a big one to tackle we got enough time for that i mean that's a big thing to tackle right off the start we're going to dive into loneliness how do we conquer how do we deal with how do we overcome loneliness i mean i feel like i'm a seventh grade cornerback off on an aisle at about 110 pounds and derrick henry is coming down the field and i'm trying to tackle him it's a big one but you know what i found out i found out that there's a lot of pandemics right now there's the obvious pandemics but you know what i see happening all around us i see a loneliness pandemic and that's a big one and you know what it can be proven by all the data you can look at all the data right now about anxiety and depression and all the things that are happening where people are making bad choices and we're we're struggling and there's a storm and a struggle it's being proven by the data right now and maybe you say yeah i don't even need to hear the data because i feel like i'm a part of the data i'm a part of the statistics i feel that way about my life i feel lonely and sometimes i've wondered why am i so lonely you know loneliness there's a definition to it but i was going to read it but i changed my mind i don't want to read it because i think all of us know what loneliness means we don't we don't have it doesn't have to be defined for us but what i did is i looked at all the synonyms i think it was very interesting almost said cinnamon synonyms feminine similar red hot seminar synonyms you know what they are alienated solitude hello quarantine social distancing okay okay okay friendless i'm friendless secluded remoteless where you're remote you feel like you're stranded you're away from everybody it's a it means to be withdrawn and then i think this one is amazing this one is truth this one speaks to all of us it means heartache heartache i mean that's real talk loneliness creates a heartache maybe that describes the struggle right now there's a heartache there's an ache in your life there's an ache down deep and there's many reasons why it's there i started thinking about my own life my own journey i'm a people person but i've gone through some lonely seasons there's been some times that i've paused and looked at my life and thought why do i feel so lonely why do i feel lonely right now in my life and all that that's starting and all that that's creating in my life and the unhealthy things and and the thoughts and the isolation and all the ways that i see myself and i see others and even at times it makes me see god differently i thought there were two of them i remember two of them one of them was when i was younger i just got out of bible school and i went through a great change in my life sometimes change brings loneliness you're unfamiliar my friends were shifting there was some endings that were happening in my life there were some new things on the horizon i had fear i had self-doubt i felt stuck and this is important in being indecisive i became indecisive on what i wanted to do and how i wanted to start it and what i was going to do with my life and it was real emotional distress and i was so afraid of making the wrong move that i almost didn't make any move at all and i felt so isolated and it was no fun at all and i almost felt like no one knows what i'm going through i was so at a point where i felt so stuck that i kept telling myself no one knows what i'm going through the second one that i remembered was when a time when i didn't feel good physically went through a season where i didn't feel right physics i don't know if you've ever just didn't you just didn't feel right go go to the doctor get a physical get a checkup get some tests because something's not right with my body something's not right with the way i'm feeling and i can remember going through that physically and that was creating stress hello some stress in my life and and you know i was feeling like you know all these thoughts and my mind was a battlefield i think that was affecting my physical being we know that loneliness can affect you physically it can affect you in your health and and i was just thinking uh the other day that about this and here's what's crazy about it what's crazy was this was that i had a life full of people my life was fully crowded there were lots of people i was surrounded by all kinds of people i'm standing in a crowd of standing with others yet i feel like i am the loneliest person in the world how is it we can be with people and still feel that way i just felt that way it's like i had this mental image of being off on a deserted island come on that castaway flow i'm like tom hanks wilson wilson this is all alone i felt that way and it was a reality for me the good news is this you don't have to live in that way and you don't have to stay stuck there and god has a way to get us off of that deserted island move us that we're not alone in all these things and one of those big things today is isolation and loneliness i think one of the things that is so important for us to come back to church i think it's why it's important for maybe if you can and if you physically can help why is get back to regathering why because it comes against the lie and the pain of loneliness that you're the only one and there's no one there for you that's not true can i encourage you that there's good news that god can help us and we're not the only ones that have ever dealt with the challenge of loneliness did you know that there are people all throughout the bible that felt like at times that they were stuck on the island of loneliness they battled with it also but all of them became conquerors and became more than conquerors why because of god's love god loves us so much he doesn't want us to live on that island of loneliness whether it's in our mind or we sense it as a reality there are these stories in the bible there are testimonies for you and i right now if we feel stranded on that desert island and the same love that loved them and the same love that helped them is the same love that's available to you and i and i want to give you one of those stories it's found in mark chapter 5 mark is the second book of the gospel and i love this story mark chapter 5. i'm going to read it right out of my bible come on my printed bible mark chapter 5 verse 24 through 34 is speaking of the woman that had the issue of blood verse 24 through 34 says this so jesus went with him a large crowd followed and pressed around him a lot of people and a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years she had suffered a great deal under the care of any doctors spent all that she had yet instead of getting better she grew worse could that sound familiar to someone you feel like my life is not getting any better right now 2020 it's not getting better will 2021 get any better we want to we want to speak to that it's not getting any better it's getting worse when she heard about jesus she came up behind him in a crowd she touched his garmenter's cloak and because she thought if i could just touch his clothes i'll be healed immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt her body that it was freed up from her suffering at once jesus realized that power had gone from him i love this scene he turned around to the crowd i love that and said who touched my clothes everybody around him but we all know that she touched him different than anyone else uh you see the people crowding against you the disciples answered and yet you could ask who touched me they were blown away by this but jesus kept looking around to see who had done it then the woman knowing what had happened to her came and fell at his feet watch this trembling with fear she told him the whole truth she thought she was caught she was going to be in trouble she didn't know what was going to happen but he said to her daughter your faith has healed you go in peace and be freed from your suffering can you imagine the life that she had lived for 12 years think about her real life her life just like you and i her life that was filled with all the pain and all the unknowns and all these things sickness had so isolated her she had her own form of covid stigmas had been attached to her that was the woman people whispered people stared people looked at her isola made her feel different she couldn't go out anywhere because she was a she was shamed in public she couldn't sit with others and discuss life and the weather and kids of the future she'll feel like nobody would understand her how would she talk what would she contribute she had nothing to say even couldn't even have people in her home she probably doesn't even remember the last time other than a physician other than someone who was just going to take money from her come into her home and sit and visit and fellowship and connect there was no connection she lost all connection there was no way that she could be able to be a part of that 12 years she lived with really out anyone touching her think about that for 12 years she had not touched anyone probably and no one had probably touched her she was unclean to everybody she was given that label unclean i wonder what label we feel like has been attached to us she needs a physical healing do you know what else she needed she not only needed physical healing she needed a loneliness healing she need a miracle to free her from her loneliness of isolation and no one understands it on that island of pain and on that island of of suffering all those things but she decided one day and she had courage in that moment i mean many of you it's going to take some courage god is going to fuse you with courage to step out of that loneliness and she made this decision that day and in that moment she said i can't stay here she she had courage to overcome the fear of the crowd others she had courage to overcome her own self-talk you know how we begin to tell ourselves no one loves us no one cares about us no one wants us i'm not important all these different things she had courage to overcome all those things and she had courage to touch jesus that's a big deal and she had courage even to answer when jesus said who touched me when he looked around and said who grabbed me she didn't bow away or run away she stepped up in it says in verse 33 she said yes she said it was me she fell down at his feet she told him the whole truth of her journey and then i love what our savior says i want to read it to you again because i believe it's one of my favorite responses of our savior that's going to speak to our hearts today he looked at her and said again daughter son daughter your faith has healed you go in peace and be free from your suffering pop when she stood up boy the high high five the hug the invites freed not only from her physical sickness but free from that prison of loneliness i love this scene i love this window into the life of christ he deals right with loneliness it's like you can see right there that she's face to face with the true counselor the great physician has given her time the friend who knew her hurt he takes this orphan he's alone isolated brings her into family he gives her back her life she's more than a conqueror she's more than a conqueror because jesus loved her way more than she could have ever imagined and he loved her physically where he brought healing but he loved her also in a place where the loneliness got free think about that she had a physical miracle but he loved her to the point of past loneliness i love that story i think it gives us hope it's an example it's a window if you and i are facing that today we don't have to live in loneliness i want to finish up and i want to give you some truths that i believe can rescue you from your loneliness can rescue us from our loneliness there's a couple and here's the first thing some application around this message of all these things first thing is this can't say it any clearer jesus understands like no one else jesus understands do you remember jesus on the cross he says a few things and one of the things he says lean into this come on lean in with me one of the things he says is father he just looks to his father says i feel forsaken i feel alone jesus understands what it's like to feel loneliness i think even on the night several nights before that when he's at the table with the disciples that he's being betrayed and and the disciples run away i felt there he felt loneliness jesus understands it he felt forsaken he was touched with the feelings of all of our infirmities and guess what because he was alone and he dealt with loneliness on the cross you and i don't ever really have to be alone why because romans teaches us i can't be separated i can get separated from my wife at walmart i get separated from my kids at lowe's i can get separated from my friends at a ball game i get separated from my phone i can sometimes lose my car i can get separated from some things i have lost some things i have misplaced some things i have looked around before and can't find anything i've come with a group before and turned around i'm not with the group anymore i have been separated but romans tells us i cannot be separated from god's love coveted pain struggle turmoil lack hurt cannot separate me from god's love because jesus understands and he took it to the cross be encouraged by that today jesus understands here's the second thing that i just love as it relates to lord give me something to let me be rescued from this loneliness it's god's word is a lifeboat boy when when when in that movie cast away god sent him a cell sent him the opportunity he came off of that island sometimes we wonder i feel like i'm all alone i feel deserted lord what are you what are you going to do send me what are you going to send me and god sent his word do you know what i found out there's nothing like god's word that fights loneliness i mean one of the greatest ways you can fight loneliness can i just i'm gonna be real simple with you we're gonna be real simple is read your bible i fight loneliness with just reading my bible it's the best way to get close to god no greater way to get close to god worship is so important one of the greatest ways that i get close to god is through prayer of course but reading god's word literally i was reading this last couple weeks some real research real research said this that when you read your bible four or five times a week that you are 30 percent less likely to struggle with loneliness i mean a real research of someone who studied this with people that when you read your bible you dig into god's word you're just less likely to be so lonely scriptural connection is a rescue today we connect with god's word that's why i'm so grateful for a pastor like pastor chris at a church that connects us with his word jesus understands god's word is the life boat then the last thing can i encourage you with sounds simple get in a group hey let's regather let's re-gather make a decision i know it's been i know it's been different i know you've been watching online make a decision that one of these installments at the movie hey i'm going to in person i'm going to get my mask i'm going to go to one of our campuses i'm going to find a service time be in person in one of these installments regather come out of the shadows of being secluded step into the family and let us love you and pray for you see church is a place where we experience family thank god for the online moments and thank god for all the technology but there's nothing like in person i want to encourage you nothing like serving others together even during this time something about helping other people we want to give you the opportunity maybe through it's giving hope that you could serve during our christmas time or maybe you're able to be a part of some of the serve opportunities that you find on the serve app let's be a part let's make a difference jesus understands god's word rescues us let me encourage you get in a small group regather let god speak to us i thought about one of those moments remember the two i said where i felt like i was in a lonely season one was when i was young in bible college so many friends were going in and out of my life and i was at a transition i felt like i was in a maze and then the second one was i just didn't feel right then i got stressed my mind became a battlefield now my mind's thinking all these thoughts i feel worse never forget a friend of mine called me it's about one week into it two three weeks into it he was going through some things that he called me well i was sinking i was sinking i could remember it if you've been through a moment like that or you're going through a moment like that you know the feeling i was sick and he called me he said hey man i got some things going on over here at my house come see me come see me i said yeah yeah i'll come see you i don't feel good and a lot going on so what's up he kept saying come see me i think he'd text me like 10 times come see me come see me i finally went over there and uh he was doing some yard work like not little yard work like massive yard work like we need tractors and big equipment not like a weed eater and a blower no no no no big stuff and he was out there by himself doing it i remember i went over there today he's like hey man you want to spend some time together in the yard oh yeah and i started helping him five days later i'm still there helping him if he's watching you know who you are five days later i'm still there helping him and you know what i remember about that i want you to hear you know what i remember i remember that i forgot that i did not remember my loneliness i remembered as i was helping him and serving him and just being outside and reconnecting not being so isolated at my house i remember connecting with him and his family and we went to lunch and saw some people and from there it just kind of triggered that i could do life and i could re-gather with people i remembered that i remembered that i didn't remember being lonely i'm glad he told me come see me hey church come see us come see me come see the family come back to a location come back to our campus come see us if you can come see us all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us he loves you let's pray together father i just pray that you'd touch every heart thank you that you understand all the depths of our loneliness thank you for your word that speaks to all levels of loneliness and lord i thank you for family [Music] let fear doubt come off of our life and let us step into the fullness of god and the fullness of your love maybe you're watching right now i want to give you an opportunity to say yes to that jesus who loves you right where you're at right now i want you to pray with me just pray this prayer pray from your heart say dear jesus forgive me of my sins help me i feel alone come into my heart be my everything oh i believe that you died just say that you died and you rose again and i confess you as my savior give me a new beginning give me a fresh start i'm more than a conqueror in jesus name amen

Channel: Church of the Highlands

Views: 2,047

Rating: 4.6666665 out of 5

Keywords: Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands, COTH, Alabama, Religion, Christianity

Id: UpwJskh5TDg

Length: 31min 28sec (1888 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 15 2020